BEIJING — China plans to prolong a registration-based stock listing system for another two years to Feb 29, 2020.

The draft decision was submitted to a session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature, for review on Feb 23.

The Standing Committee of the NPC authorized the State Council on Dec 27, 2015 to adjust rules, based on the securities law, to allow the stock listing system to be changed from approval-based to registration-based. The changes will expire Feb 28, 2018.

Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the top securities regulator.

China is gradually switching from an approval-based IPO system to a more market-oriented system based on registration.