Zhuhai spares no effort in building law-based business environment

The coastal city of Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, has been making tremendous effort to build a law-based business environment in recent years, becoming one of the first demonstration cities in China with a law-based government.

Improving government service

For the convenience of the public, the municipal government conducted two rounds of sweeping administrative matter reviews in recent years. As a result, it removed 134 unnecessary certificate requirements. It also delegated the power over 390 municipal-level administrative matters to authorities at lower levels and transferred 77 of its functions to the general public. These moves enabled it to focus on its core duties and functions.

As for administrative approval work, the government shifted its focus from pre-event approval to in-process and post-event supervision. It also implemented a notification and commitment system and a comprehensive credit monitoring mechanism to build a credit-based market environment. In addition, it is now using big data technology to reshape its service mode.

The government has also been committed to administrative law enforcement reform in recent years, strengthening its supervision of law enforcement activities by introducing an accountability system and improving transparency by requiring whole-process recording.

Advancing business-friendly reform

To further cut the time required for commercial registration, Zhuhai's Hengqin Free Trade Zone launched an online administrative approval platform last year. The platform enables businesses to complete the whole registration process online, dramatically enhancing service efficiency.

In addition, the municipal government has worked out two new plans to more than halve the time limit on approval of private capital-funded and construction projects from the previous 98 workdays to merely 37.

It has also devoted a lot of effort to IP protection, developing more than 20 regulatory rules on the issue. After being named as a national-level demonstration city for IP protection in 2019, it unveiled a three-year plan to advance the work.

Implementing delicacy social management

The municipal government has explored digital urban management and a weekly patrolling practice to achieve delicacy social management.

It also released three plans on urban and rural community governance with the purpose of involving all of society in grassroots governance.