China’s top securities regulator has completed a draft plan to reform the nation’s stock issuance regime, official news agency Xinhua reports.

The draft plan, seen as a major step in introducing a registration-based system for stock issuance and replacing the current system of administration, will be sent to the State Council soon, said Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

CSRC led the drafting of the reform plan, with participation by multiples agencies including the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and the central bank, Mr Zhang said.

Under the current approval-based system for initial public offerings (IPOs), newly listed candidates often experience a complex application process that can take multiple rounds of reviews and several years to receive approval from the CSRC, while the registration-based IPO system will focus on companies’ compliance review and be market-orientated and more transparent.