China to Shorten Business Registration and Construction Project Approval Processes

China to Shorten Business Registration and Construction Project Approval Processes

May 28, 2018

On May 2, China’s State Council declared plans to shorten the business registration process for newly-established companies from 20 days to 8.5 days and to reduce the approval time for construction projects from 200+ days to 120 days.

Expedited business registration will initially be executed in municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Shanghai), arranged cities, sub- provincial cities, and provincial capitals this year. These regions include Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Ningbo, Xiamen, and Shenzhen, among many others.

The government plans to have all cities in China achieve this objective in first half of 2019.

The measures to shorten the business registration process include:

• Enabling companies to submit electronic applications;

• Removing the requirement for company names to pass prior approval, unless there are special requirements;

• Enabling companies to pick the production units to official chops; and

• Lessening the processing time for invoice application and registration.

Meanwhile, the plans to quicken the approval process for construction projects will initially be presented in 16 pilot regions: Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Weinan, Taijin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Xiamen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Guiyang, Yan’an, and Zhejiang. As with the business registration measures, the government expects to have national implementation by first half of 2019.

To cut the approval time for construction projects, the government declared three primary initiatives:

• Simplifying the procedure for examination and approval, including by canceling the need to record construction contracts and building efficiency design reviews, and streamlining the procedure for environmental impact assessments and other assessments;

• Executing categorized management, including by simplifying the approval procedures for small and medium-sized construction projects and construction units to choose their own process for contract awarding; and

• Streamlining registration stages, including by utilizing “one framework, one window” to give integrated services.

Moreover, the government declared that it will manufacture a unified national construction approval and management system by 2020.

The moves to shorten the business registration and construction project approval processes are part of a wider government campaign to cut bureaucratic red tape, eliminate government overlap and inefficiencies, and enhance the ease of doing business in the country.

Several regional governments in China, such as the Beijing municipal government, have undertaken efforts to enhance the business condition at the local level.

In its latest rankings, the World Bank positioned China 78 out of 190 economies for ease of doing business, sandwiched between the Kyrgyzstan at 77 and Panama at 79.

If you are interested in setting up a company in China or any information regarding the legal process of registration, please contact us for further information at + 86 187 177 31958 or email us at info@opkofinance.com