China aims for faster administrative approvals

BEIJING - The Chinese central government has promised more efforts to accelerate the administrative approval process.

The State Council, China's cabinet, published a document listing several measures to simplify approval procedures and improve transparency in the process after a meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

China has worked to streamline administration and delegate powers to stimulate the market as part of its reform efforts amid an economic slowdown.

In the past two years, 798 administrative approval items have been canceled or delegated to local governments by the State Council.

However, more efforts are still needed for the measures to benefit people.

Gao Xiaoping, deputy president of the China Public Administration Society, said procedures are still complicated and problems such as low efficiency exist.

Zhang Zhanbin, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said governments should continue to simplify administrative procedures to improve efficiency.

Responding to the concerns, more specific measures were announced at the meeting to make approvals faster.

Authorities should provide clear instructions on approval applications and receive applicants at a one-stop service window to avoid making them run around, according to the document.

Approval authorities must finish the approval process within a limited time and may not prolong the process for any reason, it said.

All information related to the approval, as long as it does not involve national secrets, commercial secrets or personal privacy, must be publicized, it added.

It also called for handling approvals online for convenience and to save time.

It takes time to rebuild an approval system so it is reasonable, efficient and orderly, Zhang said, adding both top-down policy and real-world tests are necessary.

Earlier on the same day, the National Development and Reform Commission and State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform canceled 18 preconditions for investment approval, giving enterprises more room to invest and make independent decisions.

Draft amendments to a series of laws on education were also passed at the meeting and will be delivered to the top legislature for review.

The draft amendments propose delegating approval rights for establishing higher learning institutions to provincial governments and allowing for-profit private schools.