Efficient services a boon for public and businesses

The Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone in Fujian province is winning praise for its convenient services for residents and businesses, as a result of its continued reform of government functions and the improvement of the business environment.

In recent years, the zone has reformed its services by streamlining administrative procedures and improving efficiency through online platforms.

In 2019, the Chinese government issued a circular calling for the simpler and faster processing of property registrations to better serve individuals and businesses.

By the end of 2020, the time required for the general and mortgage registrations should be shortened to within five days, according to the circular.

The zone said it has established a "single-window" system capable of managing more than 290 processes concerning properties, housing provident funds and medical and social insurance to help save time for the public.

According to the zone, it has set up three administrative service sub-centers and several offices to complement services in township areas.

It has also established a 24-hour service space in an effort to achieve a 15-minute administrative service target.

Setting up the Haitan service sub-center, it helped to alleviate wait time for those that require access to government services, said Huang Huiwen, an employee at the sub-center.

The center is capable of handling an average of more than 7,000 administrative matters every month, according to Huang.

All of the staff members who work in the single-window system have to be trained, Huang said.

"That aims to make them competent for the public's requirements for various services and helps to balance the work at every working window," he added.

Wei Wenshun, another staff member, said he can manage more than 40 administrative matters every day.

"The work has become a bit more challenging as it involves more areas," Wei said.

"I have mastered nearly 300 types of business applications and matters."

With such reforms, the administrative center has become more efficient and saved costs, shortening wait time for people and businesses requiring administrative services. The time it takes on average to process an application or registration has fallen from 42 minutes to 12 minutes. More than 92 percent of administrative matters can be sorted out within 30 minutes, according to the zone.

It took only one week to get business and operating licenses thanks to the single-window system, according to a manager at Fukang biotech in Pingtan, who is from Taiwan.

"In 2013, we spent more than two months applying for relevant licenses for export," the manager said.

Since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), China has promoted the separation of permits from business licenses, which helps shorten the time for a company to start trading.

On this basis, the zone has built a platform for collecting essential information when applying for a business license and forming it into a single QR code. This is part of the effort to upgrade and increase the efficiency in the approval process, the zone said.

One integrated license for businesses means better management and service, said Xu Xu, deputy head of the administrative examination and approval bureau in the zone.

"That utilizes our advantages in integrating the approval process from the single-window system to one license for one business," Xu said.

Since the reforms, the zone said it has completed 117 items of its 229 total listed as up for review.