Premier Li Keqiang urged government departments to hold an “inclusive and cautious” attitude toward emerging new types of businesses and new industry models, during the State Council executive meeting held on June 21.

Citing WeChat (a Chinese social media platform) as an example, Premier Li said it could not have achieved such success if the government kept the old-fashioned way of regulation.

To promote development of the sharing economy, Premier Li asked related authorities to streamline and adjust mechanisms that cannot adapt to the new target, including administrative approvals and business registration, while introducing new access and supervision policies that are in line with the principle of “encouraging innovation with an inclusive and cautious attitude”.

He said the success of WeChat has not only made people’s lives easier, but also greatly boosted employment, indicating that China should adopt an inclusive attitude toward the blossoming sharing economy.

Leading the world in sharing economy

Premier Li said that the sharing economy, enabled by Internet Plus, has not only fostered many new types of businesses and resolved excess capacity, but also created numerous jobs. He urged authorities to pay great attention to the driving role of the sharing economy in economic and social development.

“Sharing economy has a huge market in China. Besides bike sharing, various new types and models of businesses are emerging with the development of Internet Plus,” said Premier Li.

In fact, during the Premier’s visits overseas, many state leaders praised the development of shared bikes in China.

“We have led the world in some fields of sharing economy,” said the Premier. He asked officials attending the meeting to stick to market-oriented principles, strengthen guidance for businesses, and encourage qualified industries, regions and market entities to develop the sharing economy.

An inclusive mind is a must

The rapid development of the sharing economy is followed by some problems, as usual.

Premier Li brought up the case of sharing bikes, saying that this new emerging industry absorbed some excess overcapacity and revived bicycle manufacturing companies, but there are problems in some regions, such as deliberate damages and undisciplined parking.

Sharing economy is a new industry pattern with features of separation of ownership and right of use, high flexibility, and coexistence of multiple modes. Government organs should bear an inclusive mind to supervise its development and avoid harsh measures, according to the Premier.

The Premier also talked about his inspection in a southern province where part-time jobs are becoming popular.

It shows features of the sharing economy where people can work for different employers in one day as they have no fixed employer and are paid by the hour.

Related departments did not take strict measures to manage such transformation but provided convenience to the market, so that more jobs were created to meet the diversified needs of China’s huge market, he said.

The Premier stressed that related government departments should encourage innovations with inclusiveness and prudence.

But this does not mean government department should leave the market alone. On the contrary, effective supervision is more important than ever. Efforts should be made to create a favorable market environment and promote new industry patterns with scientific supervision, he added.

Government organs should take initiative

“To be honest, the new industries accompanying the sharing economy and mass entrepreneurship and innovation are way beyond our imagination. This should be attributed to market vitality and social creativity,” said Premier Li.

The Premier also required all departments to take responsibility in innovating supervision methods to prevent risks and create a fair competitive environment.

“We should send a positive signal to the market,” said Premier Li. “The Chinese people have the wisdom to create so many new economic models; we also have the ability to explore a new inclusive supervision and social coexistence model to release China’s economic potential.”