China is working to make its central region more appealing to foreign investors. In April this year, China launched seven new free trade zones, including several in inland areas for the first time.

The Kaifeng Area of China’s Henan Pilot Free Trade Zone is one of the first such zones set up in the country’s central region. Some new measures have been introduced to make the area more conducive to trade and investment.

The so called “22 certificates in one” business license reform is among the new measures. The process has been simplified. Previously, entrepreneurs had to go through 22 separate steps to register a new business. But now, all they need to do is to submit one paper. And then they will get a special business certificate with two QR codes.

This reform has greatly simplified the procedure of company registration in the Kaifeng Free Trade Zone.

“Today at the Kaifeng free trade zone, I found out that registering a new company is very simple. It seems that the new procedure can save a lot of time,” said Li Yiyan, who just went through the new procedure.

Besides the “twenty-two certificates in one” reform, the Kaifeng Free Trade Zone also offers a full range of services for entrepreneurs. These reforms are designed to streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulations, improve services, and thereby attract more foreign investment to this area.

The vice director of the Kaifeng Free Trade Zone administration committee, Zheng Hongying said that one-stop service platform has been designed for the companies. “We provide a series of services on this platform, including analyzing the latest policies, offering early-warning of industry changes, and so on,” she said.