The city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has found a way to better use its market vitality and encourage innovation simply by removing 57 administrative procedures that were part of the city’s review process.

Some departments have also reduced the number of divisions, for example the pricing bureau, which cut them from 13 to 7, and the finance bureau, which removed 24 charges, saving enterprises a total of 840 million yuan ($135.48 million).

Wang Jun, deputy head of urban administrative services, says that they bundled 30 application forms into one, cutting the time for about 140 items that need approval, and have been applying an appraisal mechanism involving more than 100 enterprises to judge their service and performance since the end of 2012.