China pledges further efforts to support self-employed businesses

Thanks to a major regulation to promote China's self-employed businesses, restaurant operator Guo Hua changes the business license for the restaurant to her name without canceling the license and applying for a new one. She's the first in the country to complete the procedure since the new regulation takes effect on Nov. 1, 2022. [Photo by Fu Tian/China News Service]

Chinese officials on November 1, 2022 pledged more efforts to support self-employed businesses amid difficulties as the country unveiled a new regulation on advancing the development of self-employed businesses.

Guo Qimin, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, said more will be done to enhance macro policy implementation, improve the business environment and promote employment and entrepreneurship.

Efforts will also be made to lower burdens on small firms and self-employed businesses, help them with financing and stimulate consumer demand, Guo told a press conference on the new regulation.

The regulation, which came into effect November 1, 2022, has set out specific preferential policies in areas including optimizing the business environment and protecting the lawful rights and interests of self-employed businesses.

Pu Chun, deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said the regulation has given full consideration to the concerns of self-employed businesses and put forward practical and effective measures.

For instance, he said, local governments should, according to the new regulation, provide more business sites while reducing the cost of using such sites. They should fully consider the needs and difficulties of self-employed businesses in decision-making.

"To advance the development of self-employed businesses is to support the real economy," said Pu.

To cushion the epidemic impact and other difficulties, China has made constant efforts to reduce burdens on self-employed businesses. From 2020 to the end of September this year, tax and fee cuts for self-employed businesses reached nearly 1.03 trillion yuan (about 142.9 billion U.S. dollars).

Currently, over 80% of China's self-employed businesses are free from taxes, according to Dai Shiyou, an official with the State Taxation Administration.

By the end of September, China had 111 million registered self-employed businesses, accounting for two-thirds of the country's market entities, official data showed. Nearly 90% of these are in the service sector, while over 30% have engaged in new businesses like online streaming and e-commerce.

White paper: China's BeiDou reaches world-class level

Photo taken on Nov. 25, 2022 shows visitors viewing the global network model of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System at a scientific exhibition during the 2022 China Space Conference held in Haikou, Hainan Province. [Photo/VCG]

China has developed the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into a top-class system with cutting-edge technologies, pioneering design and powerful functions, according to a white paper published on November 4 by the State Council Information Office.

Titled "China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System in the New Era," the white paper said the BDS has reached a world-leading level in core technologies in terms of hybrid constellation, inter-satellite links, and signal structure.

BDS is compatible with other navigation satellite systems and capable of providing diversified and specialized services, the paper said.

It also highlighted BeiDou's outstanding batch production capability, saying that in less than three years, 18 rockets had carried 30 BDS satellites into orbit, "a pace unmatched by any other country."

BDS is able to provide a wide range of services, such as positioning, navigation, timing, and international search and rescue. It is the world's first navigation satellite system able to provide a global short message communication service, the paper noted.

The actual positioning accuracy of the BeiDou system is now better than five meters, and in some areas, between two and three meters, well above its design target of 10 meters, said Ran Chengqi, a spokesman for the system, at a media conference on the white paper in Beijing.

The timing accuracy of the BDS has also exceeded the target of 20 nanoseconds, reaching 10 nanoseconds, Ran added, implying that the BDS is comparable to other major world navigation systems.

"The 100% independent development and operation of BDS core components has laid a solid foundation for its widespread use," the paper said.