In a recent meeting, the State Council promised to cancel more administrative examination and approval programs, thus further liberalizing the market. More related reforms like encouraging growth of social organizations are needed, says a column on Beijing News. Excerpts:

On Aug 21, the State Council canceled more administrative examination and approval programs, while also strictly regulating local governments from inventing them: a smart move.

Actually, reform on the administrative examination and approval system began in 2001, but since then, we have only seen more such programs because of the lack of regulative measures. Many local governments canceled certain programs, but they have often immediately allowed State-monopolized organizations to introduce more.

The State Council decision has been effective in preventing the cycle.

However, more needs to be considered. With more administrative examination and approval programs canceled, local governments often have to give up supervision for a huge part of the market, which could leave a void. For example, a taxi-calling app is becoming popular in many cities, but without regulation, it could lead to a messy situation.

It is necessary to encourage more social organizations to fill in the blank. In mature markets of developed countries, social organizations such as guilds do well in maintaining market order. We hope China can take similar measures for a stable and healthy economy.