China will promote Shanghai’s reform of separating business licenses and administrative approvals in 10 pilot free trade zones (FTZs), according to a circular released by the State Council on Sept 28.

The trial in the 10 zones, including Tianjin, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan and Shaanxi, will last until Dec 21, 2018.

The pilot FTZs are required to overhaul the 116 approval items that have been approved to be canceled in Shanghai. They are also entitled the right to reform other items under current laws, regulations and State Council’s policies.

The circular required separating business licenses from affiliated permits, except for permits concerning national security, public safety, ecological safety, and public health.

For the canceled or separated approvals, the document proposed new management approaches, such as self-discipline management, record filing or enterprises’ commitment system.

Catalogue and procedure of administrative approvals can be made public to improve approvals’ transparency and provide standardized services, said the document.

Efforts should also be made to urge enterprises to file records and fulfill their promises in accordance with industry standards.

The FTZs should strengthen routine regulation aimed at the above management approaches, and speed up sharing of basic information of individuals, enterprises and social organizations, to avoid repeated applications and reviews.

Besides, efforts should be made to improve the national credit information sharing platform and national enterprise credit information publicity system.

Enterprise-related licenses should be integrated, simplified, or canceled as much as possible, the circular said.

The pilot reform will be led by local provincial-level governments, and the reform plans should be submitted to the State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform before the end of October 2017, according to the circular.