Ministries responded to a series of recent public concerns, including the construction plan for Xiongan New Area, soil pollution, excessive industry qualification standards, and integration of citizens’ information.

Plan for Xiongan New Area construction nears completion

The central government is putting the final touches on the construction plan for Xiongan New Area, according to He Lifeng, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission. He said the area will be constructed to high standards, as Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress. More than 300 experts have helped draft the plan, He said.

Basic strategy, quality census proposed to tackle soil pollution

China will tackle soil pollution by promoting a basic strategy, including issuing a plan for a soil quality census and conducting pilot projects, Li Ganjie, minister of environmental protection, said. “Soil pollution is closely related to food security,” he said at a news conference during the 19th CPC National Congress, adding that progress has already been made in curbing pollution. For example, the ministry has issued standards for farmland as well as a work plan for a national soil quality census, which could help present a thorough picture to decision-makers for better pollution controls, Li said.

Ministry vows to reduce burden of industrial qualification standards

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently responded online to a request to simplify qualification standards for industries and reduce the requirements for certificates. According to a netizen’s feedback, the qualification standards for some industries are too complicated, which results in some enterprises paying the third-party companies that governments use to process applications in order to expedite the process.

Simplifying the standards and requirements for certificates would prevent such behavior, the netizen said.

In response, the ministry said such a phenomenon does exist in some industries, adding that the State Council released a guideline in February on simplifying qualification standards for construction companies and phasing out unnecessary requirements. The ministry said it will strictly implement administrative streamlining and improve government services, and further amend qualification standards for the construction industry, to ease the burden on enterprises.

National database helps collate citizens’ personal information

The Ministry of Public Security has responded to a resident’s complaint that personal documents such as birth certificates, residency permits, social security certificates and marriage certificates are not well integrated, and that he had to carry all these printed materials to register the birth of his second child.

In response, the ministry said the government has been working to compile such information since 2012, with a national database created to contain residents’ security, education, civil affairs and social security information.

Yet in some areas, marriages are not included in the database, which may cause problems, it said. The ministry pledged to do more to provide more comprehensive data services.