Beijing organized items to be reviewed and approved by government bodies in two stages, with 1,562 items requiring review and approval at the municipal level eliminated or streamlined to 940 items, a reduction of 39.8 percent.
Beijing launched a pilot program to optimize the review and approval procedures for investment projects, with the review and approval time limit cut to 109 working days from more than 300 working days. State-owned enterprise reform was conducted smoothly, with profits of municipal-level SOEs increasing by 22 percent.
Beijing loosened the reigns on social capital investment in the municipal infrastructure area, introducing 126 pilot programs worth 130 billion yuan ($21.49 billion) in investment promotion. The pilot collection of value-added tax in lieu of business tax proceeded in an orderly manner with the total tax burden of pilot enterprises down 41.2 percent.
Beijing promoted the price adjustment of taxis, garbage disposal, sewage, and non-residential heating and gas supply. Carbon emissions permit trade was launched with 356 companies listed on the share transfer system for national medium and small enterprises. The open economic system was further improved. Despite the lack of external demand, regional total imports and exports increased by 5.1 percent, with total service trade up more than 20 percent, actual foreign capital utilization of $8.52 billion and direct overseas investment of more than $2.4 billion. Beijing’s tourists amounted to 250 million person-times, and tourism revenue totaled 396.32 billion yuan.
Beijing signed cooperation framework agreements with Tianjin, Shanxi and Hebei to conduct high-end consultations and promote regional pragmatic cooperation in agriculture, transportation, science and technology. The city also established gas pollution prevention and control coordination mechanisms together with Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas, pushing regional cooperation to a new stage. Adhering to good deed standards, Beijing successfully fulfilled the annual task of assisting designated areas.