Do I have to go through a designated intermediary to get project approval? Can't we choose another provider? The fees are a complete mess. ? No doubt many people in the sand and gravel industry have, to varying degrees, encountered similar situations when going through project approval processes. To ensure that the decentralization of administrative powers is truly implemented, the State Council has issued multiple consecutive documents explicitly abolishing... Various “red-cap intermediaries.”

Since 2013, the State Council has reviewed and approved, in three batches, a total of 323 administrative approval and intermediary service items involving State Council departments that have been streamlined and standardized. It is strictly prohibited to designate specific intermediary agencies. A reporter from China Sand and Gravel Aggregate Network has conducted a rough compilation—let’s take a look at which bureaucratic procedures sand and gravel enterprises can now skip!

1. Designated intermediaries are prohibited; applicants may prepare the project themselves or entrust an agency to do so.

In a series of approval procedures—including sand mining permits for the Yangtze River waterway, applications for sand and gravel mines, development plan formulation, and preparation of annual mining reports—applicants may either prepare the documents themselves as required or entrust relevant institutions to do so. The approval authorities shall not, under any circumstances, require applicants to engage specific intermediary agencies to provide services.

All of the following intermediary services are available. Prepare independently or through a commissioned agency; designating intermediary agencies is prohibited.

II. Projects no longer requiring opinions from qualified entities

The following intermediary service items Applicants are no longer required to commission a qualified entity to issue a verification opinion.

The verification of the scope of mining rights applications will now be conducted by institutions commissioned by local land and resources departments. The appraisal and public announcement of mineral rights transfers will be handled by the provincial-level land and resources authorities, which will be responsible for publishing information on mineral rights transfers and issuing opinions confirming that no objections have been raised during the public notice period.

Premier Li Keqiang emphasized that the reform of streamlining administration and delegating power must prioritize “simplicity,” fully devolving the powers that should be delegated, eliminating as many approvals and regulatory requirements as possible, and directly handing them over to the market and society. We must resolutely abolish all unreasonable approval and intermediary procedures, accelerate the removal of “red hats” from intermediary agencies, sever the chains of vested interests, and promote steady, healthy, and sustainable economic and social development.