The following plan is proposed for a full coverage pilot program reforming Separation of Permit and Business Licenses to improve the business environment, stimulate market vitality and social creativity, and work towards resolving the problem of "allowing access but disallowing operations" in light of actual conditions in the city.

I. General Requirements

i. Implementation Scope and Reform Methods

Comprehensive list-based administration of enterprise-related business licensing matters shall be implemented citywide, and enterprises (including individual businesses or farmers' professional cooperatives, and similarly hereinafter) within the city shall be managed to achieve reform goals by employing four methods: direct cancellation of approval, replacement of approval with filing, implementation of notification and commitment, and optimization of approval services.

For matters involving temporary adjustments to the implementation of relevant laws and administrative regulations by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and those of the State Council's decisions by the State Council on the Pilot Free Trade Zone, the expanded pilot areas shall not enjoy the policies of the Pilot FTZ. As for matters determined centrally (laws, administrative regulations, and decisions of the State Council) and implemented by departments of the State Council and institutions directly under the State Council, more vigorous reform initiatives will be launched on the premise of seeking support from the relevant departments of the State Council.

ii. Establish a List-based Administration System

In accordance with full coverage reform requirements for the Separation of Permits and Business Licenses, all business-related licensing matters shall be included in the list management. The list shall itemize the entity, the name of the matter, the legal basis, the level and department of approval, the reform method, detailed reform measures, and in-process/ex-post supervision measures to be regularly adjusted, updated, and announced to the public at the same time. Outside of the list, enterprises may not be unlawfully restricted from entering the relevant industries or fields and may operate independently by obtaining a business license. For centrally established enterprise-related business licensing matters, all departments concerned should combine the List of Reforms as envisioned centrally with actual implementation in the city to facilitate comparison of each item, clarify the correspondence between the two, and make the necessary adjustments.

II. Employ Different Approaches to Promote the Approval System Reform

i. Direct Cancellation of Approval

Approval shall be canceled directly for business license matters where the necessity of approval no longer exists, the market mechanism is effectively regulated, industry self-regulation is realized practically by industry organizations or intermediaries, or efficient regulation works well through in-process/ex-post supervision. Relevant management measures and systems following the cancellation of approval shall be clarified on an item-by-item basis, and the work shall be well linked up to prevent management disconnection.

An enterprise may operate with a business license following the cancellation of approval. Following the direct cancellation of approval, the appropriate departments may still have regulatory responsibilities for the relevant business activities in accordance with the law. The market supervision department shall promptly notify the appropriate departments of the registration and alteration information of enterprises through the government information-sharing platform, and the appropriate departments shall promptly include the relevant enterprises in the scope of supervision and implement in-process and ex-post supervision in accordance with the law.

ii. Replace Approval with Filing

Approval shall be converted to filing for enterprise-related business licensing matters that no longer need to be approved but require enterprises to take the initiative to provide relevant information in a timely manner so that the appropriate departments can effectively implement industry management and safeguard public interests. For matters that are converted from approval to filing, management methods must be developed, clarifying conditions, content, procedures, deadlines, and materials to be submitted along with the development of template texts for filing. Precautions must be taken to prevent the exercise of approval functions in the name of filing.

In principle, matters that have been converted from approval to filing should be handled together with the registration of enterprises in accordance with the requirements of integrating multiple certifications and licenses into one consolidated business license. Furthermore, the department responsible for market supervision shall forward the filing information to the appropriate departments promptly. The filing process should be simplified as much as possible for those needing to visit the appropriate departments for filing, and information sharing should be improved for greater convenience of enterprises. Following enterprise filing, the appropriate departments shall implement effective regulation in accordance with the law. For enterprises failing to file as required or found having provided inaccurate information, regulatory rules shall be clarified, an investigation carried out, and measures taken to rectify the situation in accordance with the law, while the filing condition shall not be used as a basis to restrict or penalize the business activities of the enterprise.

iii. Implementation of notification and commitment

Notification and commitment shall be implemented for enterprise-related business licensing matters that need to be retained once the enterprises make commitments to meet the business licensing conditions. The appropriate departments shall retain the right to correct non-compliance with business licensing conditions and effectively prevent risks through in-process and ex-post supervision.

