Authorities in China on Tuesday released a new catalogue of weapons, slashing restrictions on the types of arms that private firms are required to get licenses to develop.

A total of 11 categories of arms and 755 items were listed in the new catalogue of weapons that require licensing, and 62 percent of the 1,217 items were removed compared with the previous list in 2005, China News Service reported on Tuesday.

"Restrictions are imposed only on arms that are closely related to national strategic security, public security and state secret security," Wang Xin, an official from SASTIND was quoted as saying by China News Service.

Additionally, some auxiliary products which can modify the performance of weapons will also require licenses, said Wang.

Some new technologies and products were included in the new catalogue due to their being widely adopted recently and their prospects in the weapons market.

Xu Zhanbin, the deputy director was quoted by China News Service as saying that the move is aimed at encouraging competition in the industry and boosting military-civilian integration.

This is the third time that China has released the catalogue. China began to require licenses for research and production of weapons in 1999.

The new catalogue was released by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Armament Department on Tuesday.