Full transcript of policy briefing of the State Council on Feb 13, 2015

Qi Ji:

However, we are coming up with more and more difficulties as the work proceeds.

First, the easiest renovation projects have already be completed, and that means the rest are those tougher ones that require more investment and effort. This is a big challenge we now face.

Second, some people in need expect the government to help them solve other difficulties in terms of employment and education, apart from renovating shanties. This requires a combination of other social resources, which throws up more difficulties, especially during the process of demolishing shanty houses.

Finally, financing is a problem for most local governments. As I have mentioned, renovation projects that can be carried out with private capital have almost been completed, and the rest will basically rely on the government, which means a single channel to raise money. I should point out that financial institutions including China Development Bank will provide more financial support for renovating shanty houses this year.

The central government will also offer more support in terms of subsidies for this year’s affordable housing projects. Of course, we do agree that it is important to encourage more private capital to participate in these projects to ensure that the task is carried out smoothly.

You asked me how many shanty houses are left after the five million we renovated last year. Statistics show that renovation of about 21 million houses had begun by the end of last year. From now until 2020, when China will have realized its goal of building a moderately prosperous society, about 20 million shanty houses need to have been renovated. So we still need to renovate several million units every year in the coming years.

That’s all.

Hu Kaihong (host):

Now, let’s enter the second section of the briefing and give the floor to Mr Hu.

Hu Zucai:

Dear friends from the media, good morning. I’m happy to meet you.

I’ll introduce the investment project approval and supervision system involving collaboration between central departments and local governments, the establishment of which was discussed in the latest Executive Meeting of the State Council.

As you know, on Feb 6, the 81st Executive Meeting of the State Council took decisions on the reform of the management of government investment, transformation of government functions, facilitation of investment and entrepreneurship, and standardization of market order.

According to the meeting, the establishment of a collaborative supervision mechanism is a key measure to push forward streamlining administrative approval procedures and delegating powers to lower levels with a balance between easing regulations and maintaining necessary supervisions. The mechanism can make governmental management more standardized and efficient, which will better serve enterprises and facilitate their investment.

According to the decisions made in the meeting, the technology of the Internet and the big data should be used to fasten the establishment of an online platform for investment project approval and supervision. This will connect all relevant departments and local governments at various levels. It will provide a one-stop service for the application, review and supervision of projects. The entire procedures will be transparent and verifiable. The service and supervision will be more efficient, which will improve market order.

The essence of the establishment of such a system is to further reform governmental management. As you know, the government used to emphasize the pre-approvals of projects. Now the emphasis is gradually shifting to supervision after a project begins. The establishment of such a mechanism is in accordance with this transition to build a standardized and efficient supervision system.

Hu Zucai:

The main points of the mechanism include:

First, to realize a reasonable division of authority. The relevant departments should delegate administrative approval procedures to lower levels. Failure to do this was a problem that many companies mentioned. Meanwhile, we should enhance the ability of governments at lower levels to make sure that they can handle the responsibility of approvals.

Second, key areas for supervision should be clarified. The focus will mainly be on the start and completion of projects. The supervision on the entire process of a construction should be in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Thirdly, an online information platform should be established. On the platform, a project will get a project ID when it is accepted for review. The ID will be the identification code for the project during the entire construction process. It will enable the sharing of information and supervision for the whole process, which will help build a credit history of the project. Efficient services should be provided to enterprises with good credit, while those who lose credibility will be penalized.

That’s all I have to say. I look forward to your questions.

Hu Kaihong:

Next, Minister Dou will introduce the government’s relevant policies to help financially disadvantaged people to get through winter, and the policy to assist people with serious illnesses.

Dou Yupei:

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to talk with you today. Since the beginning of the winter, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have been very concerned about how people with financial difficulties — and people affected by natural disasters — will get through the winter. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have — on many occasions — given important instructions to address this issue.

Dou Yupei:

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has been working to make sure people in need receive timely assistance.

