The Chinese government, on Wednesday, released a regulation on the management of business investment projects, as it seeks to streamline government functions to grant greater power to the market.

The 24-clause regulation states that business projects that fall into the categories related to national security, development of strategically important resources and major public interests will require prior government approval.

The approval should not, in principle, take more than 20 working days, according to the regulation.

Projects outside the stated sectors will require a less stringent filing process, to be put on record only.

The approval and filing procedures will be conducted via a national online supervision platform for transparent information sharing, according to the State Council.

The regulation, released under a decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang, will come into effect from Feb 1, 2017.

The decision is part of a wider drive by the government to streamline administrative procedures to invigorate growth. Partly due to a series of reforms, China is on track to deliver its annual growth target range of 6.5 to 7pc for the year.

China Daily/ANN

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, December 19th, 2016