25 administrative approvals to be scrapped

China will further reduce licensing red tape to promote the transformation of government functions and improve the business environment, the State Council decided at an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, the government will cancel 25 administrative approval items, including preapproval of corporate names before business registration and the preliminary review of domestically produced medicines, in order to further invigorate the market. Another six administrative approval items, including registration to practice some professions, will be delegated to government departments at or below the provincial level.

A pilot reform of the review system for construction projects will also be rolled out across the nation. Under unified requirements, an interagency review process, with a single department acting as the lead agency, will be adopted for the inspection of plans and completed projects, with clear time frames for reviews.

The goal is to enable a single blueprint for overseeing the implementation of a project, a single window providing multiagency services, a single checklist for preparing application materials, and a single set of mechanisms for regulating the permit process, the statement said.

It said the government aims to halve the time required for reviews of construction projects to 120 working days across the country in the first half of this year.