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This article was originally posted in the Gongkong news center and is part of a new series aimed at raising awareness of China's Industry 4.0 Initiative.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 15 (Reporter Wang Youling) - The NDRC has transfered and decentralized several industrial products production license approval processes to carry out a pilot project to simplify examination and approval procedures and strengthen in-process anre after-process regulatory supervision in order to promote innovation and manufacturing upgrading.

The State Council pointed out that the manufacturing sector is key to supporting economy growth. Through a combination of decentralization and relaxed regulatory requirements, they aim to optimize service reform, reduce the number of product types that require industrial production type licenses, simplify approval procedures, and strengthen supervision and corporate responsibility for product quality and safety. This is conducive to the enabling greater market access and stimulating investment, promoting overall upgrading of quality standards of Made in China products.

The Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) reports that the reform of the industrial production permit system mainly involves three aspects, including a significant adjustment in production license management catalog, piloting the simplified production license approval procedures, and strengthening of in-process and after-process approval supervision.

This production license system reform aims to remove license requirements for 19 products with low safety risks with quality-related issues and make mandatory the licensing for industrial production of 3 products accordance with international regulations/ These products are mainly mass consumer, and are directly related to human health and safety of consumer goods. The local quality inspection departments will be put in charge of 8 other products for the industrial production approval process due to their high volume and broad nature.

Through the above measures, 50% of all previous approval procedures have been relaxed, cancelled or passed on to local authorities in charge. Production approval guidelines shall abide by the categories of public safety, economic security, ecological security, production safety and security ideology, especially for high risk products.

During the executive meeting, the State Council authorized several AQSIQ pilot projects for simplification of production license approval processes. These pilots include:

1) To cancel original approval processes conducted by issuing departments before issuing changes. Companies are to submit qualified product testing, inspection product inspection reports to the department.

2) To postpone live inspection till post-approval processes. For companies that have submited an application and commited to product quality and safety assurance, production licenses are first approved, and thereafter site inspection are conducted to verify the agreed requirements for the production quality of promised products are met.

The industrial production permit system is a national industrial policy established in 1984 by the State Council to strengthen quality control at the source. However, current procedures for license approval take a relatively long time, hence there is an urgent need for reform to simplify and optimize the process.

An effective reform of the production license system needs to relax on existing approval procedures while ensuring comprehensive quality monitoring measures are in place. AQSIQ officials said that spot checks will be one of the most effective means of supervision in-process and after-process, and AQSIQ shall conduct them to further increase efforts to increase frequency and expand coverage of checks to identify critical problems and take appropriate measures.