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UPDATED: November 10, 2013 NO. 46, NOVEMBER 14, 2013
Cutting Down Red Tape
Reforms in administrative management top government agenda
By Wang Hairong
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PAPERWORK: Local residents go through examination and approval procedures at an administrative service center in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on October 11 (XUE YUBIN)

The building of the second section of the Subway Line 2 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is scheduled to begin at the end of this year. It only took six months for the Hangzhou Subway Group to obtain the construction permits necessary for the project.

Had the government not simplified the examination and approval procedure for urban rail transit projects back in May, it could have taken a whole year to get the permits, said Wu Wenhu, vice general manager of the company.

Reducing and adjusting items requiring administrative examination and approval is a major part of the ongoing institutional restructuring and transformation of the responsibilities of government departments in China.

Since the current administration took office in March, 334 administrative examinations and approval procedures have either been canceled or delegated to lower-level government organizations.

"This has all been done much faster than we originally anticipated," said Wang Manchuan, Deputy Secretary General of the China Society of Administrative Reform.

Simplifying procedures

During the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, in March, the State Council released its plan to restructure the cabinet and transform government functions.

Premier Li Keqiang defined the move as "redefining and rationalizing the relations between the government, the market and society." He made the remarks while meeting the press on March 17, shortly after taking his current office.

At least one third of the 1,700 items still requiring examination and approval from the State Council will be cut within the next five years, according to Li.

"The government should manage those matters that fall within its purview, and leave to the market and society what they can do well," Li said.

To invigorate market forces and spur economic growth, central government departments have waived approval requirements for a significant number of investment, production and operation procedures.

For instance, the National Development and Reform Commission has relinquished its power to examine and approve a number of items, including the expansion of civilian airports, the manufacturing of urban rail transit vehicles, the production of paper pulp and satellite TV receivers, and the exploration of oil and gas fields of certain scale.

The Central Government has also delegated some of its examination and approval powers to local governments.

Previously, approval from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce was necessary if foreign companies wanted to set up representative offices or engage in production and operation activities in China. Now this power has been handed down to provincial-level commerce watchdogs.

Removal of some administrative approval items is expected to facilitate international cooperation and exchanges. For example, after the reform, Chinese companies no longer have to gain approval from the Ministry of Commerce to sign oil and gas cooperative agreements with foreign partners.

Sino-foreign joint education institutions similarly do not need to go through approval procedures with the Ministry of Education any more when they want to hire foreign principals.

Foreign nationals also no longer have to gain approval from the Ministry of Public Security for travel across China in privately owned vehicles.

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