Approval system

It is imperative to reform the administrative examination and approval system to better serve the market economy and curb corruption, said a Legal Daily article. Excerpts follow:

It has been recently reported that the municipal government of Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, will abolish the mandate for administrative examination and approval in hundreds of sectors step by step. The move has been welcomed by the public.

In fact, the traditional system of administrative examination and approval, which works in line with a planned economy, has in the past given rise to a number of problems itself.

Officials in charge of examination and approval reports usually have vast amounts of power, but supervision over them is often weak.

The system has therefore become a hotbed for corruption. The case of Cheng Kejie, a former high-ranking official who committed crimes using his official position and was later executed according to law, is a typical example.

Complicated formalities linked with the examination and approval system have also lowered the efficiency of the government's work.

Time limits and standards for the system are not clearly defined. Sometimes applicants have to bribe officials to avoid delay charges. And other random fees have hit the government's image hard.

Improving the efficiency and transparency of the administrative examination and approval system will be a key step in reforming the administrative system.

To this end, the government needs to define time limits in the examination and approval system and strengthen supervision over those that carry it out.

It also needs to create a compensation mechanism for people who have had their legitimate rights and interests infringed upon.

Reform of the administrative examination and approval system will help build a more efficient and trustworthy government in line with the rules of a market economy as well as the requirements of the World Trade Organization.

Environment protection

The government should improve the operation mechanism of environmental protection projects, strengthening the role of enterprises and adopt the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model to speed up the growth of China's environmental protection industry, said an article in Guangming Daily. Excerpts follow:

The market potential of China's environmental protection industry is huge. But domestic enterprises feel it hard to tap it.

The stern situation stems from the traditional stringently planned and government-sponsored operation mechanism.

Under that mechanism, it was the government that invested in and administrated environmental protection projects.

But because of limited financial ability, the government is unable to meet the needs of the market.

To improve the situation, the government should open up the market and strengthen the role of enterprises.

Take sewage and waste treatment as an example.

If the government grants qualified enterprises the right to build and operate sewage and waste treatment projects and allow them to collect disposition fees to cover the investment, the treatment rate of sewage and garbage will rise to 50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively from the previous 6 per cent and 2 per cent.

This BOT model, it is estimated, will save 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) for local fiscal budgets, contribute 70-90 billion yuan (US$8.4-10.8 billion) to the GDP and create millions of jobs.

When the operation term expires, the waste treatment factories will be transferred to local governments.