Tonglu streamlines approval procedures for investment projects

Officials and experts examine a construction project in Tonglu county, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provide to chinadaily.com.cn]

Tonglu county in East China's Zhejiang province recently rolled out a guideline to further streamline administrative approval procedures for investment projects.

According to the document released by authorities on March 25, projects with an investment of less than 5 million ($769,230) in the county will be exempt from the previous approval procedures.

Those with an investment value ranging from 5 million yuan to 10 million yuan and featuring single construction content and low technical requirements will get to skip the procedures before the feasibility evaluation.

Projects with an investment value of between 10 million yuan to 20 million yuan will get to skip the procedures before the preliminary design evaluation.

The stability risk assessment which should be done during the feasibility study stage for projects that are not critical will also be lifted.

In addition, projects valued below 20 million yuan will not be subjected to a budget review, and supervision will be carried out in the form of random inspection instead.

Projects meeting certain requirements can proceed with the call for bidders and review of construction drawing before gaining official approval as long as their undertakers submit a letter of commitment to submit required materials afterwards.

A local official expects the guideline's implementation to slash the administrative approval time required for investment projects in Tonglu by about two months.