Beijing utility updates policies to better serve small businesses in the city

State Grid Beijing Electric Power Company has updated its service policy to better serve small businesses from Thursday, to deepen public service reform and improve the business environment.

“China is celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up in 2018 … Both of the first two State Council executive meetings this year have highlighted deepening reforms of public service and administration and improving the business environment,” said Qiu Mingquan, the company’s spokesperson.

“Small businesses are very sensitive to costs. We hope the new measures we take will help small businesses in Beijing save both time and money, creating a more comfortable business environment for them.”

The new policy provides convenience to small businesses in Beijing, and is estimated to help them save about 1.2 billion yuan ($190 million) on device costs and 150 million yuan on maintenance costs per year, if the calculation is done based on electricity installation data in 2017, according to Qiu.

Under the new policy, once a small business informs the company about its need for using electricity, either by registering on the company’s website or mobile app, visiting one of its offline service sites, or calling its hotline, the company will send professionals to the client as soon as possible to complete an electrical installation. The company said the installation procedure will take less than 30 working days and does not require repeated filing of information as earlier.

In addition, the company has offered free electrical devices, installation and maintenance to its clients using electricity below 160 kilowatts, instead of below 100 kilowatts.

In the past, a small business had to visit the company’s offline service sites over and over again for registration and application for an electrical installation, and had to choose electricity lower than 100 kW, because most of them could not afford hiring professionals for high-voltage electricity (above 100 kW) maintenance, which is required by national regulations, Qiu said.

Guo Lianqi, director of the Electricity and Coal Management Office of Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management, applauded the company’s new move, saying that as small businesses play an important role in increasing employment opportunities, the new policy will benefit the development of small businesses in Beijing and contribute to Beijing’s efforts to build a world-class business-friendly city.