State Council executive meeting on Dec 28

The State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Dec 28 approved a five-year plan on education (2016-2020), and decided to further open up China’s economy and encourage foreign investment by creating a more open domestic market.

Details:>> Quick view: State Council executive meeting on Dec 28

Five-year plan on information

A five-year plan on China’s national information industry (2016-2020) was issued by the State Council on Dec 27. It is an important part of the national 13th Five-year Plan, and the guideline to instruct the work on information.

Details:>> State Council releases five-year plan on informatization

Five-year development plan for tourism

China will further improve its tourism market during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan as tourism becomes one of the pillars of China’s strategic industries, according to a plan issued by the State Council on Dec 26.

The plan set the general guiding principles, basic goals, major tasks and guarantee measures for the work of tourism in the next five years.

Details:>> State Council issues development plan for tourism

Guidelines to enhance government credibility

A government misconduct record will be set up, and stricter punishment for dishonest officials will be enforced, according to a guideline to enhance government credibility issued by the State Council on Dec 30.

Details:>> China to enhance government credibility

Guidelines to enhance individual credit

To improve the credit level of the whole society, and create a better social credit environment, the State Council released guidelines on Dec 30 on the construction of an individual credit system.

It urged establishing a financial database, strengthening the supervision of credit information service and setting up credit records and “black list” of illegal enterprises.

Details:>> State Council releases guidelines on establishing individual credit system

Development of agricultural product processing industry

The State Council on Dec 28 released a circular to further promote the development of the agricultural product processing industry.

By 2020, China’s processing rate of agricultural products should reach 68 percent, and the ratio between output value of farm product processing industry and agricultural overall output value should be 2.4:1, according to the circular.

Details:>> China to further promote farm product processing industry

Govt approves land consolidation plan

The State Council approved a national plan for land consolidation (2016-2020), jointly released and implemented by the Ministry of Land and Resource and National Development and Reform Commission.

According to the plan, at least 400 million mu (2.7 million square meters) of high-level farm land should be built with 20 million mu reclaimed from land consolidation.

Details: >>Govt approves land consolidation plan

Development plan for city clusters in C China

The State Council on Dec 28 issued a circular, approving the development plan for city clusters in Central China.

It urged local governments of the six provinces in Central China to improve measures and policies to ensure smooth implementation of the plan under the support and watch of related departments.

Details: >> Govt approves development plan for city clusters in C China

Yongzhou named national culture city

Yongzhou, in Hunan province, has been officially listed as one of the National Famous Historical and Cultural City, according to a circular released by the State Council.

The local authority was urged to protect the ancient city, with efforts to create a protection plan, mark out historical and cultural areas and streets, improve the environment, and renovate historical buildings.

Details: >> Yongzhou named a national culture city

Spring Festival travels

Eleven ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Public Security held a teleconference about the Spring Festival transportation in 2017.

It urged implementing safety responsibilities and strengthening the supervision over hidden dangers to ensure safety.

Five-year plan on education

Six ministries and commissions on Dec 29 released the 13th five-year plan on poverty alleviation through education.

By 2020, the education level in poor areas should be clearly improved, and basic public services should cover the whole registered poor population, the document urged.

Simplified de-registration process for enterprises

Starting from March 1, 2017, de-registration procedures for enterprises will be simplified, and eligible ones can choose their own cancellation process.

E-commerce sales volume to hit 40 trillion yuan in 2020

A five-year development plan for e-commerce set three development goals for the industry.

By 2020, e-commerce transaction volume and online retail sales could reach 40 trillion yuan ($5.75 trillion) and 10 trillion yuan ($ 1.43 trillion), respectively, with 50 million people employed in the industry.

Supervision on illegal production of fireworks

The work safety committee of the State Council released a circular to strengthen supervision over the illegal production and operation of fireworks and firecrackers.

Flight assessment indicators and restrictions of CAAC

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) released new assessment indicators and restriction measures for 2017.

According to CAAC, if the irregular flights ratio of an airline surpassed 8 percent each month due to its own reasons, CAAC would not accept its application for extra, chartered or new flights for three months.

Tax chief details success of VAT reform

Replacing the business tax with VAT has reduced taxes by a total of 469.9 billion yuan ($67.57 billion) from January to November, and is expected to slash 500 billion yuan for the whole year, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation said at a joint news briefing.

If tax increases appear in any sector, the tax administration and Ministry of Finance would release related solutions to ensure that every sector achieves tax cuts, said Wang Jun, director of the State Administration of Taxation.

Build sponge cities to prevent city waterlogging

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said four tasks would be done to prevent city waterlogging during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

The four tasks are: clarifying drainage and waterlogging standards, implementing the sponge city guidelines, building drainage facilities and strengthening coordination.