By Wu Qiuyu
A good business environment yields sound productivity and competiveness. Improvement of the business environment is an on-going process, and there is always room for things to become better.
Earlier this month, the State Council, China’s cabinet, passed a draft of regulations on improving business environment.
The draft focuses on the demand from market players, aims to transfer government functions, and institutionalizes China’s successful experience in deepening the reform of streamlining administration, delegating powers and improving regulation and services, and puts the Chinese practice on par with the world’s advanced level.
It also establishes basic institutional norms in business environment that give equal treatment to domestic and foreign enterprises.
The move, which demonstrates the country’s determination to further optimize business environment and conforms to the expectations of market entities, has gained wide applause.
China has made notable achievements in improving business environment. Faced by increasing internal and external risks and challenges, the country puts great emphasis on building a sound business environment for high-quality economic growth.
It has taken measures to improve business environment, including further streamlining administration and delegating powers, simplifying approval procedures nationwide and cutting taxes and fees.
In the first seven months of the year, tax cuts and fee reductions saved businesses by around 1.349 trillion yuan ($190.7 billion), representing a great burden off the shoulders of the real economy and more dividends for private enterprises.
The country has also rolled out the Foreign Investment Law, and comprehensively implemented the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list across the board. These policies have constantly opened up new prospects for high-quality economic development.
According to the Doing Business 2019 report released by the World Bank, China moved up 32 spots to the 46th place compared with the last year, becoming one of the top improvers.
At present, China’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to one of high-quality development. It is undergoing changes in quality, efficiency and impetus, during which the comparative advantages of labor, land and other production factors are gradually weakening, and institutional supply has become an important core competitiveness.
Against this backdrop, only by constantly creating new institutional advantages can the country enhance the attractiveness, creativity and competitiveness of its economy and make it stable and far-reaching.
The rule of law is an important tool to improve business environment and an important part of business environment.
The draft on improving business environment, which offers market entities institutional guarantee when they invest and develop business in China, puts the improvement of business environment on the track of the rule of law, and gives play to the role of the law in guiding, pushing forward, regulating and guaranteeing reforms. It could also inject vitality into the market and endogenous impetus into the economy.
The draft of regulations to improve business environment, the first of this kind established through government legislation, manifests China’s resolution to continue deepening reform and expanding opening-up, and the equal treatment the country gives to various market players. It is vital in stabilizing market expectations and boosting confidence for development.
At present, to improve business environment serves as an important foundation for stabilizing employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment and market expectations as China is faced by increasing external challenges. It also bears special significance for the country to cope with the current downward economic pressure.
Through improving business environment on a regular basis and creating a better environment so that market vigor could be unleashed, China is bound to open up brighter prospects for high-quality economic development.
