Qualified listed companies on the mainland may be able to get faster approvals for their merger and acquisition applications, according to a new policy that has introduced separate M&A examination paths.

The policy, which took effect on Tuesday, has set three new types of categories for M&A examination processes: exempt/fast, normal and deliberate examination.

The speed of the examination processes will be determined by the evaluations made by stock exchanges, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Securities Association of China and financial advisors, a spokesman for the CSRC said earlier.