The central government should streamline its administration and simplify approval procedures, said participants on Sunday at the China Administrative Reform Forum in Beijing.

The central government should delegate its decision-making power to lower-level governments, intervene less in market affairs and give NGOs more autonomy to deal with social issues, said Chen Baosheng, Party chief and vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Governance, at the fourth session of the forum.

The central government has cut off 165 administrative approvals since the new leaders took power in March. However, there are still 1,500 administrative approvals in the central government, Chen said.

Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said that private-owned enterprises should be supported by the government through less taxation and a smooth channel of finance.

The government should also pay more attention to social justice to appease the public concern over income gaps, he added.

“I used to receive letters from the public complaining that the retirement pension for company workers is only 1,800 yuan ($293) per month compared to 3,000 yuan for government staff and institutional workers,” he said. The forum, held every one and a half years, aims to gather information for the central government’s administrative reform. More than 200 former and incumbent government officials and university scholars attended the forum.