The State Council executive meeting on Jan 6, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, decided to improve the system of incentives and penalties to stimulate better administration, and to set up a new series of pilot areas for cross-border e-commerce.

The meeting applauded four provincial governments, 20 cities and 20 counties that had well implemented central policies in 2015, as well as six provincial regions that had made efforts to overcome their problems.

The State Council decided to render extra financial support to the regions and direct the unspent funds recovered from other places to these regions. Moreover, as a reward, the approval procedures for enterprises to issue corporate bonds will be simplified and more land will be designated for construction in these regions.

Meanwhile, 900 government officials have been expelled, demoted or been given demerits during the last year for lazy administration such as unspent funds in projects crucial to people’s livelihood and uncorrected problems in production safety.

The State Council urged the establishment of a better long-term system for incentives and accountability.

The meeting also agreed to expand the scope for policies and management garnered from the cross-border e-commerce pilot area in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in a bid to stimulate new business models and create new jobs.

The central government will pick a batch of cities in East, Central and West China with solid economic foundations and large volumes of e-commerce and trade, and set up new pilot zones.

In the new zones, six major systems are expected to be established concerning the functions of information sharing, financial services, intelligent logistics, e-commerce credit, supervision and risk prevention.

The State Council also urged to establish two platforms – the “single window” online and the “comprehensive zones” offline – to help build an intact industrial chain for cross-border e-commerce.