Focus on border areas to improve livelihoods

Premier Li Keqiang hosted an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on May 10. The meeting passed a 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) to rejuvenate border areas and enrich the lives of those living there. Li also heard reports of progress in cutting industrial overcapacity and addressing outdated production capacity, and propelling the optimization of the economic structure; boost information consumption and enlarge the sector to aid domestic consumption.

Administrative approvals simplified

Approval procedures for establishing businesses in particular sectors were modified and streamlined by the State Council. The sectors - pawnshops or their branches; printing houses if the investment involves foreign capital; and manufacturing of civil aircraft or key parts, namely engines and propellers, were among those streamlined. On May 7, the State Council decided to modify approvals, allowing businesspeople to apply for approval after commencing operations. It also asked various levels of local governments to accelerate reforms to accommodate the changes.

Enterprise registration procedures modified

The State Council office issued a guiding document on further simplifying registration procedures for opening businesses. The five certificates needed for registration have already been combined into one. The guiding document further streamlines this procedure by requiring local governments to improve their work mode, so that an applicant only needs to fill in one form, and submit one set of materials to one designated window to get a business license. The license contains a unique social security number and its relevant information should be published on certain platforms.

State-owned capital to have more supervision

The State Council General Office forwarded a plan of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which is a department of the State Council, nationwide. The plan requires optimizing supervision over State-owned capital, enhancing its efficiency and injecting new vitality into State-owned enterprises. It emphasized that pioneering cities should innovate and implement the reform step-by-step.

Cultural development and reform plan issued

The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued a plan for cultural development and reform during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period. The plan vowed to accelerate the development of the cultural sector, guide and enlarge cultural consumption, and propel the combination of cultural resources and industries. It also listed the key job of promoting rational exchange of cultural products and elements nationwide.

Measure to streamline agency fee charges

The National Development and Reform Commission, and the ministries of finance, industry and information technology, and civil affairs launched a campaign to regulate agencies that charge enterprises that need to go through administrative procedures of local governments. These charges will be canceled, and charges considered too high will be lowered.

Tax incentive process to be shortened

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly released an implementation plan to shorten the administrative process for enterprises to apply for financial and tax incentives. According to the plan, incentive policies for enterprises will also be reviewed, and a list of incentives will be drawn up. The two ministries said they took the measure in order to implement the State Council's call to further optimize the business environment and stimulate economic vitality.

College enrollment rate will not fall

As the day for the annual national college entrance exam, or gaokao, approaches on June 7, the Ministry of Education published a notice to colleges and universities as well as education authorities nationwide on college enrollment. The notice said that the 2017 enrollment plan will continue promoting fairness for those sitting exams and protect their legal rights. The Education Ministry also said that the enrollment gap among different provinces will continue shrinking, and the number of high school graduates from rural and poor regions accepted by key universities will continue to rise. The total college enrollment rate will stay the same or be higher this year, it said.

Banks told to enhance guarantee evaluations

The China Banking Regulatory Commission issued a guiding document to commercial banks, which requires them to list the oversight of guarantees in the comprehensive risk control system. Banks must make a total evaluation of the debtor's repayment ability before issuing loans, so as to avoid over-reliance just on the guarantee. The CBRC also requires commercial banks to reevaluate the guarantee in case market prices fluctuate.