Opinions of the State Council on Some Supporting Policies and Measures for the Development and Opening-up of Key Border Areas
Opinions of the State Council on Some Supporting Policies and Measures for the Development and Opening-up of Key Border Areas
Opinions of the State Council on Some Supporting Policies and Measures for the Development and Opening-up of Key Border Areas
Guo Fa [2015] No.72
December 24, 2015
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, all ministries, commissions and organizations under the State Council,
Key border areas such as key development and opening-up pilot areas, national-level border ports, border cities, border economic cooperation areas, and cross-border economic cooperation areas are important platforms for cooperation with neighboring countries and regions, and provide not only significant support for the regional economic and social development, but also an important protective screen for the frontier and land security. They are the vanguard and pioneers in carrying out the "One Belt, One Road" strategy, holding a very important position in China's reform and development. In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, foster and carry out the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, support the development and opening-up of key border areas, and promote economic prosperity and social stability in border areas, we hereby put forward the following opinions.
I. Further Implementing the "Program to Develop Border Areas and Improve the Lives of the Border Residents" to Ensure Border Stability, Security and Prosperity
(I) Supporting Border Residents' Efforts for Border Stability, Security and Prosperity: To increase support for improving border residents' livelihood to ensure the stability, security and prosperity of border areas by increasing employment, developing industries, and encouraging technological innovations and partner assistance; actively promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation by lowering thresholds for start-ups, offering "zero-cost" business registration services for border residents, and allowing eligible border residents to apply for secured entrepreneurship loans of less than CNY100,000 according to relevant regulations; encourage border residents to relocate to areas 0-3 kilometers from the borderline by subsidizing them dynamically by provincial people's governments according to actual conditions and using general transfer payments from the Central Government; increase support for returned border villagers, and encourage production activities by border residents on their own; improve the production and living conditions in poor border villages by taking targeted measures for every village and every household, including relocating villages from areas with adverse natural conditions, and providing villages in ecologically weak but important areas with eco-compensation, to ensure that the booked poverty-stricken population is all lifted out of poverty and an overall well-off society is established; reward those who work in government departments and state-owned institutions and enterprises in key border areas for over 20 years without record of misconduct upon their retirement by the provincial people's governments; introduce high-level talents and provide necessary working and living conditions for mobile professionals such as short-term housing, education and training, policy consulting, technical service, and legal assistance; enhance the building of grassroot organizations in key border areas, including village-level Party organizations, give full play to the leading role of grassroot Party organizations in promoting development, serving and mobilizing the public, and promoting harmony in ethnic minority border areas. (Responsible Departments: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Poverty Alleviation Office)
(II) Improving Basic Public Services: To increase support for the basic social security system for border residents, including premiums payable by border residents participating in the new rural cooperative medical system according to the relevant requirements to be paid by the government; raise the proportion of reimbursement of medical expenses, and expend the urban basic medical insurance system to cover the needy urban residents in border areas; increase partner assistance for grassroot medical service institutions in border areas, with the focus on major border cities, border ports, and towns along transport lines; implement a 12-year free education policy in places where certain conditions are satisfied; implement a tuition-free secondary vocational education system; select teachers to teach in border areas and support the team building of local teachers; further open the education sector to the outside world and support cooperative education programs between border cities and world famous schools; improve universal telecommunication services, enhance the construction of telecommunication infrastructure facilities, expand the coverage of the information network, and actively foster new products, new types of business and new business models that suit the information consumers in key border areas; improve the government public information services, and expedite the construction of information systems with respect to electronic administration, electronic commerce, remote education, and remote medical service to provide public service information for local residents in medical, transport, social security, employment, right protection, and legal consulting services; further advance the trial establishment of rural communities and improve the rural public service capacities; enhance the construction of basic cultural facilities in key border areas, and provide more excellent cultural products that spread the core socialist values. (Responsible Departments: National Health and Family Planning Commission, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television)
