SCIO briefing on administrative approval system reform
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 10, 2014
Guo Weimin:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Welcome to today’s press conference. Speeding up the transformation of government functions, involving the streamlining of administration and delegation of power is a major measure proposed by the State Council. In order to help you better understand the related work, we have invited Li Zhangze, spokesperson from the Leading Group Office of the State Council Administrative Approval System Reform, to brief you on “streamlined administration, institutional decentralization and deepening reform of the administrative approval system”. He will also answer any questions you might have.
Other officials here today include Ms. Yang Jie, Deputy Director at the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, Mr. Lai Yongtian, Director at the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Sun Jianli, Director at the Professional and Technical Personnel Management Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Mr. Zhang Lixin, Director of the Professional Capacity Building Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and Mr. Zhou Shiping, head of the Enterprise Registration Bureau of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Now, let us welcome Mr. Li Zhangze to provide an introduction.
Li Zhangze:
Good morning! First, on behalf of the Leading Group Office of the State Council Administrative Approval System Reform, and officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, let me convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have long supported the State Council’s work regarding reform of the administrative examination and approval.
The Decision, reached at the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, proposed to further streamline administration, delegate power and deepen the reform of the government’s examination and approval system. The CPC Central Committee has long attached great importance to this work. General Secretary Xi Jinping, speaking at a CPC Politburo mass-line campaign meeting, stressed the need for further reform of the administrative examination and approval system, minimizing the space for “rent-seeking”, and blocking loopholes that could breed harmful practices in regard to the overriding systems and mechanisms.
Since its formation, the new State Council has given high priority to the transformation of government functions, streamlining administration and delegating power, and the reform of the administrative examination and approval system is an important point where breakthroughs can be made. Premier Li Keqiang has issued a number of directives seeking to cut by more than one-third the number of items requiring government examination and approval during the term of this administration. Thanks to the united efforts of all concerned parties, major progress has been made in the past year in government examination and approval system reform and the transformation of government functions.
First, in seven phases over the past year or so, the State Council has either abolished or delegated authority over 632 items requiring government examination and approval. The investment project directory has been revised, the industrial and commercial registration system has been reformed, special financial transfer payment projects have been reduced and the remainder integrated, administrative fees have been cut, and qualification permits and review and reward programs have been overhauled and in many cases abolished. The State Council has identified and publicized all current items requiring examination and approval by various State Council departments, removing items no longer needing administrative examination and approval, and publicized a circular that creates strict constraint on newly set-up administrative permission.
Second, market supervision has been further enhanced. As we streamline administration and delegate power, government management is being transformed from a pre-approval to a post-approval system, with more effort in supervision. The State Council has issued “Several Opinions on Promoting Fair Market Competition and Maintaining Normal Market Order”, “Interim Regulations on Enterprise Information Disclosure”, and “Guidelines on Social Credit System Construction (2014-2020)”, in a bid to promote the construction of a market supervision system characterized by unity, openness, orderly competition, integrity, observance of the law and effective supervision.
Third, macro management has been continuously enhanced. After the transformation of government functions and the reduction of micro management, various departments have been able to focus more on macro issues and long-term goals, and make further innovations on working principles and mechanisms related to economic growth, reform, structural adjustment and people’s well-being. Various departments have innovated the means of macro control, paid more heed to the decisive role of market allocation of resources under better overall government supervision, attached great importance to the coordination and optimization of productivity layout, and enhanced public services to improve people’s livelihood.
Fourth, administrative efficiency has been profoundly improved. We have continuously improved the government’s work style, strictly controlled the number of people financed by the central government, prohibited the construction of new government buildings, and strictly reduced the three kinds of public expenses, namely, business trips, government vehicles, and accommodation. In June and July, the State Council sent eight inspection teams to check the implementation of policies regarding economic growth, the promotion of reforms, structural adjustment and steps taken to enhance people’s well being. This vigorously promoted full implementation of various policies and measures.
It is worth noting that the constitution and various laws are fundamental in guiding government work. Premier Li Keqiang has emphasized repeatedly that the State Council and its various departments should take the lead to maintain their authority, and carry out our work in accordance with the law. Following his requirements, the State Council has abided by the principles of laws determining power, legal procedure, openness, transparency, and unification of the legal system, in the process of streamlining administration and delegating power. We missed no steps and phases in this regard, letting rule of law fully guide, regulate, promote and ensure reform.
Profound progress has been made regarding streamlining administration and delegating power in the past year, effectively loosening the grip on the market and facilitating relevant enterprises, which has been appreciated by ordinary people. But we are also aware that there are still some profound problems regarding government acting beyond its authority or not carrying out essential functions, so that the mission of deepening reform is still daunting. The relevant departments are studying these problems and will bring out effective and focused measures to deal with them.
The State Council will follow the requirements of letting the market play the decisive role in resources allocation and bringing the role of the government into fuller play, continue to direct efforts at the reform of administrative examination and approval, speed up the transformation of government functions, and adhere to the principles of combining management and delegating power and promoting the delegation of power through management. We will work on the following three aspects.
First, advance the work of streamlining administration and delegating power, and further release market vitality. We will attach equal importance to both quantity and quality, realize this year’s target of abolishing and delegating authority in regard to more than 200 items formerly requiring administrative examination and approval, fully clear out pre-approval and non-administrative approval items, continue to abolish unjustified qualification permits and review and reward items, continue to revise the investment project directory approved by the government, and further deepen reform of the industrial and commercial registration system. We will issue a guiding document on administrative examination and approval so as to ensure clear standards, streamlined procedures, reduced costs and increased efficiency.
Second, enhance and improve government management. We will reinforce market supervision, make concerted efforts to innovate the supervisory means, and smoothly promote the work of streamlining administration and delegating power through enhancing supervision during and after the project and improving the supervision system. We will improve and innovate macro adjustment principles and modes so that the adjustment is more forward-looking, focused, and coordinated. We will innovate the ways that government provide public services, combine the role of government and the strengths of the market and society, and work to ensure people’s well-being, especially those in the lower levels of society.
Third, we will conduct administration by law, and exert efforts on building a law-based government. We will overhaul relevant rules, regulations, and normative documents, and ask the National People’s Congress to revise related laws in a timely way, so that the reform is conducted in accordance with laws. We will improve the procedures of administrative enforcement, and refine and elaborate the enforcement discretion standard. We will carry out our work in strict accordance with laws and regulations, to ensure that administrative policy-making is made legally, administrative power is exercised legally, and unlawful administrative acts are punished legally.
The transformation of government functions is key to the reform of the administrative system, and also an essential part of increasing government management efficiency, promoting modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. We will create a sound environment for economic and social development, by streamlining administration and delegating power, unfettering the “invisible hand” of the market, better using the “visible hand” of the government, and further improving scientific and legal level of government management.
That ends my brief introduction. Thank you all!
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