Plan to rejuvenate border areas

The General Office of the State Council issued the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) for rejuvenating border areas and boosting the livelihoods of residents. It has introduced measures to further help border areas prosper comprehensively. The plan stresses that the central government will give priority to supporting reform and innovation in the border areas and accelerating these regions' development, and will further provide preferential policies to the border areas.

Focus on education to be evaluated

The General Office of the State Council issued an evaluation guide for provincial governments' education focus, which points out that provincial governments are responsible for the development and reform of education in their region. The evaluation, led by the State Council, will be held once a year, and will be supervised by third-party professional institutions. By the end of June every year, there will be a national supervision report on how provincial governments carry out their education plans.

Guidance issued on local govt websites

The General Office of the State Council issued a guidance on the development of government websites. According to the guidance, governments and State Council departments above county level should establish government portal websites. Each organization should open one website. Governments and departments below county level should make government affairs public and provide government affairs services through the county-level government website, but should not open independent websites.

Index of human resources issued

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration issued a national standard index for human resource services, which will take effect on Dec 1. The standard provides a quantitative index for several elements of human resource services, including practitioners, scope of business, facilities and equipment, service environment as well as rules and regulations. The standard aims to improve the quality and efficiency of human resource organizations.

Tax policies to aid small enterprises

The Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation have jointly announced more favorable corporate income tax policies for small and micro-sized enterprises. According to the announcement, from Jan 1, 2017, to Dec 31, 2019, the taxable income upper limit to define whether an enterprise belongs to the small or micro-sized category will be raised from 300,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan ($44,140 to $73,570). For these small and micro-sized enterprises, their actual taxable income will be calculated as 50 percent of their real taxable income, and they will enjoy a 20 percent preferential corporate income tax rate.

Capital cooperation boost for agriculture

The ministries of finance and agriculture jointly issued a document further promoting cooperation between government and social capital in the agricultural sector. The ministries aim to promote the path, model and long-term mechanism of public-private partnership in the sector. They will also create a market-oriented supply mechanism for agricultural goods and public service, and propel the transformation of government functions. The effectiveness of agricultural investment, and the quality and efficiency of agricultural supply will also be improved.

Rural programs to combine sectors

The Ministry of Finance announced a pilot rural complex program. This refers to a comprehensive development model that combines modern agriculture, leisure tourism and the rural community. The announcement said the program would take three years to complete. Hebei and Shanxi provinces are among 18 pilot regions. The key tasks in setting up the program include establishing production and management systems, as well as focusing on ecology, services and operation.

Colleges get foreign student guidelines

The ministries of education, public security and foreign affairs jointly issued a program on college enrollment for international students and their development. According to the ministries, this will provide more colleges with greater autonomy, and stipulates that if they meet the criteria on teachers and student development they can independently admit international students. According to the document, colleges that enroll international students should incorporate the teaching program of international students into their overall program, provide qualified teachers and ensure the quality of education.