Shanghai instigates investor-friendly reforms
The Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Congress has suspended 521 items previously requiring administrative approval from the city's bureaucracy including 60 regulatory procedures. The move is a bid to cut red tape and make it easier to conduct business and follows Beijing's decision earlier this week to change its laws as an attempt to lure Hong Kong investors. The suspension will eliminate overlapping regulations among government departments and reduce the number of licences that businesses need.