China further cuts red tape

BEIJING - The State Council, China's Cabinet, has slashed another 62 administrative approval items in a fresh move to reduce government controls and stimulate the market.

The State Council has been streamlining government administration since 2013 when the central government departments controlled 1,526 approval items. Over a third have been canceled or delegated to lower agencies.

Many approval and reviews, however, have been exercised by local governments with central authorities' empowerment, and local governments have no right to readjust such procedures. Thus, the State Council has now decided to begin to cut such items to make reform space for local governments.

The new items involve 18 government departments, mostly local tax and health agencies, and are closely related to the market and the public.

Twenty-nine of the items, including canceling local tax departments' approval on preferential tax policies for projects involving developing western regions, could accelerate cash flow and reduce approval time on fixed-asset investment.