(Yicai Global) Oct. 24 -- China jumped 15 places higher in the World Bank's league table of countries ranked for ease of doing business, making it one of the fastest-improving business environments.

China came 31st after speeding up the process to obtain construction permits and by better enforcing commercial contracts, according to the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business 2020 report published today. In the East Asia and Pacific region, the world's second-largest economy came seventh, behind Japan.

The US-based international lender assessed 190 economies in the 12 months through May this year, handing the top three places to New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The report ranks countries and regions based on 10 key indicators: starting a business, processing construction permits, obtaining electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. China improved in eight of the 10 over the period.

China made the biggest improvement in handling construction permits, rising to 33rd from 121st last year after cutting the average processing time to 111 days. The average cross East Asia was 132 days.

The nation's reform efforts also paid off in contract enforcement, where it ranked fifth worldwide. It took 496 days on average to resolve commercial disputes, with the cost at 16.2 percent of the claim.

The only areas where China did not see improvements were in registering property and getting credit.

Editor: James Boynton