CHINA’S lawmakers cleared the way for securities laws to be changed as early as March for the nation to introduce a new registration system for initial public offerings (IPOs).

    The State Council, or Cabinet, had been awaiting approval on its plans to shift to a U.S.-style registration system for stock market floations.

    In the latest reform aimed at developing China’s financial market, the changes are expected to help companies raise money more efficiently and reduce the involvement of regulators in the capital market, analysts said.

    The widely expected approval by the National People’s Congress, announced Sunday, paves the way for regulators to draft detailed rules that will be implemented after seeking public feedback. Xinhua reported the approval on its official microblog.

    The next step for the State Council is to come up with specific details of the new IPO system. The Cabinet could do so and implement a new IPO mechanism as early as March 1 next year, Xinhua reported. However, the State Council has two years from March to do so.

    The State Council said earlier this month it expects the new system to be implemented within two years.

    The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) began speaking of moving away from its current approval-based system, seen as distorting the IPO market and encouraging official corruption, to a registration system, where the market decides who gets to list and for how much, in early 2014. (SD-Agencies)