In a speech at the mobilization conference on creating the first-class business environment for Hainan Free Trade Port held by Hainan Provincial Party Committee and Government, party secretary Liu Cigui called on all participants to:

1) further keep in line with advanced standards, clarify directions, identify gaps, and immediately take actions and make corrections;

2) further demonstrate the firm determination and confidence of the provincial party committee and provincial government to build a first-class business environment with the courage of self-revolution, the sense of crisis for keeping ahead, and the sense of urgency for grasping time;

3) further gather resources of the whole province to produce practical results in building a first-class business environment with beyond-conventional understanding, measures and actions, and build Hainan Free Trade Port with high quality and high standard requirements.

Why is such a large-scale mobilization conference on creating the first-class business environment necessary?

First, it is an inevitable requirement for realizing a law-based, international and convenient free trade port, and an imperative need to attract global investors to Hainan for investment and development.

Second, it is the internal demand to create a new open highland with a higher degree of openness, a more enabling business environment, and a stronger radiation effect.

Third, it is a key measure to transform government functions, upgrade service, improve the way government officials perform their tasks at a higher starting point, and enhance people's sense of gain, satisfaction, and happiness.

Whether the business environment is good or not, it is market players who have the final say. No trophy cup could compete with the praise from a businessman.

What achievements have we made in creating a first-class business environment?

Over recent years, we have actively aligned ourselves with the first-class business environment, and have formulated 40 measures and 29 measures on optimizing business environment, and released successively 77 system innovation cases in seven batches. We have focused on implementing the putting-opening-first strategy, and promoted the construction of pilot free trade zones and a free trade port throughout the island; have strictly observed the red line of ecological protection and the bottom line of environment quality, sped up the building of a clean energy system, and vigorously taken actions to remediate the eco-environment in six special projects and the coastal zone; have paid attention to ensuring "a whole-of-province response and across-island urbanization", and taken the lead in launching the "simplified and unified regulatory system across province" pilot reform among all provinces; have highlighted the optimization of economic structure, and put emphasis on building a modern economic system with tourism, modern service industry and high-tech industry as the three supporting pillars; have drawn attention to deepening the reform of delegating power, streamlining administration and improving service, and worked out six trial projects for most simplified approval management; have concentrated on the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment to improve the single window of international trade; have sticked to the residential function of homes, while at the same time encouraged the development of ten types of real estate; have seen to improving quality and upgrading infrastructure such as the "five networks"; have developed the two-wheel driven mode with equal emphasis put on the introduction and training of talents; have attended to introducing education and medical resources, advancing the development of rule of law in Hainan, and building the information platform for social governance, establishing a close-yet-clean government-business relationship, and launching campaigns on enhancing social civilization. Such efforts have altogether enabled a profound enhancement of our business environment.

Where do our shortfalls lie when compared with the first-class business environment in such cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen?

The problems shown in our business environment lie not only in our mindset and understanding, in our system and mechanism, but also in the awareness and ability to serve and the quality of service among party members and government officials, not to mention some corruption issues. The main gaps between our environment and that of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are observed in eight aspects, ie. issuance of construction permit, electricity accessibility, cross-border trade, execution of contract, government service, allocation of public resources, protection of investors as well as law enforcement and inspection. Like a boat sailing against the current, to improve the business environment, we could only forge ahead or lose ground. A slow advance is in every sense a fall behind. There is no other option than going onward and upward, and even a less-effort try would undermine our progress. A first-class business environment could by no means be built overnight. It must be done by fulfilling one task after another and fostering one improvement after another, hence taking one new step forward after another and expediting one significant breakthrough after another as time passes. Just as constant dripping of water wears away the stone, our efforts must be persistent should we wish to make any achievement at all.

How to build the first-class business environment with beyond-conventional understanding, measures, actions and practical results, as well as united and persistent efforts?

First, resolute and strong measures must be taken to strengthen our confidence in successfully building the first-class business environment. "Creating the first-class" is not just "following the first-class". We must be brave to take a leap forward, thus enabling us - a follower at the beginning, to become a neck-and-neck competitor and finally a leader. We must improve the mechanism that could tolerate and correct faults and errors and keep to the "three distinguishing criteria" to separate errors made during bold reforms from those committed deliberately against rules. We must not allow faults and errors committed from lack of experience or trial moves and unintentional mistakes made in promoting development to hurt the determination and confidence of government officials and the public striving to build the first-class business environment.

Second, resolute and strong measures must be taken to enhance the awareness and capability of providing first-class service. We must put ourselves in the place of a servant that runs errands for businesses and continue to relieve difficulties for various market entities instead of mistaking the role of a service provider for an administrator or mistaking responsibilities for power, and never allow turning over problems or shifting responsibilities. We must be determined to get rid of conventions and rigid ideology, change the way of thinking and streamline the working process while paying respect to the bottom line of law and order. We must never resort to words like “this doesn’t work” or “that’s not practicable”, but get down to figuring out "how it will work" and faithfully achieve an open door, a smiling face, a quick acceptance, and a prompt response. For business environment, it is much easier to destroy it than to improve it. We must not destroy at the same time we build. We must care for the business environment as we care for the eco-environment to ensure that it can only become better instead of turning worse.

Third, resolute and strong measures must be taken to promote systemic integration and innovation and transform government functions. We must continuously reject formalities and bureaucracy, shoulder responsibilities for both upper and lower levels with the same seriousness, make greater efforts to address the problem of officials ignoring issues left behind by their predecessors, and avoid making "ungrounded policy" that is impracticable or "self-centered policy" that fights each other.

Fourth, resolute and strong measures must be taken to improve the eco-environment, political environment, social environment, and legal environment. Every citizen represents a part of the business environment, who should care for it and be dedicated to improving it. Departments of all sectors and localities of all levels must take real and practical actions to clear away the "stumbling blocks" that hamper our progress toward the goal of building the first-class business environment.