At a press conference Wednesday, Beijing Vice-Mayor Zhang Mao said a pilot project on reform had already been launched in Haidian District, where most of the city's high-tech companies are located.

Zhang emphasized reform will adhere to the unified arrangement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.

By separating the three key government functions which are currently in the hands of government departments, officials are seeking to establish an administration structure of standardized action transparency and high efficiency.

Zhang did not elaborate further on the historic reform.

An experiment on government restructuring has been conducted in Shenzhen, a city in South China's Guangdong Province that was China's first special economic zone.

The concept behind the reform is different from the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power in Western countries, Shenzhen Mayor Yu Youjun has pointed out.

"We will draw on the experiences and measures of Shenzhen in this regard,'' Zhang said.

In addition to the changes in administrative structure, the three pilot projects of the Beijing municipal government will include enforcing administrative regulations comprehensively and restructuring public institutions.

The vice-mayor also pledged Wednesday that the municipal government will scrap 175 categories of administrative charges for foreign-funded companies by the end of this year.

The new city government will work hard for a better environment for investors over the next five years, Zhang said, adding their work this year will focus on reducing costs for foreign-funded companies.

He noted the government would crack down on illegal activities like arbitrary charges, quotas and fines for enterprises to reduce their outgoings.

Beijing will also adjust its land supply to lower the cost of land use. Land prices in Beijing are well above the national average, especially land for commercial use.

To further optimize the investment environment, Beijing will hold open bidding sessions for commercial land trading, said Xie Jingrong, an official with the Beijing Municipal Department of Housing and Land Management.

Xie said land for first-hand development would be open to public bidding and developers could acquire the rights for land use through transfers, leasing, assignment and share holding.

(China Daily April 10, 2003)