Last time I attended the policy briefing, I spoke about the key measures the government has taken to address the issue. This time — I will talk about the financial support the government has offered to guarantee the measures to be fully implemented.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance have in advance set aside 76.76 billion yuan to help people depending on basic living allowances, 2.18 billion yuan to provide temporary assistance for needy residents, 11.18 billion yuan to help people who cannot afford to pay their medical bills, 7.1 billion yuan to help people affected by natural disasters get through the winter, and 1.4 billion yuan to help homeless people and vagrants.

Besides, local authorities have prepared their own resources to help these people.

This way we are trying to provide aid to as many people in need as possible. Also, we will supervise more strictly on how the money is spent to make sure that the money goes to people in need and that people hit by disasters and people with financial difficulties will get through winter safely.

Dou Yupei:

We are also accelerating the pace of improving the project concerning healthcare for people with serious illnesses.

First, we will improve the funding mechanism, and integrate assistance for urban residents and assistance for rural residents. The government will invest more in the healthcare project. We are also encouraging local authorities, enterprises — and the nongovernment sector — to invest more.

Second, we will make sure people who require assistance to pay their medical bills know where to get this assistance — and we will make sure they receive it in a timely manner. We will set up personal records for those requiring assistance.

Third, we will set up an instant settlement system, so patients will only have to make one payment — for costs not covered by various medical insurance programs, including the healthcare assistance project — and this will be more convenient.

Fourth, we will coordinate the various medical insurance programs, so that these programs complement each other in an efficient manner.

Additionally, we have implemented a special program to provide assistance to people who cannot afford basic living necessities — such as homeless people, unemployed migrant workers and those who have been victims of theft.

This is the end of my introduction. I would like to answer your questions.

Hu Kaihong (host):

Thank you, Minister Dou. Now we will open the floor for questions.

China Radio International:

Mu Hu, what are the highlights of the newly established investment approval supervision system which is coordinated by ministries and local government? How can efficiency be measured compared to the past? And how do you boost investment entrepreneurship?

Hu Zucai:

As I have just introduced to you, it is an innovative approach to investment management to establish a coordinated supervision mechanism. According to the decisions of the State Council, the reform has been fast-tracked. One of the most common problems is that too many unnecessary approvals need to be passed by the government; the other problem is the difficulty of too many preconditions.

Regarding the first problem, the number of approvals required has already been greatly narrowed. The number of approval-needed items was cut by 76 percent from the central government level. Now 95 percent of foreign investment steps only need to be filed on record and a small number need approval. For overseas investment steps, all need to make online records except for those in sensitive areas, countries and regions. We have achieved great improvements in this area of efficiency.

Hu Zucai:

The main problem of approvals was too many preconditions. Currently there are over 30 preconditions concerning around 20 ministries as calculated by the State Council. Too many procedures were required for approvals. On top of this, there were 18 more preconditions relating to enterprises’ operational autonomy.

We are now removing and combining some of the preconditions. Another big change is that preconditions that required more than two ministries’ approvals can be coordinated to be handled at the same time, greatly boosting efficiency. This applies to most of the preconditions except planning, land and, very important, environmental protection.

The government used to put more emphasis on preapproval and less on supervision during and after the process. The coordinated supervision mechanism established this time will solve the problem. It is also a major innovation as supervision is contained in the service, with full utilization of the Internet and big data technology.

To be more specific, an online platform for investment approval supervision will be built on the national e-government outer net. In this way, online applications, processing and coordinated processing at the same time, and supervision can be realized. The whole process will be transparent and enterprises can track their progress by codes. This makes it more convenient for enterprises to go through the process online instead of going to the government.

Four systems will also be built. First is a unified code system, which is the only tracking number used in the whole processing cycle, and enables related ministries to share information. Second is a time-limit processing system. Every ministry should publish its guide for acceptance conditions, procedures and deadlines. The guide should be strictly implemented and supervised by society. Third is a coordinated supervision system: approval supervision information can be shared by related ministries thus any mistakes can be corrected at once. Fourth is an online record system. Related ministries of the government can provide policy support and big data services accordingly. This will be set up online within the year according to the deployment of the State Council.

Thank you.