Personal property rights “settled in 40 minutes,” business registration “completed in half a day”
“Can you really get the ‘red booklet’ in less than 40 minutes?” On the morning of April 20, at the Pingliang City Government Service Center in Gansu Province, resident Li Chun held the newly issued real estate ownership certificate, still somewhat surprised. A process that once took several days is now completed at one window with a single submission. He smiled and called to his wife: “Quick, take a photo of our ‘big red booklet’ for keepsake.”
In the business registration service area, entrepreneur Lan Liang just submitted a full set of application materials at a comprehensive window. Subsequently, steps such as seal engraving, tax registration, and bank account opening appointment began to process simultaneously in the background through parallel workflows. Half a day later, a file bag containing a business license, company seal, and tax digital certificate was handed to him. “One window, everything is done!” he happily called his startup partner.
Last year, Pingliang’s government service initiative “Efficiently Handle One Thing” was selected as a 2025 national standardization pilot project. From personal property rights “settled in 40 minutes” to business registration “completed in half a day,” this reform is continuously bringing tangible convenience to the people and businesses of this small northwestern city.
Previously, government service hall windows were separated by department, forcing citizens to shuttle between them. Now, the comprehensive reception windows are orderly, thanks to a restructuring of business processes. Taking real estate registration as an example, the reform connected the systems of the housing management, tax, and registration departments, transforming serial approvals into backend data sharing and parallel processing. When handling business, citizens only need to face one window.
Citizen Wang Chen recently applied to open a pharmacy. She found that previously separate items such as pharmaceutical business permits, medical device business permits, and filings were integrated into “Efficiently Handle One Thing for Drug and Medical Device Operations.” By submitting one set of materials at one window, the data is distributed and approved in parallel within the industry system. A process that originally took months and multiple trips was compressed to be completed within two working days.
At the provident fund window in the government service center, freelance photographer Liu Hongbin initially stopped by just to inquire. The window staff explained in detail the new “flexible contribution and independent file selection” model for flexible employment workers, along with government contribution subsidies. Under the staff’s guidance, he opened an account on-site through a mini-program and chose a lump-sum contribution. Soon, meeting the qualifications, he successfully converted his commercial housing loan to a provident fund loan. “In total, I can save over 40,000 yuan in interest,” Liu Hongbin said with joy.
The service reach has actively extended outward and downward from the government service center windows. Provident fund management center staff carry mobile terminals to labor markets and industrial parks, bringing policy explanations and enrollment guidance to workers. Across Pingliang, 118 bank convenience service points bring consultation and reception windows into communities. Since the pilot implementation of the “Pingliang City Flexible Employment Workers’ Provident Fund Contribution and Use Management Measures (Trial)” in April 2024, and after being approved as a national pilot city for flexible employment workers to participate in the provident fund system in November of the same year, 17,300 flexible employment workers in Pingliang have established provident fund accounts, and over 1,700 households have used provident fund loans.
In response to difficulties reported by some residential communities regarding real estate registration, multiple departments including Pingliang’s natural resources, housing and construction, and taxation formed a joint task force, adopting various methods to address bottlenecks and pain points such as incomplete historical records. The real estate registration window at the government service center opened a green channel and dedicated staff for such cases. Through the alignment of policy and service, the certification channel has been opened for a total of 24 residential communities and 4,099 housing units.
In recent years, Pingliang City handles over 3 million various matters annually. Adding thoughtful services while reducing the burden on citizens—this people-centered “addition and subtraction” confirms the principle of “taking benefiting the people as the greatest achievement.”
