China began adopting a package of business registration reforms on March 1, easing requirements for minimum registered capital and business venues.

The move has boosted a jump in new enterprises. Newly registered market entities increased 37 percent in Shanghai and 31 percent in the northwestern province of Gansu in March.

Nationwide, 309,500 new enterprises were set up in March, or a 45.8-percent year-on-year rise, and their total registered capital grew 103 percent to hit 1.47 trillion yuan, said the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Wednesday.

The reform greatly boosted market vitality, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during an inspection tour last week in the southernmost province of Hainan after attending the Boao Forum for Asia.

To keep China's economic growth within a "reasonable range," local authorities must dare to shoulder responsibilities and work out effective measures to advance reform, expand domestic and international markets and nurture development momentum, he said.

"China's leaders want the government to retreat from being too active in the economy and let the market itself have a stronger role. And for foreign companies, that is good news because that's what they prefer," said Jarrett.

In the first quarter, inland Chongqing Municipality contracted foreign capital worth 410 million U.S. dollars, a 19-percent year-on-year jump. Its actual use of foreign capital hit 2.15 billion U.S. dollars, said Xu Qiang, head of the municipal foreign trade committee.

Hyundai Motor Group said last month it will build a fourth China plant in Chongqing. A number of foreign investment projects are in discussion in Chongqing and "the amount of actual foreign investment will increase remarkably in the second half of this year," he told Xinhua.

Chongqing's foreign trade in the first quarter grew 82.3 percent year on year to reach 131.8 billion yuan, with exports expanding 61 percent.

"The speed of economic development may slow down, but driving forces remain and show good prospects," said Xu.

Besides the comprehensive reforms, Chinese leadership has put forward ideas such as the Silk Road economic belt and the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

Consumption by China's huge aging population and the country's environmental protection-related industries are also promising sectors for driving economic growth.