Q: In December, Pingtan launched a business registration reform that attracted huge attention from investors across the Straits. How will Pingtan further promote the reform this year?

A: Pingtan carried out the business registration reform on Dec 1 last year. It lowered the investment threshold and appealed to investors from home and abroad. In less than 40 days, Pingtan issued 648 business licenses and welcomed 369 market players, an increase of 113 percent year-on-year.

This year, we will build on the success by implementing the "Business License before Administrative Permit" and "Direct Registration," which will greatly cut short the preliminary approval process. In the meantime, we will also launch an e-business registration platform and another platform for credit information on business players. The special platforms will make possible the sharing of information and supervision of commercial bodies.

Another highlight in the business registration reform is the "Direct Registration" mechanism for foreign-funded enterprises. Due to their characteristics, and especially since the revision of three major laws (Law on Foreign-Funded Enterprises, Law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, Law on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures) for foreign firms has not yet been completed, the business registration of foreign-funded companies will be more challenging than domestic companies. We will stipulate specific methods for registration and make further innovations.

Pingtan will establish a market monitoring system in accordance with business registration reform. The detailed measures will be made in the first half of the year, making various departments accountable for their work and calling on all of society to join in. We will also accelerate the construction of a trans-department information sharing system to strengthen credit supervision on enterprises.

Q: You proposed 10-point suggestions on Pingtan's work for this year. Most of them concern people's livelihood. What benefits will people see from that process?

A: The opening and development of Pingtan has had a huge impact. Last year, five projects kicked off construction, including five settlement-house communities, 37 streamlined schools, six parks and a grade-three hospital. Pingtan now ranks among the top in Fujian province in terms of pension standards and medical insurance.

We have a lot more livelihood projects coming in 2014. The first is the "Comfortable Living" project, which covers the entire island. Harmonious land procurement and relocation have also won support from the public. We are sparing no effort to construct settlement-house communities in Lancheng and Aoqian districts in hopes that the relocatees can move into new houses as soon as possible.

We also plan to build some leisure projects and improve Pingtan's taste. Six new parks will be ready this year, and a project for a sunshine coastal landscape will be launched. More entertainment projects, such as an ocean park, a sports park, a museum, a science museum and an amusement park, are on schedule as well.

In terms of social undertakings, we are building a grade-three hospital and 14 streamlined schools. These supporting facilities will heighten Pingtan's service ability and increase the public's happiness index.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman