Measures to improve forex management

The reform will also give banks and foreign trade businesses greater autonomy, with measures to simplify procedures for receipts and payments for micro-sized and small cross-border e-commerce companies and refine the foreign exchange reporting process for trade in goods, she said.

Wednesday's meeting also decided to allow enterprises to make their own decisions on whether to set up verification accounts.

It also pledged steps to facilitate the registration of foreign exchange receipts and payments for trade for enterprises and their subsidiaries and give project contractors the green light to put their overseas funds under unified management.

The reform also gives foreign companies engaged in noninvestment businesses in China the go-ahead for equity investments, a policy that Wang said will benefit 99 percent of the over 370,000 foreign-invested companies in China.

A pilot program that makes it easier for businesses to make payments in China through their capital accounts will be expanded from 12 pilot free trade zones to the six newly established free trade zones and Shanghai.

Banks based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hainan province will be allowed to transfer their credit assets, including trade finance, to overseas investors, the Cabinet said.

In another measure to improve the business environment and facilitate foreign trade, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress endorsed a Cabinet decision to pilot adjustments in six laws, including the laws on foreign trade, road transport safety, food security and customs. The pilot program will last three years.

Approvals such as business registrations for conducting foreign trade and offering firefighting related services will be canceled. Instead of applying for approvals, businesses conducting sales of packaged food products and registering for customs clearance will only need to file records with the authorities.