(III) Enhancing International Enforcement Cooperation in Border Areas: To boost the establishment of international enforcement and security cooperation departments by public security organs at provincial (regional), municipal (prefectural) and county (banner) levels in border areas, staffed by qualified professionals; establish a border area international enforcement cooperation and joint meeting mechanism to discuss security issues in neighboring countries and regions on a regular basis, issue timely alerts, and respond to border security risks; give more powers to border areas for enforcement cooperation, support the establishment of a cooperation mechanism between public security organs in border areas and enforcement departments of neighboring countries in local policing, frontier (immigration) inspection, drug control, and border defence, further enhance cooperation in preventing and combating drug trafficking, gambling, terrorism, illegal entry/exit, human trafficking, and smuggling, and jointly maintain the border security and stability; increase spending on international enforcement cooperation in border areas; enhance cultural enforcement cooperation, intensify supervision and administration of the cultural market, prevent the inflow of illicit cultural products and illicit religious activities, and safeguard cultural security in border areas. (Responsible Departments: Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, State Administration for Religious Affairs)
II. Deepening System and Institutional Reform and Promoting Flows of Elements
(IV) Further Streamlining Administration and Delegating Powers: To cancel and delegate more administrative approval powers of national-level ports to lower-level departments in respect of customs clearance and imports/exports, define the examination criteria and time limits, optimize the internal examination procedures, and reduce the number of examination processes; promote speedy joint or parallel examination and approval; open more port areas in border areas, simplify the application, examination and approval procedures for further or temporary opening-up port areas, simplify the examination and approval procedures for the building of roads and bridges in border areas, and advance the peer-to-peer establishment and further opening-up of border ports; explore new ways of in-event and after-event supervision in order to optimize services and facilitate border residents in an efficient manner. (Responsible Departments: General Administration of Customs, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Development and Reform Commission)
(V) Raising the Trade Facilitation Level: To explore new patterns of port supervision, and advance or delay the unnecessary enforcement processes for customs clearance by means of localized administration, advanced services, and follow-up inspections; optimize the inspection and examination mechanism, raise the proportion of non-intrusive, non-interference inspections and examinations, and improve the working efficiency; perform classified management, and expand the scope of centralized declaration and pre-declaration; further reform the supervisory service system for special customs supervision areas where conditions permit, to ensure safe and effective control while first-line supervision is lifted, for purposes of facilitating the entry and exit of personnel, goods and vehicles, tightening inspection and supervision, and promoting the free flow of goods between special customs supervision areas; promote the integration of first and second-line supervision; enhance cooperation between customs in border, inland and coastal areas, expedite the establishment of "single windows" for international trade in border ports based on the existing e-port system to realize simultaneous transmission of supervisory information, and expedite the integration of the enterprise information system and the supervision system; enhance international cooperation between border enforcement institutions along the "One Belt, One Road", speed up the construction of cooperative cross-border supervision facilities, and improve cooperation and coordination in cross-border supervision.
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Guo Fa [2015] No.72
December 24, 2015
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, all ministries, commissions and organizations under the State Council,
Key border areas such as key development and opening-up pilot areas, national-level border ports, border cities, border economic cooperation areas, and cross-border economic cooperation areas are important platforms for cooperation with neighboring countries and regions, and provide not only significant support for the regional economic and social development, but also an important protective screen for the frontier and land security. They are the vanguard and pioneers in carrying out the "One Belt, One Road" strategy, holding a very important position in China's reform and development. In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, foster and carry out the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, support the development and opening-up of key border areas, and promote economic prosperity and social stability in border areas, we hereby put forward the following opinions.
I. Further Implementing the "Program to Develop Border Areas and Improve the Lives of the Border Residents" to Ensure Border Stability, Security and Prosperity
(I) Supporting Border Residents' Efforts for Border Stability, Security and Prosperity: To increase support for improving border residents' livelihood to ensure the stability, security and prosperity of border areas by increasing employment, developing industries, and encouraging technological innovations and partner assistance; actively promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation by lowering thresholds for start-ups, offering "zero-cost" business registration services for border residents, and allowing eligible border residents to apply for secured entrepreneurship loans of less than CNY100,000 according to relevant regulations; encourage border residents to relocate to areas 0-3 kilometers from the borderline by subsidizing them dynamically by provincial people's governments according to actual conditions and using general transfer payments from the Central Government; increase support for returned border villagers, and encourage production activities by border residents on their own; improve the production and living conditions in poor border villages by taking targeted measures for every village and every household, including relocating villages from areas with adverse natural conditions, and providing villages in ecologically weak but important areas with eco-compensation, to ensure that the booked poverty-stricken population is all lifted out of poverty and an overall well-off society is established; reward those who work in government departments and state-owned institutions and enterprises in key border areas for over 20 years without record of misconduct upon their retirement by the provincial people's governments; introduce high-level talents and provide necessary working and living conditions for mobile professionals such as short-term housing, education and training, policy consulting, technical service, and legal assistance; enhance the building of grassroot organizations in key border areas, including village-level Party organizations, give full play to the leading role of grassroot Party organizations in promoting development, serving and mobilizing the public, and promoting harmony in ethnic minority border areas. (Responsible Departments: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Poverty Alleviation Office)
