A foreign businessman seeks opportunities at the 15th China Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, on Nov 16, 2013. [Photo/VCG]

Starting June 30, most functions will be done online across country

China will further simplify the process of setting up foreign-invested enterprises to promote its high-standard of liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, the State Council decided at an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

One-stop service and a single required form will be needed to file and register a foreign-invested enterprise. The whole process will be conducted online and free of charge. This practice, which will take effect on June 30, is expected to significantly shorten the time required to start a foreign-invested enterprise.

Real-time sharing and coordinated management of information on foreign-invested enterprises will be promoted among the banking, customs, taxation and foreign exchange authorities. Government inspection will also be strengthened to ensure that measures are fully implemented.

In the Government Work Report this year, Li said procedures to set up foreign-invested enterprises would be simplified and business filings and business registrations would be processed simultaneously together.

The premier said at the meeting that consolidating the filing and registration procedures for such enterprises is a matter of high significance. He called for all government departments concerned to fully collaborate and coordinate their work to make things easier for such enterprises.

According to the Commerce Ministry, over 35,600 foreign-invested enterprises were set up in 2017, up by 27.8 percent year-on-year. Foreign investment rose 7.9 percent from 2016, hitting a new high of 877.5 billion yuan ($137.6 billion).

Measures were also adopted at the meeting to establish a unified e-platform for accessing government services and to have items that require an office visit to be done in one place in a single visit.

All government services will be put on this platform unless laws stipulate otherwise or to protect confidentiality. The government will remain committed to a unified e-platform for all government services and link separate networks. In principle, no department will be allowed to set up an independent system.

"Government services are to serve public good and hence must be universally accessible. Current technologies have made it possible to do many things online," Li said. "What's important is to introduce a unified e-platform for all government services by linking the separate networks."

The State Council also decided that the procedures for accessing government services will be further simplified. There will be no repeated requirement for materials that can be shared and reused. Electronic licenses will be more widely introduced, and their reciprocal recognition will be further promoted.