China has nullified 1,898 regulations in the latest effort to eliminate redundant rules that contradict existing laws or are outdated, according to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, or cabinet.

The abolished regulations were not applicable to the current economic and social situation, the People's Daily reported on Wednesday.

In February 2007, the State Council initiated a nationwide regulatory streamlining campaign and listed 12,695 regulations for review.

Among the 1,898 voided regulations, which account for 14.95 percent of the total chosen for review, 1,625 were at the provincial or city level.

More than 60 percent of the administrations that are eligible to issue regulations, including 55 departments under the State Council, 31 provincial administrations and 49 major cities, have had public hearings, issued questionnaires and solicited experts' opinions before regulations were changed.

The move increased public convenience and was an important step in standardizing regulations and making the legal system more coherent, the newspaper quoted Kong Xiangquan, a section chief with the office, as saying.

The State Council also amended 330 regulations and plans to annul 422 others.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2008)