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Rules aim to boost market-oriented and law-based development, says premier Premier Li Keqiang heard a third-party assessment report on the
implementation of the regulation on improving the business environment
while chairing the State Council executive meeting on Monday, and called
for intensified efforts to further resolve bottlenecks hindering its
implementation and provide stronger legal underpinning for the business
environment. According to the report, implementation of the regulation has
achieved positive results in general. Enterprises are highly satisfied
with tax and fee cuts and the facilitation of government services, as
well as innovative reform measures to facilitate startups and the
operation of enterprises. More than 20 million new market entities were
established amid tough conditions last year. "The regulation that took effect last year is aimed at strengthening
market-oriented and law-based development. The business environment has
considerably improved over the past year. The substantial increase in
market entities last year and their ability to weather the difficulties
are both attributable to a more just and equitable business
environment," Li said. The report also found that companies had more complaints on issues
such as fairness in public bidding, intermediary services and financing
convenience. On top of that, progress in implementing the regulation is
uneven between the eastern region and the central, western and
northeastern regions, as well as between provincial capitals and other
cities. "People's sense of gain comes mostly from reforms of the government
management model, including innovative measures like one permit for one
sector and one license for one enterprise. The experiences gained shall
be further summarized and promoted," Li said. "There remain considerable gaps between the eastern region and the
central, western and northeastern regions, as well as between provincial
capitals and other cities, regarding fostering a more enabling business
environment. That said, gaps also entail potential. Departments and
localities concerned shall identify weak links and improve related
work." Eastern regions and provincial capitals are encouraged to meet
advanced international standards and launch pilot trials. Central,
western and northeastern regions, as well as non-provincial capital
cities, shall accelerate the pace of reform to boost the improvement of
their business environment. "When formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), gaps between
different regions in terms of business environment shall be fully taken
into consideration. Reform should be further advanced," Li said. Dedicated efforts shall be made to promote fair competition and
market-oriented reform of government project bidding. Compliance
oversight shall be strengthened to standardize intermediary services.
Investigation and punishment will be enhanced in terms of "hidden red
tape" in credit-backed loans that increase corporate financing costs.
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