China continues easing investment approvals

BEIJING -- The central government's investment project approvals will go down by 40 percent if an updated catalogue is put into practice, an official said on Tuesday.

The catalogue, based on the 2013 edition, incorporates two major changes, said Zhang Minglun, deputy head of the Department of Fixed Asset Investment under the National Development and Reform Commission.

The first change by the country's top economic planner will see 15 types of projects delisted from the catalogue. Most will be delisted because they will no longer need government approvals. These include investments such as urban road, water supply and fertilizers, and most investment overseas were removed from the approval list.

Second, the central government will delegate approvals to local governments, including 23 kinds of projects such as construction of electricity grid within province.

"The latest catalogue on investment projects subject to government approvals has been passed by the State Council. Next, we will further improve it before sending it to the State Council for implementation," said Zhang.

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