BEIJING - China has taken measures to ease controls on Chinese companies' overseas investments, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Thursday.

Chinese companies planning to invest less than $1 billion overseas will only need to register with authorities rather than approvals from the NDRC, the top economic planning body.

The rule does not apply to investment projects in "sensitive countries, regions or sectors," the NDRC said.

Previously, Chinese companies planning to invest $300 million or more in natural resources exploitation and $100 million or more in other sectors would all be subject to approval from the NDRC.

The procedure for approval has also been simplified. A company planning to invest overseas can directly submit applications to a provincial-level economic planning body, rather than going through county- and city-level authorities.

Investors will normally need to wait about 20 working days for the approval results. When an application requires third-party evaluation, the time will be no longer than 40 working days.

The registration process will require no more than seven working days.