Investments, leasing and land use among key topics raised

Several ministry-level departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Foreign and domestic investment blocks eased

China further eased restrictions for both domestic and foreign investors in the latest revised negative list for market access, the NDRC said on Sept 18.

Meng Wei, a spokeswoman with the NDRC, said at a news conference that the revised list, which has yet to be approved, has cut the number of sectors and businesses that are off-limits, reduced administrative measures on investment and optimized its structure.

Industries, fields and businesses not on the list are open for investment to all market players. Chinese authorities revise the list on an annual basis, with the 2018 version released last December. Unlike the negative lists for foreign investment market access released in June, the unified list applies to all market players including both domestic and foreign investors.

Meng said, the negative list approach has achieved good results in making market access management more open, inclusive and predictable, creating more space for entrepreneurship and innovation of market entities, as well as stimulating their market vitality.

The country will also pilot projects in some provinces to further widen market access, especially in the service sector, she added.

Leasing of property to be easier, protecting tenant

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Sept 19 that it will carry out a special program on addressing the disorder of housing lease intermediary organizations and protect the legal interests of parties concerned.

The decision was made at a meeting participated in by authorities from the local housing and rural-urban development departments in key cities.

It required efforts to be made in putting the people first by targeting and solving the problems that annoy the public regarding housing lease.

Behaviors of agents that violate the lawful rights and interests of parties to the housing lease contracts will be cracked down on, it said.

According to the meeting, the special program aims to correct and investigate intermediary organizations' illegal acts and ban any unqualified agents.

While containing the current situation, efforts will also be made to establish a long-term mechanism that helps to create a better house-lease market environment and reassure people who rent houses, it said.

Time to approve land use to be cut dramatically

The time required to approve the planning of land use will be shortened to about six months from at least three years as China will further streamline its administrative approval system for land-use planning, the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Sept 20.

According to Zhao Long, deputy head of the ministry, reforms on planning permission and land use approval will be carried out nationwide to improve the business environment and promote governance efficiency.

The reforms, which unified the review and licensing procedures in different government departments, are expected to markedly streamline items, significantly trim the application process and greatly reduce approval time, Zhao told a news conference.

In the past, applicants needed to go through an overlapping review by different government departments to get approval for planning and land use.

Under the reforms, China will also delegate more power from the State Council to provincial-level governments, allowing them to have greater say in authorizing land and space planning, Zhao said.