CHINA ranks top in East Asia and the Pacific region in terms of regulatory reform to improve the business environment and protect private property, a report by the World Bank and International Finance Corp said yesterday.

A better business environment and less red tape made it easier for companies to expand, the report said.

China was ranked 83rd of 178 global economies for overall ease of doing business, compared with Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in fourth place.

"China introduced far-reaching protection of private property rights and a new bankruptcy law, which contributed to an improvement in the ease of doing business," said the two agencies.

A new property law to take effect from October 1 this year puts private property rights on an equal footing with state property rights, expanding the range of assets that can be used as collateral.

Before the legal change, more than US$2 trillion worth of corporate assets were "dead capital" because they couldn't be used as security for loans, the report said.

The nation's first Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, effective from June, gives secured creditors priority to the proceeds from their collateral. Construction also became easier as the electronic processing of building permits helped cut red tape, reducing delays by two weeks.

The report ranked the business environment of 178 economies based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time and cost to meet government requirements in business start-up, operation, trade, taxation, and closure.

China was ranked as the top reformer in East Asia and Pacific and ninth among the world's top 10 reformers.

The Chinese government is working to improve the business environment to attract more overseas investors. The world's fourth-largest economy grew by 11.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, the fastest pace in more than 12 years.