Foreign doctors who want to work temporarily on the Chinese mainland can now file application at city-level health authorities to make the process easier and faster.

Previously, only the nation's top health authority, now called the National Health and Family Planning commission, was entitled to handle the application and issue permits.

Enforced in 1993, the regulation aims to ensure due rights of patients and foreign doctors practicing in China.

Foreign doctors cannot start working until they are registered with and receive permits from local health authorities in the city where they will work.

The registry and permission need to be renewed after a year, it said.

The information handed in includes their goal of working in China, specific medical procedures they practice, work location and duration, and accountability rules.