At a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang, a decision was made to launch a special initiative to clean up the administrative charges and business charges that involve administrative approvals and market supervision. The central government aims to curb arbitrary charges through streamlining formalities and delegating power to lower levels, thus upgrading the function of government and abiding by the rule of law.

More than 600 administrative charges were canceled by central and local governments last year, especially for small and micro-sized businesses, the service industry and college graduate startups. Now an investigation will be made so any arbitrary charges will be resolutely canceled, and any kind of overcharge will be forbidden or corrected. Any administrative intermediary charge without legal basis will also be canceled. Authorities should also release a list of their charges to the public.

Li said governments at all levels should prevent arbitrary charges undermining the interests of enterprises and promote their healthy development.