China’s State Council has unveiled a reform scheme ordering mainland China’s many trade associations to sever all financial, operational, organizational and personnel ties with the government, which will halt financing for the groups by 2018, South China Morning Post reported. The scheme will involve cutting ties of around 100 associations this year, with more to come in the next two–though as of the end of 2014 there were nearly 70,000 trade associations and chambers of commerce in China. Once stripped of their official ties the associations will be required to register and operate independently as non-profit non-governmental organizations, and lose all administrative functions not granted by law.