The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Beijing
has prompted new ways of working, including tele-conferencing,
online business talks and taxation, and working at home.
To
reduce face-to-face contacts, the Beijing Foreign Trade and
Economic Commission has required enterprises to download
application forms for interest-subsidized loans from the Internet
and to acquire import permits for ordinary commodities online. It
has also examined exports of machines and electronics and
registered export and import rights online.
As
the commission handles the approval and issuance procedures for
licenses for representative offices established by foreign
companies, in which paper work is essential, through express mail
services.
The commission has also started an "online business talks" system,
which allows multi-lateral communications for both domestic and
overseas customers.
The outbreak of SARS has triggered the rapid development of
"e-administration" for the local government, which used to suffer
from inefficient meetings and bundles of documents.
Online taxation is another outstanding change in working modes in
Beijing.
Of
the 352 additional taxpayers registered in April in Fengtai
District, 57.9 percent were registered through the Internet,
according to a local taxation administrator.
Online services were not only more convenient, but also conducive
to the establishment of a market-economy-friendly personal
information system, according to Wang Jiping, director of the
Beijing Taxation Bureau.
After the outbreak of SARS, the long-awaited working-at-home mode
has become popular among the city's white-collar workers. According
to a recent survey, 40 percent of the respondents considered
working at home more efficient.
(People's Daily June 8, 2003)
