Govt policy moves from past week

SOE worker wage system to undergo performance reform

The government will reform the wage system in State-owned enterprises to improve market competitiveness and boost employee enthusiasm, according to a guideline released by the State Council on May 25.

Authorities will establish a salary-setting and growth mechanism that is suited to the labor market and linked to the SOE's economic performance and labor productivity, according to a guideline.

The guideline points out that work should focus on increasing the vitality and efficiency of SOEs, and salaries for SOEs should be determined according to their performance, while the management of inner salary distribution should be improved.

Government needs to strengthen oversight of SOE salary distribution, and State capital should be supported to get better returns and income distribution should be more reasonable and orderly, the guideline said.

Businesses in competitive industries will have indicators to reflect their market competitiveness, such as net profits or return on net assets. For those mainly providing public products, indicators should reflect cost control, product quality and operation efficiency. Gross wage budgets will be made by SOEs and approved by their investors or filed on record, the guideline said.

Experiences of pilot FTZs to be promoted across nation

The State Council released a document on May 23 on the fourth wave of promoting the experiences of 11 pilot Free Trade Zones.

Further opening-up will be put into place in the service industries, highlighting establishing partnership-type law firms jointly owned by partners from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao, the document said. More opening-up will take place in international shipping services, management and agencies, as well as international maritime cargo handling services, container yards, and storage yard businesses, it added.

The investment management sector is also a field where the pilot FTZs have attained much success, such as integrated approval and completion management of key credentials; supervision, registration, and fishing licenses, the innovative international shipping registration system, and the combined filing management for foreign trade proprietors and enterprises established in the regions of origin.

The circular also referred to experience obtained in trade facilitation, featuring the trans-departmental one-time joint inspection, an innovative mode of streamlining railway transportation manifests, and facilitation measures for inspection and quarantine investigation of empty inbound shipping containers.

Additionally, the 11 pilot FTZs set benchmarks for the rest of China in the field of regulatory measures taken during and after the process of conducting business, covering the collective sharing mechanism of information regarding enterprises' delivery, mobile border control services, innovative management of inland-waterway ship arrivals and departures at ports, and the paperless online customs registration for enterprises and access to electronic ports.

Guangdong, Fujian, Tianjin zones to be reformed

The State Council released three documents addressing deepening reforms in Guangdong and Fujian provinces and Tianjin on May 23.

Reforms in the China (Guangdong) Free Trade Zone will be deepened to meet advanced international standards and enhance cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao. It was stated in the document that by 2020, systems should be set up to meet international investment and trade regulations, and to serve the FTZ as an international shipping center, trade center and a model of financial opening-up.

The document on deepening the reforms in Fujian FTZ makes clear that by 2020, an institutional system that links global investment and trade rules should be established to form an international business environment.

China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone will promote coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. It is expected that by 2020, Tianjin FTZ will embrace an open economy in line with international trade and investment rules, and develop demonstration zones for coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.