China has outpaced France for ease of doing business, a World Bank report said on Thursday.
The world's second-largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP) and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP), skyrocketed 15 places from 46 to 31, surpassing France who remains at 32, the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 Report said.
— World Bank (@WorldBank) October 24, 2019
Beijing had improved regulations in areas measured by the report and implemented the largest number of reforms in the Asia-Pacific, the report said, including simplifying requirements for low-risk construction and streamlining processes to obtain water and drainage connections, as well as reducing waiting times for permits by 44 days.
The report added that construction efforts were boposted by implementing stricter qualifications for professionals tasked with technical inspections, in addition to facilitating application processes for connecting new warehouses to the electrical grid and increasing transparency on electricity fees.
Further reasons for China's rise included helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) gain access to international markets by implementing advance cargo declarations, upgrading infrastructure at ports, optimising customs administrations and publishing fee schedules, according to a World Bank press release.
— Yicai Global 第一财经 (@yicaichina) October 24, 2019
Rita Ramalho, Senior Manager of the World Bank's Global Indicators Group and co-author of the report, said: “The reform impetus in the East Asia and Pacific region continues, with significant improvements made by some economies, such as China. Sustained progress is key to improving the domestic business climate and enabling private enterprises.
Best and Worst Performers on the Doing Business 2020 Report
The report, which analysed 294 regulatory reforms implemented between May 2018 and May 2019, found that over 115 countries improved on their ease of business standing, indicating a growing trend where developing economies have met and even surpassed first-world ones.
Global leaders on the top 10 list included New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea, respectively. The US moved to No 6, with Georgia, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden following suit.
But Sub-Saharan African, Latin American and Caribbean countries remained behind due to a lack of reforms, with only two Sub-Saharan countries making it to the top 50 in terms of ease of business and Latin America missing out completely.
178 economies had launched 722 reforms to reduce or eliminate barriers for entrepreneurs, in addition to reducing corruption. But 26 countries had become less open by introducing 31 regulatory changes to block efficiency and regulatory quality.
China alongside numerous Middle Eastern, Asian and African nations such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, India, Togo and Nigeria had implemented one-fifth of all reforms reported globally, becoming amongst the top 20 reforming countries worldwide, the report revealed.
Both economic factors and competition with neighbouring economies offered further impetus for changing regulations, the report added.
Ease of business was linked with increasing entrepreneurship, higher government tax revenues and personal income gains, the report said. But low and middle-income economies struggled in several areas of the report.
World Bank president David Malpass said: “There’s ample room for developing economies to catch up with developed countries on most of the doing business indicators. Performance in the area of legal rights, for example, remains weakest among low- and middle-income economies.