The appropriate department shall list quantifiable and operable conditions for business licensing without catchall clauses in accordance with the law, specify regulatory rules and the consequences of breach of undertaking, and issue a one-time notification to enterprises, as well as provide a template text for the notification and commitment. The appropriate department shall grant approval if the applicant promises to meet the necessary conditions and shall issue an order seeking rectification within a certain period of time should the applicant fail to keep the promise. If conditions continue not to be met following rectification, the decision shall be revoked, with the relevant information entered in the municipal credit information platform. If a false promise is found to have been made, the decision shall be revoked, the corresponding information entered in the municipal credit information platform, and the applicant held legally responsible for engaging in the relevant activities without having obtained the necessary approval.

iv. Optimization of Approval Services

For enterprise-related business licensing matters related to national security, public security, financial security, ecological security, public health, and other major public interests, and not applicable to cancel approval or implement notification and commitment, practical measures shall be adopted to optimize approval services, improve approval efficiency and reduce costs.

The appropriate departments shall adopt the following measures to address difficult issues of concern to enterprises and improve approval services: First, reduce the overall number of approval elements and procedures. Work shall be done to streamline business licensing conditions and approval materials, resolutely eliminate the so-called "absurd certification", implement parallel approval, joint review, and other methods of optimizing workflow, and take the initiative in reducing the time for approval. Second, extend or remove the validity period. Where a validity period has been set for a license document but the conditions for operation licensing remain basically unchanged, the validity period should, in principle, be extended or removed. Third, release the total control conditions and the existing number of enterprises. For matters with quantitative restrictions, total control conditions, it is required to regularly make public the existing number of enterprises, the ranking of applications, and other such circumstances so as to facilitate independent decision-making by enterprises. In the meantime, all departments shall be encouraged to actively explore innovative measures to optimize approval services.

III. Improve Supporting Policies and Measures for Reforms

i. Standardize the connection between the scope of business registration and the application for operating permits.

The market supervision department shall follow the unified deployment of the State Administration for Market Regulation to implement standardized registration of business scope and clarify the correspondence between licenses and permits. When an enterprise applies for registration, the market supervision department shall, according to the business scope declared by the enterprise itself, clearly inform the enterprise of the business licensing matters to be handled and forward the applicant's information to the appropriate departments through the government information-sharing platform. In turn, the appropriate departments shall handle the business permit in a timely manner according to the enterprise application and forward the results to the market supervision department through the government information-sharing platform.

ii. Strengthen the Collection and Sharing of Business-related Information.

The relevant departments shall undertake to collect information on enterprise registration, business permits, filings, law enforcement inspections, and administrative penalties and incorporate them into the National Integrated Online Government Service Platform, the National Credit Information Sharing Platform and the National Credit Information Disclosure System for Enterprises in a timely manner, and share government information involving enterprise operations in a centralized fashion, with the exception of those involving state secrets. Enterprises shall no longer be held responsible for sharing any information that can be obtained by the relevant departments through information sharing. Where departments deploying vertically managed information business systems are involved, they shall actively communicate with the central departments to fulfil the requirements for information pooling and sharing as soon as possible.

iii. Continuously Improve the Quality and Efficiency of Approval Services

The appropriate departments should further promote the standardization of approval services, formulate and publish accurate and complete, concise and easy-to-understand guidelines, regulate discretion, impose strict time limits, and eliminate hidden thresholds. They shall accelerate the Internet + Government Services model and promote the processing of enterprise-related business licensing matters to go through all procedures online from application to acceptance, review, and issuance and complete such matter with just one visit. Finally, they shall seek to strengthen the regulation and management of approval practices and establish an evaluation system of approval services, with enterprises to assess the performance of services.

