Government reform

Upon taking office this March, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to create a more favorable environment to fully release the vitality of economy by reducing administrative approval procedures and delegating more power to lower levels.

In the months since then he has been as good as his word, and the State Council has cancelled and delegated to lower bodies more than 300 administrative approval procedures; as a result, the number of company registrations has grown by 25 percent while private investment has stayed higher than government-led investment, with a growth rate of about 23 percent.

But the key phase in transforming the function of government is still to come, says an opinion piece Xinhua News Agency. The central government's resolve to reduce bureaucracy and transform its function will be illusory without the cooperation of local governments.