Almost 12,000 startups registered in last year in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area

The number of new businesses registered in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, Jiangsu province surged in 2018 with a total of 11,570 ventures launched, an increase of 46.8 percent year-on-year, according to officials.

The total registered capital in the year hit 105.6 billion yuan ($15.77 billion), an increase of 98.9 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics from the bureau of administrative approval of the local administrative committee.

The boom in new business registration can be partly attributed to the streamlined administrative procedures and easier access to customized services for business owners, said Wang Ran, deputy director of the bureau.

In 2016, a package of new measures to streamline the administrative procedures, including business registration, project approval, seal engraving and license issuance, were launched in the new area.

The rollout, initiated by the local administrative committee, involves the merging of services that were provided by separate departments and an upgrade of an online application system.

Thanks to the reform, it takes two days to finish new business registration, three days for real property registration and 30 days to obtain the construction permission for a group of major industrial projects.

Business owners can now hand in the materials, fill in the forms and pay administrative fees in one service window at the bureau.

Another highlight in the reform falls on the policy preferences toward a group of business owners over their credit record.

The reform involved 29 major projects mainly engaged in the industries of microelectronics, healthcare and finance, which is in line with the city's project to construct China's "chip city, gene city and a new financial center".

Moreover, the bureau has launched online services that collate information from separate bureaus.

A total of 1,120 kinds of administrative services including startup registration and certificate issuance have become available online.

"The reform is a good step to realize the connection of the different departments," said Xu Chi, project director of YiduCloud, a data processing and application platform engaged in healthcare services.

It saves time that would otherwise be spent shuttling between departments. Moreover, most materials can be submitted online. Business owners are benefiting from the new policies, Xu said.

In 2018, the bureau fulfilled a total of 74,323 services and all of them were finished ahead of schedule. The satisfaction rate has reached 99.9 percent, according to the bureau.

"Our reform is entering deep water and the improvement of the overall business environment in our area still has a long way to go. But at least we have stepped into the initial stage and received positive feedback," Wang said.

"After that, it would be significant to phase out the institutional barriers of laws and appeal for more support from separate bureaus, paving the way for further reform in the future."