By Xinhua,
Beijing : Local governments throughout China are updating business regulations to make it easier for the private sector to grow, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report, titled “Doing Business in China 2008”, compared the environment for private business in 30 cities by measuring four key indicators, namely, facilities for starting a business, registering property, obtaining credit and enforcing contracts.
The report was prepared by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
While innovations were under way in all parts of the country, cities in the coastal and southern regions have implemented more extensive reforms, the report said and added that in the western region, Chongqing municipality and Sichuan province’s capital city Chengdu have set in motion numerous economic initiatives.
According to the report, about 53 reforms were introduced between 2006 and early 2007, and many areas have been successful in attracting new domestic and foreign investments in the wake of the reforms.
As the private sector arm of the World Bank, the IFC had invested nearly $3.7 billion in China by the end of 2007.
Its strategic focus in the country for the fiscal year 2008 is sustainability and environmental change, financing expansion and social justice.