Abstract: Automated administrative licensing, such as “instant approval” and “unmanned approval”, has become an important innovative paradigm for the reform and the practice of optimizing the business environment in China. In addition to the efficiency advantages, automated administrative licensing has such governance values as improving the accuracy and consistency of licensing decisions and reducing rent-seeking space. At the same time, automated administrative licensing also brings many risks: more uncertainties resulting from the gradual expansion of its application scenario, higher data security risks brought about by the high demand for data sharing, and the increased difficulty in identifying the legal responsibilities of each party caused by the mode of government-enterprise cooperation. From the perspective of institutional improvement, the Central Government needs to play a more pivotal role in the policy experiment process of automated administrative licensing; a typology thinking should be adopted to classify and control automated administrative licensing; and specialized intelligent regulatory provisions should be added to the Administrative Licensing Law in the future revision of the law.

Key Words: automated administration; efficiency principle; data sharing; government-enterprise cooperation; intelligent approval; Administrative Licensing Law

Author: Lu Chao, research fellow; Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences;

Source: 6 (2024) Chinese Public Administration.