Local governments throughout China are improving business regulation and making it easier for the private sector to grow, according to a report released on Tuesday by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The "Doing Business in China 2008" report compared the environments for private business in 30 Chinese cities by measuring four key indicators, including convenience of starting a business, registering property, obtaining credit and enforcing contracts.

While innovations were underway in all parts of the country, cities in the coastal and southern regions have implemented more extensive reforms. There were also top reformers in the western region, where Chongqing municipality and Chengdu, the Sichuan Province capital, have piloted numerous economic initiatives, the report said.

The report shows there are many opportunities for Chinese cities to improve their investment climate. Examples of effective reforms could be found right here in China, in addition to practices from outside, said Penelope Brook, director for Doing Business at the World Bank Group.

According to the report, about 53 reforms were introduced from 2006 to early 2007, and many localities have been successful in attracting new domestic and foreign investments.

As the private sector arm of the World Bank, the IFC had invested nearly 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in China by the end of 2007. Its strategic focus in the country for the fiscal year 2008 was sustainability and environmental change, financing expansion and social justice.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2008)