Reform moves enhanced in area's free trade zone

The number of administrative approval items for investment projects will be drastically reduced from 110 to about 15 in Pingtan pilot free trade zone, and all the items will be subject to a unified procedure, officials said. The elimination of dilatory and unnecessary handling procedures is a core of the zone's continued reform.

Yu Hongbin, senior official at the zone's administrative approval bureau, said: "Pingtan has been gradually deepening the reform of engineering construction project approval in recent years by focusing more on systematic integration, comprehensive improvement and practical results."

As early as 2015, the free trade zone started to test a new project approval mode, which divides all the administrative approval items into four phases covering everything from project initiation to completion, and each phase can be initiated by filing only one form and handled at only one service window, in a bid to provide entrepreneurs with more convenience.

Due to the initiative, the zone's engineering projects have been developing rapidly in the past three years. By the end of October this year, Pingtan's administrative approval bureau had dealt with a total of 428 investment projects.

Streamlining administrative approval procedures is only a small part of Pingtan's ongoing reform. The county in East China's Fujian province initiated a 120-day construction campaign in September, aiming to trigger a new boom in entrepreneurship and promote its development to a higher level. The campaign covers seven aspects, including industrial transformation, reconstruction of scenic spots, environmental development in urban and rural areas, new city construction of Jinjing and improvement of people's livelihoods.

The campaign is also expected to help Pingtan accomplish its main growth targets this year, including a 9 percent GDP growth, a 16 percent increase of total investment in fixed assets and a 15 percent growth in terms of general public budget revenue year-on-year.

Pingtan enjoys an important status in the Chinese mainland's opening-up to Taiwan, as the county is the Chinese mainland's closest neighbor of the island and serves as a major destination for cross-Straits business cooperation. The central government has placed a high value on the development of Pingtan, and approved its establishment of a comprehensive pilot zone, a free trade zone and an international tourist resort.

Chen Shanguang, deputy director of Fujian Provincial Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, said Pingtan is at a critical period of development, with both opportunities and challenges ahead, and thus should take the 120-day construction campaign as an important attempt to fulfill the deployment of the central and provincial governments, and to realize high-quality social and economic development.

Government agencies at all levels should carry out projects and set goals in accordance with the real situation, and define individual accountability, Chen added. According to the campaign, Pingtan will design 200 industrial projects by the end of December, centering on such fields as tourism, logistics and wind power. It will also sign contracts for 100 projects related to sectors such as tourism development and management in villages, self-driving car camps and bonded processing and logistics parks.

As of November, the county had signed con

(China Daily 12/18/2018 page6)