China to further reform investment approval system to boost efficiency

An aerial drone photo taken on April 3, 2026 shows a construction site of the Chongqing-Wanzhou high-speed railway during its track-laying phase in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's State Council has issued a new set of guidelines to reform the country's investment approval system, aiming to further expand effective investment by improving approval efficiency and services.

The guidelines, which were issued by the General Office of the State Council and made public on Wednesday, pledged to further optimize the approval authority for government-invested projects and introduce a lifelong responsibility system for the decision-making of such projects.

For enterprise-invested projects, the guidelines called for dynamically updating government approval catalog, standardizing registration documents, and enhancing investment policy coordination with industrial policies as well as policies on factor management.

To improve approval efficiency, the guidelines called for further streamlining the approval process for investment projects, standardizing the management of project bidding and tendering, cracking down on bidding irregularities, and improving the method by which project information is filed.

The guidelines stressed enhancing the oversight responsibilities of related departments, adding that a performance evaluation system aligned with high-quality development will be established.