2. Strengthen supply-side structural reform to drive sustained growth
To solve acute problems in key areas, we must work faster to remove institutional obstacles and carry out supply-side structural reform to improve the quality and efficiency of the supply system, and further stimulate market vitality and the creativity of society.
-- We will deepen reforms to streamline administration, delegate more powers, improve regulation, and provide better services.
With the people in mind, we will streamline administration, transform the functions of the government, and improve its performance. As we continue to cancel the requirement of government review for more matters, we will focus on addressing unsynchronized, uncoordinated, and incomplete delegation of powers and make sure that local governments to which powers of review have been delegated are able to properly exercise those powers.
We will deepen reform of the business system and launch trials to separate operating permits and business licenses. We will release the lists of all powers and responsibilities of local governments, and begin piloting a negative list for market access in some regions. We will draw up lists and catalogues to manage administrative charges, business fees and charges set by the government or set under its guidance, government-managed funds, and professional qualifications recognized by the state. We will move faster to establish a unified, open, competitive, and orderly market system, and put an end to local protectionism. We will deepen pricing reform and tighten up supervision of prices.
We will revise or abolish any administrative regulations and normative documents that are holding back development. We will develop new ways of conducting oversight over the whole process of business operations, and introduce across the board an oversight model drawing on random inspections by randomly selected law enforcement officers or inspectors and requiring the prompt release of results. We will implement the reform for coordinated administrative law enforcement and adopt a unified approach to gathering information on enterprise credit, release such information in accordance with the law, ensure joint punitive action is taken where necessary, and encourage public oversight.
We will carry out the "Internet Plus government services" model and promote better information sharing between government departments, so that the public and businesses need to make fewer visits to government departments to get things done, find procedures simpler, and find the service satisfactory. We will cut red tape and root out illegalities to ensure that the people have more equal opportunities and greater space for creativity.
-- We will ensure that the whole country's potential for starting businesses and making innovations is released.
We will implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, see that science and technology become more deeply embedded in the economy, and improve the overall quality and competitiveness of the real economy.
First, we will ensure that enterprises lead in making innovations. We will implement additional tax deductions for their research and development, accelerate the depreciation of their fixed assets, and increase tax policy support for high-tech enterprises and science and technology business incubators. We will support leading enterprises in building top-level research and development institutions. We will move faster to achieve nationwide implementation of the policy of national innovation demonstration zones, and establish another set of national innovation demonstration zones and high-tech development zones.
Second, we will help people to pool their ideas and talents through a synergy of business startups, innovation, and the Internet Plus. Platforms will be created for crowd innovation, crowd support, crowdsourcing, and crowdfunding, and mechanisms will be built to encourage new types of business startups and innovation-making through cooperation between enterprises, institutions of higher learning, research institutes, and makers. We will establish demonstration centers for business startups and innovation, foster a business startup and innovation service industry, and ensure angel investment, venture capital, industrial investment, and other investment develop in accordance with regulations. We will give our support to the development of a sharing economy and see that resources are used more efficiently and that more people take part and benefit. We will adopt more active, open, and effective policies to attract talent from overseas. We will strengthen the protection and use of intellectual property rights and look to the law to crack down on the infringement of these rights and on the production and sale of counterfeit products.
Third, we will deepen the reform of the management system for science and technology. Greater autonomy will be given to universities and research institutes, and red tape will be cut in the management of research projects. Policies and measures will be implemented to support the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and tax incentives for stocks and options, and profit sharing and bonus plans will be improved to encourage researchers to start businesses and make innovations. We will foster a culture of innovation and create an enabling environment for innovation in which people venture to break new ground and failure is tolerated. I am sure that these initiatives will inspire entrepreneurialism and motivate our society to start businesses and make innovations, and thus create a powerful force to drive development.
-- We will ensure that overcapacity is cut, costs are lowered, and business performance is improved.
