China to further streamline approval procedures for businesses

China will further push reforms that aim to streamline the approval process for companies, a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

A woman in Sichuan Province holds a business license of her company, September 13, 2016. [Photo: IC]

China will expand a pilot reform that separates business operation permits from business licenses nationwide, according to the meeting.

The country will cut the production permits for industrial goods by at least another one-third and simplify approval procedures for other permits so that corporate burden will be further reduced, according to the meeting.

Production permits for 14 types of industrial goods will be canceled, dropping the number of types that need production permits to 24.

Production permits for goods related to public security, public health, and environmental protection will be replaced by mandatory certification.

A list of these products will be compiled and released to the public, and certification charges should be funded by public finance, according to the meeting.

The new measures will reduce the costs for companies to gain market access, which help unleash vitality of the private sector, according to Ren Xingzhou, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council.