(II) Improving Basic Public Services: To increase support for the basic social security system for border residents, including premiums payable by border residents participating in the new rural cooperative medical system according to the relevant requirements to be paid by the government; raise the proportion of reimbursement of medical expenses, and expend the urban basic medical insurance system to cover the needy urban residents in border areas; increase partner assistance for grassroot medical service institutions in border areas, with the focus on major border cities, border ports, and towns along transport lines; implement a 12-year free education policy in places where certain conditions are satisfied; implement a tuition-free secondary vocational education system; select teachers to teach in border areas and support the team building of local teachers; further open the education sector to the outside world and support cooperative education programs between border cities and world famous schools; improve universal telecommunication services, enhance the construction of telecommunication infrastructure facilities, expand the coverage of the information network, and actively foster new products, new types of business and new business models that suit the information consumers in key border areas; improve the government public information services, and expedite the construction of information systems with respect to electronic administration, electronic commerce, remote education, and remote medical service to provide public service information for local residents in medical, transport, social security, employment, right protection, and legal consulting services; further advance the trial establishment of rural communities and improve the rural public service capacities; enhance the construction of basic cultural facilities in key border areas, and provide more excellent cultural products that spread the core socialist values. (Responsible Departments: National Health and Family Planning Commission, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television)
(III) Enhancing International Enforcement Cooperation in Border Areas: To boost the establishment of international enforcement and security cooperation departments by public security organs at provincial (regional), municipal (prefectural) and county (banner) levels in border areas, staffed by qualified professionals; establish a border area international enforcement cooperation and joint meeting mechanism to discuss security issues in neighboring countries and regions on a regular basis, issue timely alerts, and respond to border security risks; give more powers to border areas for enforcement cooperation, support the establishment of a cooperation mechanism between public security organs in border areas and enforcement departments of neighboring countries in local policing, frontier (immigration) inspection, drug control, and border defence, further enhance cooperation in preventing and combating drug trafficking, gambling, terrorism, illegal entry/exit, human trafficking, and smuggling, and jointly maintain the border security and stability; increase spending on international enforcement cooperation in border areas; enhance cultural enforcement cooperation, intensify supervision and administration of the cultural market, prevent the inflow of illicit cultural products and illicit religious activities, and safeguard cultural security in border areas. (Responsible Departments: Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, State Administration for Religious Affairs)
II. Deepening System and Institutional Reform and Promoting Flows of Elements
(IV) Further Streamlining Administration and Delegating Powers: To cancel and delegate more administrative approval powers of national-level ports to lower-level departments in respect of customs clearance and imports/exports, define the examination criteria and time limits, optimize the internal examination procedures, and reduce the number of examination processes; promote speedy joint or parallel examination and approval; open more port areas in border areas, simplify the application, examination and approval procedures for further or temporary opening-up port areas, simplify the examination and approval procedures for the building of roads and bridges in border areas, and advance the peer-to-peer establishment and further opening-up of border ports; explore new ways of in-event and after-event supervision in order to optimize services and facilitate border residents in an efficient manner. (Responsible Departments: General Administration of Customs, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Development and Reform Commission)
(V) Raising the Trade Facilitation Level: To explore new patterns of port supervision, and advance or delay the unnecessary enforcement processes for customs clearance by means of localized administration, advanced services, and follow-up inspections; optimize the inspection and examination mechanism, raise the proportion of non-intrusive, non-interference inspections and examinations, and improve the working efficiency; perform classified management, and expand the scope of centralized declaration and pre-declaration; further reform the supervisory service system for special customs supervision areas where conditions permit, to ensure safe and effective control while first-line supervision is lifted, for purposes of facilitating the entry and exit of personnel, goods and vehicles, tightening inspection and supervision, and promoting the free flow of goods between special customs supervision areas; promote the integration of first and second-line supervision; enhance cooperation between customs in border, inland and coastal areas, expedite the establishment of "single windows" for international trade in border ports based on the existing e-port system to realize simultaneous transmission of supervisory information, and expedite the integration of the enterprise information system and the supervision system; enhance international cooperation between border enforcement institutions along the "One Belt, One Road", speed up the construction of cooperative cross-border supervision facilities, and improve cooperation and coordination in cross-border supervision.
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