陈胜军：China slowly unwinds red tape

（来源：The Straits Times 日期：2013-10-21）

According to a 2013 World Bank report, China ranked a dismal 151 out of 185 economies in the ease of starting a business, and 91st in terms of doing business.

Now Beijing is stepping up efforts to chip away at this great wall of bureaucracy.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged in March to slash at least a third of the 1,700 items that require central government approval within the next five years.

Since then, Mr Li has scrapped or delegated to lower levels of government 242 approval items, a faster pace than the 314 done away with in the whole of last year and the 184 removed in 2010.

This is part of the package of reforms China is pushing out to “seriously reduce administrative intervention in microeconomic activities”. This will “further unleash benefits from reform” and “enhance growth momentum”, the government said in a statement in May.

For example, in Shanghai’s free trade zone launched last month, foreign-funded firms can get a licence to do business in four days, from 29 previously.

Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics professor Chen Shengjun said doing away with the need for certain approvals should help spur business.

Prof Chen said he expects the Communist Party’s Third Plenum next month to see red tape slashed further.

“It’s obvious that they are determined to deal with this issue and we can expect more cuts,” he added.

How much red tape there is can differ across the country and across sectors.

Experts say fully unwinding the red tape across various sectors remains far off. Some local governments and vested interest groups remain reluctant to rein in their powers as the approval process gives them opportunities to dip their hands into the jar.

Thus, while some bosses say doing business is now easier than a few years ago with easier access to information, others say further progress is likely to be slow.

Singaporean James Tan, who heads the Beijing chapter of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, which helps Singapore start-ups expand here, said the criteria for visas, for instance, have become more stringent, with additional paperwork needed now.

附：原文报道链接

http://www.asianewsnet.net/China-slowly-unwinds-red-tape-53011.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/asia-report/china/story/china-slowly-unwinds-red-tape-20131021

http://www.asiatraveltoday.com/2013/10/21/china-slowly-unwinds-red-tape/