China to streamline administrative approval system with law

China will streamline its administrative approval system and no additional items other than those instructed in the administrative license law will be allowed.

Administrative approval items not part of the Administrative License Law should be abolished and if an approval needs to be retained, it should be established as a new mandate administered by the license law, said a circular issued by the State Council and published on the Chinese government's website, www.gov.cn, on Tuesday.

China's Administrative License Law was enacted in 2003. However, the State Council allowed some non-administrative license matters to be kept, most of which were about the government's internal management, subject to government approval as a stopgap solution.

However, some authorities have extended the application of such approvals to citizens, enterprises and other organizations, the circular said.

The circular told relevant authorities to report their plans to clean up unnecessary approval items to the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform (SCOPSR) by the end of May and finish streamlining work within one year.

The state commission office will oversee cleanup work and update the latest administrative approval list.

China last month published a list of 1,235 administrative approval items under 60 central government departments.