The Chinese government is rolling out what officials call a “single window” system that will greatly simplify the business procedures for foreign companies in China, Wang Shouwen, vice-commerce minister said at a news conference on the morning of May 22.

The new system, which will allow foreign companies to complete registration procedures in one process, will be rolled out nationwide by the end of June.

The Commerce Ministry describes the simplified procedure as “one connection and two singles.” “One connection” means linking the databases of local commerce authorities and local market regulation administrations, which are the two authorities in charge of company registration.

And “two singles” means foreign companies only need to fill in one “single form”, and have their business registrations processed through one “single window” on the websites of local administrations of industry, commerce, and market regulation.

“The whole process will require no papers, no face-to-face services and zero charges. Foreign enterprises and investors will no longer need to apply to two agencies or to fill in multiple forms repeatedly, which will cut their cost in time and human resources,” said Wang.