Authorities in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province have started to issue a new version of business licenses to ease the registration procedure for companies, Xinhua News Agency reported on March 9.

Two legal representatives for local enterprises show the all-in-one business licenses at the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province, March 9. The new license integrates the business license, the certificate of organization code and the certificate of taxation registration into one certificate. [Photo/Xinhua]

The new license now integrates the business license, the certificate of organization code and the certificate of taxation registration into one certificate. Entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals can apply for it at the local Administrative Service Center. If everything goes well, they can get the license after three hours, according to Xu Jin, an official with the center.

The applicant only needs to fill out an online form with required documents for business registration and then submit it to employees at the site to round out the application once and for all, he added.

The reform has slashed the time of such applications from 26 days for domestic companies and 46 days for overseas ones to a staggering three hours, which saves a great deal of time on their part.

Fujian Haoxiang Industrial Development Co became the first beneficiary of the mechanism in Pingtan on March 9.

“Previously we had to go through the process separately in different locations. Now it only requires filling an online form and a mouse click to get it done, and we just wait for an approval in three hours,” said Wei Lianghao, legal representative of the company.

“For us entrepreneurs, time is money. This reform really brings us a lot of convenience and saves a big chunk of time on our part to make sure we can attend to other affairs,” he added.

Business registration reform is mentioned in the government report for 2015, and China is pressing the all-in-one business license reform in 24 provinces and big cities, which is expected to reduce the registration time from 20 days to five days on average, according to Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, on March 9.

Obviously Pingtan is on the frontline of the reform, commented Huang Peihui, deputy head of the Fujian Administration for Industry and Commerce, adding that it will be applied to the entire Fujian province this year.