Six regions involved in logistics reforms

Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for education, transport, and development and reform, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Reforms aim to cut logistics costs, increase efficiency

China is carrying out pilot reforms to reduce logistics costs and increase efficiency in six provincial-level regions including Shanxi, Zhejiang and Chongqing, a notice published on Sept 29 said.

Jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport, it said the pilot program will run to August 2021.

Regions involved in the program should study and formulate practical measures within their administrative power to reduce logistics costs and improve efficiency according to their own conditions and needs, it said.

The notice said innovative policy demands and suggestions related to the administrative power of State Council departments or those that contradict existing rules, regulations and normative documents should be submitted to the NDRC and the Ministry of Transport.

Successful models and advanced experience in pilot areas will be promoted in an appropriate way after an assessment of the reform results, it said.

Infrastructure for online education to be boosted

China will greatly improve the construction of infrastructure for online education by next year, according to a guideline published on Sept 30.

The guideline, jointly issued by 11 departments including the Ministry of Education, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the National Development and Reform Commission, said efforts to promote the healthy development of online education will include encouraging the wider application of modern information technologies such as the internet, big data and artificial intelligence, improving online education modes and enriching related resources and services.

It said all schools will have access to rapid and stable internet services by 2022.

To expand the supply of high-quality online education resources, efforts will be made to encourage the participation of social capital in conducting online education, accelerate the research and sharing of online education resources among schools, and establish a group of high-quality online courses, the guideline said.

It also underlined the importance of protecting the rights and interests of consumers and providing open channels for consumer complaints.

10 major initiatives to improve health industry

China will carry out 10 major projects related to priority areas and key links in the health industry by 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Sept 29.

An outline of an action plan for promoting the high-quality development of the health industry, jointly issued by departments including the NDRC, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, said a reasonably structured health industry system with rich content will basically take shape by 2022.

The coverage of high-quality medical and health resources will be expanded, and integration and coordination within the industry will be strengthened, it said. The industry will also be more competitive in terms of science and technology, will employ more high-quality staff members, and several influential health industry clusters will be established.

This will help to lay a solid foundation for the health industry to become an important pillar industry of the national economy, the outline said.

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area to get better transport network

China will build a comprehensive traffic network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to ensure people can travel between neighboring cities in 90 minutes, Ministry of Transport spokesman Sun Wenjian said on Sept 26.

Sun told a regular ministry news conference that express railway services will cover all cities of prefecture-level and above in the region.

He said the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has achieved positive results with a number of major transportation projects steadily forging ahead. More efforts will now be made to promote railway development in the region, build a convenient and easy road traffic network, and adjust the region's transportation structure, Sun said.

China initiated a key strategy in 2014 to coordinate the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.