Citizens in Liangjiang are guided by officials in the social security hall on the use of the all-in-one machine. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn] |
China's first inland national new area of opening-up, Liangjiang New Area in Southwest China's Chongqing has been carrying out in-depth reforms on social security systems to ease the unnecessary social security burden of enterprises, which enables them to put more time and energy into market exploration and technological innovation.
Specific measures have been taken by Liangjiang's social insurance management center to raise the service quality and to boost people's and firms' sense of gain and happiness.
In upgrading the local business environment, the center is adjusting its perspective to better accommodate people and enterprises, and has taken the lead in Chongqing to digitalize the handling of social insurance-related affairs.
Running from one department to another for social insurance affairs used to be a commonplace phenomenon. Now the administrative approval hall of the new area's free-trade zone has created a 24-hour self-service area, covering all districts, blocks and communities of Liangjiang, and is equipped to handle more than 20 functions to meet the diverse needs of firms and people.
For instance, insured residents can go through the pension qualification identification process, apply for social security cards and print their certificate of coverage through the machine in the self-service area.
The center also encourages firms and citizens to handle their social security affairs online. So far, 94 percent of the insured enterprises deal with social insurance items online, and 55 percent of the insured people in Liangjiang have applied for electronic social security cards via their mobile phone.
To familiarize people with social security-related knowledge and administrative procedures, the center has employed eight telephone operators who offer detailed information to people in need. Since October 2019, operators have received more than 210,000 calls and have transferred over 130,000 calls to social security departments.
John Edwards, the UK trade commissioner for China, praised Chongqing over its rise as a burgeoning center in intelligent manufacturing.