Siming deepens reforms to attract investment, professionals

Officials say solidifying business environment will bring further talent from home and abroad

Xiamen's Siming district is striving to deepen its reforms in decentralization, management and service, local officials said. Doing so means focusing on its Chief Service Officer program and launching other favorable policies on administrative approval, judicial efficiency and investment to further boost the business environment and attract professionals.

Since 2016, a new round of reforms have been developed in Siming, with the district's GDP reaching more than 200 billion yuan ($30.94 billion) last year. By providing a solid business environment and supportive policies, Siming consistently attracts companies from home and abroad to settle there.

Siming is finding ways to improve its work efficiency through innovations like its CSO service launched in 2019, a new job for officials from the district. The CSOs provide all-around and tailor-made services to the district's companies and potential investors.

Siming has also established a three-tier collaborative service system of "street-department-district leadership" to strengthen the publicity of its business environment.

The district is speeding up the construction of internet plus government services, intensifying integration in the fields of business establishment, taxation, permits, and government services, while also promoting the digitalization of government services based on the needs of commercial entities and the masses.

It has deepened the pilot reform of "one industry, one certificate".

Applicants need to submit only one set of materials to one window for handling various approval service items involved in the operation of the pilot industry.

The approval department obtains information through the background, conducts joint approval and issues results to improve the efficiency of integrated approval services.

The district explores the "smart plus manual" service model by promoting the application of online tax-related intelligent question-and-answer functions. It guides taxpayers to use the electronic tax bureau for online corrections to corporate income tax declarations, prepayments, and final settlement data as well as to make payments of corresponding taxes.

Siming is innovating its talent service mechanism to implement refined public employment services, and improve the quality and efficiency of those services.

The district has built a base for cross-Straits youth, a Taiwan-related comprehensive service body and a youth integration development community.

It also carries out performance evaluation of Taiwan-based youth preferential policies to attract more professionals from Taiwan to Xiamen for employment and entrepreneurship.

Siming is also offering school-enterprise construction talent support for local students in Xiamen. One example is the Sizhi Mingde Plan with Xiamen University, which arranges 400,000 yuan per year to encourage students from Xiamen University to conduct social practices and internships in key enterprises across the district.

Siming promotes the construction of youth employment and entrepreneurship bases on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and accelerates the construction of large, medium and small enterprises' integration and business ecosystem in which the industrial chain, innovation chain, and value chain are coordinated.

Siming has boosted the in-depth implementation of entrepreneurship-driven employment demonstration actions including the establishment of a large and medium-sized enterprise financing alliance, an industry-university research alliance and an industrial park.

Siming district also promotes the quality of the elder care service industry and improves the standardization of the operation and management of elder care service institutions. Relying on the Xiamen City Elder Service and Supervision Information Platform, the effective connection of online and offline services will be realized.

It supports the establishment of caring restaurants for elderly people who rely on community care service facilities.

It also encourages service agencies to expand their services to establish family beds for the elderly in surrounding communities, and further improve the configuration of the community's "a quarter of an hour elder care service circle".

Siming district is accelerating the construction of the urban management service platform, completing the data survey, confirmation, and database construction of urban management components in the whole district and carrying out third-party information collection services.

It also focuses on promoting the improvement of the surrounding landscape of Zhongshan Park and Xiamen Hotel.

The district has completed the construction of parks such as Wenxing Park and Yuqing Road, and accelerates the promotion of road greening in the Xidi area.