We will focus on addressing the overcapacity in the steel, coal, and other industries facing difficulties. In this process, the market should serve as a check, enterprises should be the major actors, local governments should play a coordinating role, and the central government should provide support. We will use economic, legal, technological, environmental, quality inspection, and safety-related means to strictly control the expansion of production capacity, shut down outdated production facilities, and eliminate overcapacity in a planned way. We will address the issue of "zombie enterprises" proactively yet prudently by using measures such as mergers, reorganizations, debt restructurings, and bankruptcy liquidations. Fiscal, financial, and other policies will be improved to support this work. One hundred billion yuan in rewards and subsidies will be provided by the central government, which will be mainly used to resettle employees laid off from these enterprises. We will take a full range of measures to reduce the transaction, logistics, financial, and energy consumption costs of enterprises, and work to put a stop to the collection of arbitrary and unwarranted fees from enterprises and be strict about investigating and punishing violations of regulations.
-- We will work to ensure the supply of goods and services is improved.
We will concentrate our efforts on the following three areas:
First, we will see that the quality of consumer goods is improved. We will move faster to bring domestic quality and safety standards in line with international standards, and establish a system for making producers pay punitive compensation for failing to meet product quality standards. We will also encourage enterprises to use flexible and custom-tailored production processes and foster a craftsmanship spirit of striving for the best, so that more types of products, products of a higher quality, and brand products will be made.
Second, we will work to upgrade manufacturing. We will intensify efforts to promote the integrated development of Made in China 2025 and the Internet Plus action plan; build national platforms for innovation in manufacturing; carry out demonstration programs in smart manufacturing; launch projects to build a more solid foundation for industry development, promote green manufacturing, and develop high-end equipment; and carry out major technological transformation and upgrading initiatives.
Third, we will accelerate the development of the modern service sector. We will launch a new round of national pilot projects for all-round service sector reform as well as projects to promote innovation in high-tech services, and channel great efforts into developing the digital creative industries. We will relax restrictions on market access to the service sector, and ensure greater specialization in producer services and higher refinement in consumer services. Fiber-optic networks will be developed in a number of cities and 50,000 administrative villages will be linked up to fiber-optic networks, thus enabling more urban and rural residents to enjoy a more digital way of life.
-- We will push for progress in SOE reform.
This year and next, we will use reform to promote the development of SOEs and push hard to ensure success in upgrading them and improving their performance. We will prompt SOEs, especially those managed by the central government, to make structural adjustments so that some will be developed through innovation, others will be reorganized or merged, and still others will exit the market. We will carry out reforms to diversify their types of equity and introduce on a trial basis the assumption of powers and responsibilities by corporate boards of directors, competitive open selection and recruitment of executives, recruitment of professional managers, mixed ownership, and employee equity stakes. We will deepen the reform of the enterprise personnel management system and explore the possibility of establishing remuneration systems for senior ranking personnel and corporate executives that are compatible with competitive selection and recruitment. We will work faster to establish state capital investment and management companies through reorganization. To prevent the loss of state assets and ensure their value is maintained or increased, we will encourage state-owned asset supervisory and management authorities to shift their focus to the use of state capital. Local governments will be granted more power over SOE reform. We will move more quickly to relieve SOEs of their obligations to operate social programs and resolve their other longstanding issues, enabling them to become leaner and healthier and to increase their core competitiveness.
-- We will energize the non-public sector.
We will significantly relax restrictions on entry into markets such as electricity, telecommunications, transport, petroleum, natural gas, and municipal public utilities, remove hidden barriers, and encourage private companies to increase investment in these areas and participate in SOE reform. In these fields, private companies will enjoy the same treatment afforded to SOEs in terms of project verification and approval, financing, fiscal and tax policies, and land availability. We will, in accordance with the law, provide equal protection to the property rights of entities under all forms of ownership; and we will ensure that, without fail, infringements on the legitimate rights and interests of non-public sector enterprises and individuals are investigated and prosecuted. We will create a rule of law environment that is fair, just, transparent, and stable and establish new government-business relations to help all types of enterprises develop side by side based on their own respective strengths.
