Policy digest
Regional development mechanism to be set up
A mechanism to promote more effective coordinated regional development will be set up, according to a guideline issued on Thursday.
The guideline, jointly released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, has come up with a target to establish a mechanism for coordinated regional development that is compatible with building a moderately prosperous society by 2020, and a new development mechanism that is compatible with its basic modernization by 2035.
It called for efforts to promote the integrated development of the country’s major development strategies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the coordinated development between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
There will be better coordination for the growth of developed areas and less developed areas. The eastern provincial areas will prioritize reform and innovation, the transformation between new and traditional growth engines as well as regional integration. For the less-developed areas in the west, the country will speed up efforts to improve the weak links such as infrastructure, public service, ecology and environment as well as industry development, the guideline said.
The guideline also requires coordinated development between land and marine sectors, with more endeavors set to be made to repair ecology along coastal areas and step up control over land reclamation.
The free flow of elements between urban and rural areas will be further promoted to better the business environment and stimulate market vitality. A unified negative list system for the market will be implemented nationwide, and regional market barriers will be eliminated, the guideline said.
It also called for increased coordination between fiscal, monetary and investment polices to support inter-regional projects in transport, water conservancy and environmental protection.
The country will actively conduct international regional cooperation by giving full play to cooperative mechanisms such as the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the guideline said.
Evaluation will enhance business environment
An evaluation system for the business environment will be established, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.
The importance of bettering the business environment for promoting high-quality development was highlighted at the meeting. Endeavors will be made to better align with advanced international standards, tackle areas of major weakness and vigorously pursue reform and opening-up, the statement said.
A system for evaluating the business environment in China that is comparable to international criteria will be set up in alignment with World Bank standards. The assessment will focus on areas closely related to market participants, including starting a business, getting a construction permit, obtaining a loan, paying taxes, going through bankruptcy procedures and protecting intellectual property rights, the statement said.
The evaluation will be carried out across the country in due course, and local authorities and departments will be encouraged to come up with more solid meas- ures for bettering the business environment.
The meeting urged faster promotion nationwide of practices proven effective at local levels in facilitating business operations, especially for cutting reviewing requirements, simplifying permitting procedures, and lowering costs.
Enterprises will receive greater support to participate in the policymaking process related to the business environment, and channels of communication between business and government will be smoothed to make government policies better targeted and more effective, and foster a business environment that is market-driven, law-based and up to international standards, the statement said.
China’s efforts to improve its business environment were endorsed by the World Bank in a report released on Oct 31. The country advanced more than 30 spots to 46th place in the global rankings, making it one of the top 10 improvers in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019: Training for Reform report.