Beijing moves to remove business barriers

To improve the commercial environment in the capital, the Beijing Municipal Commission Development and Reform Commission released a document on Monday to remove certain barriers to business.

The document gives priority to resuming and expanding consumption. Measures include speeding up business reviews and approvals, encouraging innovation in business operations and strengthening protections of intellectual property.

Under the rules, Beijing will improve its e-commerce retail business environment; work to upgrade its regulatory system; encourage financial institutions to provide special credit lines, preferential interest rates, flexible adjustment of repayment arrangements and other differentiated services; and identify traditional Chinese medicine products for cross-border e-commerce.

It will strive to establish more bonded logistics centers, self-pickup cabinets and pre-storage warehouses in the capital's free trade zones and key business areas, and explore the use of electronic customs procedures.

Meanwhile, it will optimize a new energy vehicle consumption environment by enacting and implementing a plan to develop charging facilities and further complete the implementation of new energy vehicle scrapping rules.

New business operation practices were identified in the document for consumption upgrades, including conducting pilots for outdoor business activities in key business areas.

District governments will enact regulations, including areas of operation, hours and business categories. Operators should file their business activities online in advance to ensure effective supervision.

It also aims to further protect intellectual property. Beijing will allow more new consumption brands to file in their incubation bases and complete a public service system for IP protection of new brands.

According to the commission, consumer spending contributes more than 60 percent of the economic growth for a mega city such as Beijing, making consumption a driving force.

Wang Songsong contributed to this story.