Xiamen enhances competitiveness through rule of law

As one of the first national demonstration cities in promoting rule of law, Xiamen in East China's Fujian province has been taking the rule of law as the core competitiveness of its special economic zone in recent years. 

Comprehensive effort 

Taking the building of a law-based government as the centerpiece of its quest for overall law-based urban governance, the city has incorporated the work into its leading officials' performance assessment and year-end work reports. 

Its top Party members and government officials have also been dutifully performing their role as the principally-responsible persons in building a demonstration of law-based government. 

In addition, the city's leading officials are required to take tests on legal knowledge before taking office while local civil servants attend regular training programs to improve their legal literacy. 

First-rate business environment 

As early as 2015, Xiamen began to align its reform of streamlining administration and delegating power, improving regulation and upgrading services to the World Bank's standards in a bid to create a world-leading business environment.

As a result, about 98 percent of administrative approval items can now be handled online. 

The city also explored building of a central legal affair district last year in an effort to inject new impetus into the construction of a law-based business environment.