Bad regulation as NTB (China)

Throughout most of the articles on this blog, better regulation is mainly sought for its potential boost to national productivity and job potential, via the savings generated on regulatory costs for businesses. We sometimes even come across the notion of "regulatory competition" where different entities vie to become more competitive than their neighbours, by way of particularly efficient rules on opening and running businesses, in order to attract company headquarters or facilities. The reverse side of the same coin is the use of regulation as a barrier to entry for external or foreign investors (non-tariff barriers). A recent example of this is provided by the survey made by the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing that supports the view that "growing Chinese red tape ... prevents them from expanding quickly in China's vast market."  Road blocks faced by firms in getting business licenses have multiplied to the extent that companies are now more worried about bureaucratic hurdles than by nebulous laws and regulation or corruption, AmCham's annual survey on China's business climate showed. Meanwhile, red tape is also becoming a hot topic on the other side of the South China sea: an article published today in the China Times, following a murder blamed to administrative sloth, proclaims "Bureaucratic red tape unacceptable" and "unbearable when it causes irreparable damage such as loss of life." In parallel, the new Taipei Mayor recently demanded that city government officials "use plain language when answering appeals from the public. Most importantly, officials should be polite while addressing and solving the problems presented to them", said the mayor.