Online registration provides convenience

Beijing will attempt to make online company registration as convenient as online shopping, said a senior local official at a recent news conference.

The effort is part of Beijing’s longrunning campaign to attract respected companies, which are expected to aid the city’s high-quality economic growth.

“Starting a business is the first step of innovation and entrepreneurship. As the saying goes: ‘the first step is always the hardest’,” said Fang Baoqing, spokesman for the Beijing Administration for Market Regulation.

To make it easier to start a business in Beijing, Fang said the administration will continue its effort to move the entire business registration process online.

“We will make the company registration process paperless and digital by encouraging the use of electronic business licenses, electronic invoices and electronic seals,” he said.

Electronic business licenses and electronic seals will be issued at the same time. An entrepreneur who applies to start a business via the city’s business services website Echuangtong (or, e-window) will be able to obtain an electronic business license and five electronic seals for free. They can be collected via a WeChat mini program named Electronic Business License.

The Echuangtong platform will continue to correct any faults and remove any inconveniences that may compromise the user experience. More functions are to be added to the platform, according to Fang.

The administration will focus on making the digital tool more userfriendly in a bid to make obtaining government services online as convenient as shopping, Fang noted.

These measures will help and quicken businesses’ entry into the marketplace and allow them to obtain the necessities to commence operations quickly.

According to Fang, the measures Beijing has taken in recent years to improve the ease of starting a business have yielded results. The company startup process in Beijing has entered an “era of ones”, he said.

The “one” refers to the integration of business registration procedures into a one-stop shop.

An applicant can obtain a business license within a day by submitting one form to one service window, rather than register separately with different offices. The license is interoperable among relevant departments.

Fang said the Beijing Administration for Market Regulation last year introduced a new procedure where a business license and operating permit can be obtained by a single online application.

“The new procedure is currently on trial,” he added.