iv. Innovate and Strengthen the In-process/Ex-post Supervision

It is necessary to decentralize while maintaining appropriate control. Therefore, on the basis of the principle of "those who approve and who are in charge shall supervise", work must be done to strengthen the connection between approval and supervision, improve the supervision rules and standards, and resolutely correct the problems of "no approval and supervision", "approval without supervision", and "strict approval with loose supervision", among others. It must fully implement the supervision based on "random inspections by randomly selected inspectors and the prompt release of results", joint interdepartmental regulation and "Internet+ regulation", so as to implement inclusive and prudent supervision on new technologies, new industries, new business patterns and new modes, and intense supervision on high-risk industries and fields. Credit supervision shall be strengthened, false promises and irregular operations shall be investigated, penalized, and entered in the credit record, and joint punishment shall be meted out for the dishonest behavior. Social supervision shall be strengthened. Complaints and reports shall be handled in a timely manner in accordance with the law, and non-governmental entities shall be guided to participate in the governance of market order. Finally, the deterrent effect of supervision shall be enhanced. Enterprises and responsible personnel who operate in serious violation of the law shall have their licenses revoked or suspended and shall be prohibited from accessing the market in accordance with the law.

v. Promote the Reform in Accordance with the Law

In accordance with the requirement that major reforms shall be based on law, relevant work shall be carried out in accordance with statutory procedures to ensure that the reforms are carried forward under the rule of law. In accordance with the adjustments of laws, administrative regulations, and decisions of the State Council, corresponding adjustments shall be made to the local regulations and normative documents formulated by the municipal government and related departments in a timely manner to establish a management system compatible with the requirements of the pilot project. For reform initiatives that have proven effective in pilot projects, the prompt enactment, revision, repeal, and interpretation of local regulations and local government rules shall be promoted to consolidate the results of the reform.

IV. Work Requirements

i. Strengthen Organization and Leadership

All appropriate departments shall strive to strengthen coordination, clarify the division of tasks, and fulfill responsibilities at all levels to ensure the implementation and effects of reform measures. Beijing Municipal Administration of Government Services, Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice shall effectively play a leading role, in accordance with the division of responsibilities and together with the relevant municipal departments, to implement the reform requirements of "Separation of Permits and Business Licenses", and actively promote the reform in a steady manner. The appropriate municipal departments shall strengthen the connection among all links and business guidance, develop supporting management measures, refine the reform initiatives item by item, clarify the specific ways to strengthen the in-process and ex-post supervision, adjust the service content and have it announced to the public, ensuring that the reform measures of the department and the sector are thoroughly and effectively implemented. The people's governments of all districts shall take the main responsibilities, and organize the local implementation of the reform by strengthening planning and coordination, establishing mechanisms, and performing supervision and assessment.

ii. Enhance Publicity and Training

All appropriate departments shall promote and interpret the reform policies through easy-to-understand publicity, expand awareness of the reform policies, respond to social concerns in a timely manner, and create a favorable atmosphere to help all of society care about, support, and participate in the reform. Learning and training should be strengthened to improve the professionalism and service consciousness of the staff and thus ensure the smooth progress of the reform.

iii. Exert Greater Efforts in Implementation

All departments shall seek to improve incentive, constraint, and fault-tolerance mechanisms, fully mobilize enthusiasm and initiative for the reform, and make tenacious efforts to implement reform tasks. They shall strive to perform well on work training, publicity, and interpretation of reform policies, expand policy awareness, and create a good atmosphere conducive to reform. They shall aim to closely track the progress of the reform pilot, summarize and assess the situation of the pilot, improve policy initiatives in a timely manner, and discover and popularize typical experiences. In doing so, it is intended to ensure the delivery of goals of the pilot, and continuously improve the sense of gain of enterprises. Finally, they shall strengthen supervision and confirmation of accountability to recognize and commend those with efficient performance and effective results in due course and seriously hold accountable for those to fail to perform their duties in accordance with the law.