Govt simplifies administrative approval processes

The State Council announced Wednesday a list of items which will be no longer subject to administrative approval or would enjoy simpler administrative reviews, in a move to further encourage investment and liberalize the economy amid the slowdown.

A total of 314 items will be either exempted from administrative review or subject to simpler administrative review procedures, the State Council, China's cabinet, said on its official website Wednesday.

Of that, 171 items will no longer be subject to administrative review, approval of another 117 items will be delegated to the lower level government agencies, while 26 items will be subject to fewer or simpler approval procedures, it said.

According to the list, foreign companies and companies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will no longer need to obtain administrative approval for contracts to operate joint ventures.

Outbound remittance of net profit in foreign currency by Chinese commercial banks, small and medium-sized financial institutions in rural areas, branches of foreign banks and joint venture banks is no longer subject to administrative review.

Investment in expansion of airports with a total investment between 1 billion yuan ($159 million) and 2 billion yuan will be subject to approval of industrial regulatory agencies under the State Council or investment management agencies under provincial governments instead of the National Development and Reform Commission, the list said.

The government will exit in an area or project where citizens, legal entities or other organizations could make decisions on their own and ensure effective self-regulation, the State Council said.

"The measure is no doubt aimed at stimulating growth in the current situation when the economy is facing downward pressure," Ding Yifan, a researcher with the Development and Research Center of the State Council, told the Global Times Wednesday.

"But deregulation is also a double-edged sword. Problems will arise if the policy is too liberal. A sound supervision system and launch of pilot programs by choosing some items or regions to experiment could avoid risks," he said.

The decision to remove or reduce administrative reviews of the 314 items was made at the State Council's executive meeting in August. The meeting also decided to make South China's Guangdong Province a pilot region to have an administrative review system reform.

The meeting did not provide the details but said the deregulation will involve areas such as investment and social programs with a focus on items concerning the real economy, micro and small-sized enterprises and private capital.

"Speeding up or simplifying administrative review of micro- and small-sized enterprises and encouraging private investment is in line with the policies announced by the government early this year," Yu Fugong, director of Research Department of Economics at the Party School of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, told the Global Times Wednesday.

It last announced to simplify administrative review in 2010.

China has removed or simplified administrative reviews of 2,497 items, about 69.3 percent of the total original items subject to administrative reviews since 2001, data from the State Council showed.