Chinese govt to cut more administrative approvals

BEIJING - China is making efforts to ease market maneuverability by reducing the amount of administrative approvals required for businesses.

The State Council announced Wednesday it had plans to cancel or decentralize more than 200 administrative approvals this year to unleash market dynamics.

The move is expected to endow businesses with easier resource allocation and encourage them to focus more efforts on supervision and macro-management than government approvals, said Yang Jing, Chinese State Councilor, also secretary-general of the State Council.

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The government is determined to tackle the toughest barriers during reforms in order to release more power to the market and society, Yang said.

The report was delivered during the bimonthly-session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

The State council will issue guidelines this year to ensure administrative approvals can go through simpler procedures, in shorter time and with more transparency, he said.

The State Council began a new round of restructuring government functions in March, 2013. In just under a year and a half, it has canceled or delegated 632 administrative approval processes, Yang said.

These include approval of investment plans by businesses, the daily operation of enterprises, and scrutinizing the qualifications of enterprises, organizations or individuals.

The central government has removed or reduced charges for services, saving an expected 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) for enterprises and individuals each year. It has led to relaxed control of the market, boosted investment and creativity of businesses, Yang said.

Thanks to simplified business registration procedures, more than 11.3 million businesses were registered last year, an increase of 19.6 percent year on year. The figure reached 5.9 million during the first half of this year, up 16.7 percent against the same period last year, he added.