The government service center at WEDZ. [Photo provided to en.whkfq.gov.cn]
It took the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) less than three years to increase its number of market entities from 50,000 to 73,216, with nearly 600 market entities registering in the zone every month on average.
The surge of newly registered market entities is largely due to the zone's efforts to optimize its business environment to better serve business operators.
"In the past, one needed to submit documents at government service windows in charge of industry and commerce, taxation, social insurance and finance to start a business, and it took at least one month to go through these procedures," a manager of a local technology company recalled.
Things changed in 2014, when WEDZ overcame information barriers and extended its service chains, offering one-stop services for enterprises.
For example, to open a drug store in the zone, the store owner previously needed to obtain five permits in medicine management, medicine quality, medical equipment, and food, which needed more than 40 applications and supporting materials. And after the owner submitted all these documents, he or she had to wait about 180 workdays to get the results. Now the period has been shortened to only three days, with just 17 materials needed from business owners.
The lowered market entity entry threshold, together with declining costs for entrepreneurs to start new businesses, has spurred innovation and entrepreneurship. Last year, the net increase in market entities in the zone reached nearly 10,000, and its growth rate exceeded the average in Wuhan. Over the first nine months of this year, WEDZ reported 12,225 newly registered market entities, up 63.07 percent year-on-year, which is more than the total number in 2021.
In addition, the proportions of businesses in the tertiary industry, sci-tech innovation, software and IT services among the newly reported businesses in the zone are also rising steadily.
