In December 2014, the State Council conducted a poll on sina.com.cn and qq.com to find out which policies issued in the year attracted most interest from the public.

The results showed that of the top 10 policies, streamlining administrative approval procedures was the most popular, followed by improved medical services and making it easier to secure hukou, or permanent residence, in urban or rural areas.

The results are:

No 1

Streamlining administrative approval procedures

Administrative approvals for more than 200 categories were canceled or delegated to authorities at lower levels. Also canceled were more than 100 professional certification procedures.

Business registration was simplified. Business licenses can now be obtained from industry and commerce bureaus before other authorities grant a permit to do business in a specific field. For instance, a company can be set up before going through procedures to get permits for specific businesses.

After new regulations on information disclosure were issued, enterprises no longer have to go through annual assessment by the industry and commerce authorities. They only have to file an annual report — open to public scrutiny — to the industry and commerce authorities.

The State Council has taken the lead in limiting its power on administrative approvals, setting an example for authorities at lower levels to follow suit.

No 2

Improving medical services

According to a May circular, 700 county-level public hospitals will offer better services, so that more than half of counties and county-level cities will have joined the reform program benefiting more than 500 million rural residents.

Provinces that have at least 4 ward beds for every 1,000 residents will not be allowed to expand public hospitals in principle; and authorities should streamline administrative approval procedures so that the private sector can set up medical institutions more easily.

Authorities in different provinces should also try to integrate their public health insurance programs, especially for those who worked and paid for health insurance in one province but are living in another after retirement. This way when people seek medical services in the province they live in, their insurance policies pay for the medical expenses.

Insurance companies are encouraged to issue policies for severe medical conditions so that patients are reimbursed not only by the public health insurance program but also by insurance companies.

No 3

Reform of hukou system

A circular to further reform the hukou system, or the residence permit system, was issued in July.

All small cities are required to relax hukou conditions so that all those have a lawful and long-term residence, including even a rented apartment, are eligible for hukou.

On the other hand, the circular seeks strict population controls in mega cities. Cities that have an urban population of more than 5 million should set up a grading system for hukou registration, or improve the system if they already have one. With such a system, a city sets a number of criteria for immigrants who seek hukou, and grades them accordingly to see if they meet the requisite criteria.

The categorization of urban and rural hukou will be canceled but the authorities cannot ask people with rural hukou to trade their land rights to secure urban hukou.