The Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress Held Third "Ministers' Corridor" Press Conference Activity
Optimize Business Environment to "Recharge and Refuel" Economic Development

(Original Title: The Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress Holds the Third “Minister’s Channel” Centralized Interview Activity to Optimize Business Environment and “Charge Up” for Economic Development)

The Securities Times Two Sessions Reporting Team

On March 12, the closing session of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where multiple resolutions and laws were approved through voting. During the third “Minister’s Channel” of the same session, Minister of Justice He Rong, Minister of Natural Resources Guan Zhiou, and Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu took turns speaking, introducing work arrangements in areas such as government legislation at the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” spatial layout of natural resource elements, and improving ecological environment quality and regulation.

During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the State Council submitted 60 legal proposals to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, drafted and revised 165 administrative regulations, and abolished 53, continuously improving the quality and efficiency of government legislation. Regarding the government legislative work at the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” He Rong stated that efforts will be made to further strengthen the supply of laws and regulations in key, emerging, and foreign-related fields.

According to He Rong, this year’s legislative work will focus on optimizing the business environment, drafting regulations for the construction of a unified national market, and addressing issues such as local protectionism, improper access conditions, and “involution” competition; promoting technological innovation by accelerating research and legislation in fields like artificial intelligence and low-altitude economy, revising the Road Traffic Safety Law, and drafting airspace management regulations; safeguarding people’s livelihoods by formulating administrative regulations on water supply, drug management, housing safety, and road transportation management, with legislative focus also on the rights protection of new employment groups and flexible workers; and serving high-level opening-up by advancing laws and regulations related to trade, investment, and customs clearance.

Administrative law enforcement connects the government and the public directly, affecting public trust in the Party and government, and confidence in the rule of law. “Despite the relatively low proportion of prominent issues in administrative law enforcement, for enterprises and individuals, it means 100% harm and injustice,” He Rong said.

Last year, the Ministry of Justice launched a special campaign to standardize law enforcement involving enterprises, investigating and correcting over 60,000 cases, recovering nearly 30 billion yuan in economic losses for businesses. The government work report this year calls for establishing a long-term mechanism to regulate administrative law enforcement involving enterprises. He Rong pointed out that the Ministry of Justice will continue to address prominent issues in administrative law enforcement and persist in efforts. Additionally, efforts will be made to strengthen the standardization of law enforcement and implement the Administrative Law Enforcement Supervision Regulations. Emphasis will be placed on utilizing information technology, enhancing technological empowerment to reduce burdens on enterprises and law enforcement personnel.

The protection and utilization of natural resources are crucial for the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature in modern development. “At this new starting point, the Ministry of Natural Resources will focus on optimizing spatial layout,” Guan Zhiou said. He emphasized strengthening the implementation of the main functional zone strategy, further refining and optimizing functional zoning, and improving supporting policies. Dynamic monitoring of land and space planning will be conducted, with realistic assessments and optimizations, especially ensuring the strict protection of arable land, ecological conservation, and urban development boundaries—three red lines—to prevent disorderly urban expansion and “pancake-style” development.

Focusing on key projects for the “15th Five-Year Plan,” the Ministry of Natural Resources will establish a spatial planning permit system, implement joint approval for land, forest, grassland, sea, and mineral use, significantly shorten approval times, and facilitate project implementation, early construction, and early results. By integrating ongoing urban renewal initiatives and comprehensive land management, multiple channels will be used to activate idle land, factories, and other stock resources, fully promoting the transformation of resource stock into development increments to “charge up” the economy. The goal is to expand, strengthen, and optimize new resources such as ocean, forestry, mineral, and geographic information, creating new spaces for entrepreneurship and employment.

The ocean economy is a new growth point. Regarding accelerating high-quality development of the marine economy, Guan Zhiou said that the Ministry of Natural Resources will pay more attention to industrial renewal, vigorously developing emerging industries like deep-sea equipment and blue pharmaceutical reserves, and cultivating new economic growth drivers.

Over the past year, ecological and environmental quality has continued to improve, but the foundation remains unstable. “We must seize the favorable opportunity presented by the ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ to peak carbon emissions and the release of the ecological environment law, promoting green and low-carbon transformation of industrial, energy, and transportation structures, and developing new productive forces to reduce pollutants at the source,” Huang Runqiu said.

Monitoring and enforcement are two key pillars of ecological and environmental regulation. Huang pointed out that environmental violations are becoming increasingly covert, with methods constantly evolving. He stated that digital, intelligent, and informationalized ecological and environmental regulation is an inevitable trend. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will intensify efforts to make monitoring more objective, enforcement more precise, and environmental regulation more penetrating and effective.