Shanxi recently issued a 2015 action plan on pilot works of comprehensive supplementary reform for national resource-based economy transformation. The province has listed 20 major reforms, 20 major events, 80 major projects and five major subjects. It will strive to make new breakthroughs in industry transformation, ecological restoration, urban and rural overall planning, and public livelihood improvement.
Twenty major reforms
First, Shanxi will deepen coal management system reform. It will fully carry out ad valorem duty policies in coal resource taxes, deepen coal sales system reform, implement coal tar road sales system reform measures and properly arrange transferred employees. It will also establish a coal supervision information platform to boost coal project examination and approval as well as certification management reforms. The province will further streamline, adjust and devolve a batch of coal administration procedures.
Second, Shanxi will deepen State-owned enterprise reform. It will make major SOE information open to the public, advance salary management reform for SOE officials, steadily promote equity diversification, explore separated regulation and evaluation, establishment and reorganize SOEs, deepen reform on disconnecting subsidiaries from provincial authorities, steadily push forward large collectively-owned company reform, and accelerate separation of social functions of businesses.
Third, Shanxi will establish a State-owned capital gains sharing mechanism. It will gradually raise SOE capital gains collection and use it to safeguard and improve the public livelihood long-term mechanism.
Fourth, Shanxi will establish a resource industry elongation cycle promotion and assistance mechanisms. The province will extend coal power and aluminum, coking and coal gasification industry chains; guide conglomeration and merger in coal, electric power, metallurgy, coking and building materials industries; and phase out obsolete capacities.
Fifth, Shanxi will deepen financial budget management system reform. It will improve the government budget system, differentiate budgeting, push for open budget and final accounts, improve the annual budget control model, set up an equilibrium mechanism for budgeting that spans two years, and clear and standardize work on linking major expenditures to growth in financial revenue and expenditures or GDP.
Sixth, Shanxi will promote financial sector reform, strengthen financial support for the real economy, enhance bank and enterprise connections, make good use of existing financial license certificates, actively carry out pilot work at private banks, build new financial highlands, improve multi-level capital market financing functions, and vigorously help qualified companies get listed and listed companies get refinanced.
Seventh, Shanxi will deepen science and technology system reform, continue to implement its action plan on China's innovation-powered development strategy, push ahead the establishment of a national independent innovation demonstration zone, confirm the role of science and technology innovation in enterprises, and build a company-led industrial technology research and development innovation mechanism.
Eighth, Shanxi will promote land management reform and explore the urban and rural construction land use model, temporary ground use for open-cast mining, and industrial and mining waste land reclamation and utilization. It will follow the unified deployment by the central government and boost pilot work on rural land reform.
Ninth, Shanxi will conduct innovations to improve the ecological environment compensation mechanism; strengthen environmental protection legislation; step up efforts on environmental protection law enforcement; study mining environmental legislation; conduct innovations for mining ecological environment restoration and treatment; push ahead synchronous planning and implementation of resources exploitation and environmental control; and build and improve the ecological environment protection, restoration and management responsibility mechanism. Tenth, Shanxi will push ahead water resource paid use system reform, study the initial water right allocation system and paid water rights transfers, explore the establishment of a water rights conversion and transaction system, and timely carry out pilot projects for cross-industry water rights trading.
Eleventh, Shanxi will deepen education system reform, speed up the construction of an integrated urban and rural compulsory education development mechanism, optimize education resources allocation, promote reform of the compulsory education school operation model, vigorously promote fair education, deepen comprehensive reform of higher education, perfect the structure of scientific education curricula, improve internal governance structures in colleges and universities, explore the establishment of a council system, and strive to build a modern university system.
Twelfth, Shanxi will improve the employment and entrepreneurship promotion mechanism; build an economic development and employment expansion joint mechanism; improve and boost the employment and entrepreneurship policy system; strengthen the leading role of industrial planning, government investment and major projects; and focus on the implementation of college graduate entrepreneurship guidance and employment promotion programs.
Thirteenth, Shanxi will deepen income distribution system reform, study and formulate opinions on deepening income distribution system reform, reform the public institution endowment insurance system and wage structure, link rank with income for civil servants below the county level, advance collective consultation on wages, and build a minimum wage adjustment mechanism.
Fourteenth, Shanxi will push forward highway construction and operation management system reform; take steps to bring down government debt for highways and increase the number of profitable highways; fully open up the highway investment market; promote diversified highway investment; and establish a highway construction and operation management system featuring clear-cut rights and liabilities, diversified investment and scientific development.
Fifteenth, Shanxi will promote rural property rights system reform; comprehensively carry out rural land contractual management rights registration and certification; actively give guidance on orderly circulation of rural land management rights; and establish and improve the land circulation service system at the county, township and village levels, as well as the dispute mediation and arbitration system at county and village levels.
Sixteenth, Shanxi will conduct poverty alleviation and development mechanism innovation; strengthen policy support and guidance; make use of the market; deeply carry out poverty alleviation through business development, employment training, migration and financial institute-backed poverty alleviation; and accelerate poverty alleviation for destitute cluster areas.
Seventeenth, Shanxi will deepen investment system reform; formulate an investment project directory approved by the Shanxi government for 2015; further narrow down the examination and approval scope; devolve examination and approval to further streamline pre-approval procedures; enable business investment to go through preview and project approval at the same time; strengthen overall supervision; and encourage private capital to get into infrastructure construction, municipal utilities and finance, telecom operations, education, culture, health care and pension fields in the form of sole proprietorships, equity participation and stock control.
Eighteenth, Shanxi will promote the authority and responsibility lists system, comprehensively sort out the provincial government department's administrative functions, clean up existing office authority, specify duty and authority in accordance with the law, formulate an administrative authority operation flow diagram, and optimize authority operation processes.
Nineteenth, Shanxi will promote construction of comprehensive government service and public resources trading platforms, actively push ahead administrative examination and approval of law enforcers and service departments working together and offering one-stop services, make full use of the existing provincial professional markets, and speed up the construction of provincial public resources trading platform to form a unified public resources trading system in Shanxi.
Twentieth, Shanxi will promote government vehicle use reform, study and formulate an overall reform plan, and carry it out. The province will specify the range of reform and government transportation subsidy standards and bring forward opinions on government vehicle disposal methods, as well as drivers and logistics personnel settlement.
Edited by Michael Thai
