Shanghai launches new mechanism to boost business environment

In a bid to further enhance Shanghai's business environment, a media observer co-construction mechanism was jointly launched on Tuesday by the city's publicity department and the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Zhao Jiaming, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and head of the publicity department, called the mechanism "a major task of Shanghai's latest edition of action plan for creating a first-class business environment, published early this year".

According to Zhao, the mechanism aims to let media play a better role in news coverage and public opinion supervision, through establishing regular publicity, solving appeals and promoting work in the long-term.

Media observers included in the mechanism will be responsible for interpreting policies and measures on business environment reforms, and collecting and reflecting the difficulties of business entities, as well as promoting related government departments in reform and system innovation, said Gu Jun, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, who is also the director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.

The first batch of media observers is comprised of around 50 reporters from State-owned media and local Shanghai media. They will carry out various business environment research projects, reflect the city's business environment in an objective and impartial perspective, and promote the continuous optimization of Shanghai's business environment.