Real estate China
A Ministry of Commerce circular states the power to approve foreign invested real estate projects has been delegated to the provincial level. The new approach is intended to raise the efficiency of the application process.
Since 2006, circulars have been issued by several government authorities, especially the Ministry of Commerce, that are directed at strengthening the supervision of foreign investment in real estate.
One aspect of this supervision has been the requirement that all new foreign invested real estate enterprises be reviewed and filed with the Ministry of Commerce at the national level.
This presented the national level office of the Ministry of Commerce with an increasingly unwieldy workload.
Now, even though a filing is still required with the national level Ministry of Commerce, substantive responsibility for reviewing and approving the application has been put into the hands of provincial-level authorities. This should speed up the process.
Source: Mondaq