People's Daily:

This year the State Council has launched an initiative to optimize administrative services and promote one-stop government services. What has the SAMR done to implement the initiative by the State Council? 

Pu Chun:

I'll ask my colleague, Wang Guowei, to respond to this question.

Wang Guowei:

Happy to answer your question. Since this year, according to the arrangement of the State Council, SAMR's work with relevant departments to promote one-stop government services has been with three services frequently encountered by residents and involving various departments. The three services are business information changes, business deregistration and opening a restaurant. 

What are one-stop government services? Previously, what seemed like a single matter to enterprises and residents actually involved multiple departments, requiring applicants to navigate various procedures step by step, which led to repeated visits to departments. Each department designed its own rules, with some departments requiring the completion of procedures in other departments before the applicants could proceed, resulting in reciprocal requirements and additional trips for applicants. This problem wasn't unheard of in the past, causing great inconvenience to residents. How do one-stop government services solve the problem? In short, it requires coordinated innovation and deep integration across the three aspects of systems, operations and technology.

First is system innovation. We need to shift from management rules that were designed primarily for government efficiency to rules that prioritize convenience for the public. For instance, we should reduce or eliminate the number of required documents wherever possible, so that applicants only need to visit one department.

Second is business process innovation. The handling processes should move from a sequential approach where one step follows another to a parallel approach. For example, with items that involve various departments, tasks are responded to, linked, circulated and handled through the coordination of these departments. This will make things much more convenient for enterprises.

Third is technological innovation. Online government services should evolve from simple passive reception to diversified scenario services based on the needs of the public. To this end, we have promoted interconnectivity across regions, departments and administrative levels. By leveraging digital technology, we have created an accessible, smart and convenient online government service system, where the public can complete their tasks entirely online.

Our innovative reforms in three key areas have yielded significant results, as evidenced by the following data. For enterprise information changes, we reduced procedures from seven to one, eliminated the need for 13 documents, and cut approval time by six working days. For enterprise deregistration, we reduced the number of procedures from 10 to four. For ordinary deregistration, we cut processing time from a minimum of 70 days to just 46 days, including a statutory notice period of 45 days, which is unlikely to be shortened or skipped because the legitimate rights and interests of creditors and other stakeholders need protection. For opening catering businesses, we reduced processing time from 37 to 15 working days and eliminated 14 previously required documents. These improvements demonstrate that our reforms have streamlined administrative procedures for enterprises and individuals, cutting time and costs while optimizing the whole process. As a result, we are now more confident in better addressing public concerns by upholding the spirit of reform and implementing related measures.

Looking ahead, the SAMR will follow the unified arrangements of the State Council, continue to deepen reform in one-stop government services to achieve new outcomes and improve the quality and efficiency of government services to benefit both enterprises and individuals. Thank you.