Shanghai steps up efforts to optimize business climate for enterprises

The government has worked hard to improve the business operating climate for enterprises by rolling out a package of targeted policies and measures, improving its work efficiency and providing accurate services, local officials said today.

To speed up project completion has always been a key task for the local administrative examination and approval office. The authority has carried out four rounds of reforms to optimize the investment system and reduce approval management issues for construction projects, Jin Yueming, deputy director of the Shanghai Office of Agency and Staffing Committee said.

Meanwhile, the government has been exploring new and innovative initiatives to quicken project completion by implementing special reform pilot programs in the original comprehensive bonded zone, the Expo park, chemical industry zones and Fengxian District, and then promote and replicate successful experiences to other areas in the city.

In 2017, Shanghai revised and optimized its project administrative examination and approval processes and introduced a new administration program for enterprises that invest in technology transformation projects.

Through those reforms, the time for administrative examination and the approval of industrial projects has been trimmed by one third compared with the stipulated time, with the time required for some projects reduced by as much as half.

In the past year, the city also made reforms to boost its work efficiency by providing spot responsive servicing. The policy requires that administrative departments should help resolve problems from the public on the spot, as long as they can make a quick decision.

So far, thanks to the policy, more than 20,000 requests have received spot responses, which has enhanced the sense of satisfaction among the public and saved a lot of time for companies, the government said.

Besides, local authorities have taken the initiative to provide more pre-project services to companies. Before the public and enterprises formally put forward their applications, the relevant administrative departments will offer services like on-site investigation, technical review and guidance.

A total of 19 items have been among the advanced services list throughout the whole city, and about 90,000 requests have been served, which has helped enterprises reduce their operating costs and the amount of time needed greatly.