New energy vehicles to be better promoted

The National Development and Reform Commission released a draft regulation on vehicle manufacturing to solicit public opinion, stipulating that no new production capacity will be allowed for traditional gasoline-fueled vehicles, while new energy vehicles will be encouraged.

Current traditional automaking companies are encouraged to make more investments in restructuring their production and develop new energy vehicles, the document said.

Management of investments in new energy vehicles will be strengthened to avoid repeated low-level construction of such projects.

New capacities for new energy vehicles should be moved to cities that have surging demand or accelerate replacing traditional cars with new energy vehicles, the draft regulation said.

234 joint education programs are halted

The Ministry of Education halted 234 joint programs for undergraduates or above by Chinese and foreign institutions.

Recent years have seen increases in joint educational programs, but some provide low-quality services and are not attractive to students, the ministry said.

Therefore, some joint programs should be halted.

As of June, there were 2,342 such joint programs, including 1,090 programs for undergraduates.

Peak travel season safety highlighted

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will conduct checkups in tourism safety following a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of more than 40 Chinese tourists in a boat accident in Thailand.

On overseas trips, the ministry said local authorities should strengthen their services in helping tourists.

An emergency check will be established for online tourism companies and platforms. Unqualified tourism products should be removed.

Relevant information should be given by tourists who want to join overseas trips.

Enterprises will be given boost to autonomy

More autonomy will be granted to enterprises in a reform of business registration, said the State Administration for Market Regulation at a national meeting last week.

The meeting arranged key tasks for the second half of this year in market regulations, including substantial reduction in the time to open an enterprise.

By the end of this year, the time should be reduced to 8.5 days in municipalities, provincial capitals and some key coastal cities.

This year, China is deepening the reform of business systems to optimize its business environment, the State Administration for Market Regulation said.

Foreign enterprises can go to a “single window” for business records and registration.