Legal Articles
A List of Commonly
Used Laws and Regulations of China
on Foreign Investment in Service Trade
By Wang Xuanjun
Feb.
13, 2003
Recently,
especially after China’s entrance into WTO, a lot of laws and regulations of
China on foreign investment in service trade were amended or adopted. It is
necessary for foreign investors who are interested in China to have basic
understanding of the relevant provisions.
Below
mentioned is a list of the laws and regulations in common use in the order of
1.
General
2.
Venture investment
3.
Transportation and
logistics
4.
Bank, insurance,
securities and fund, leasing
5.
Commerce, foreign
trade
6.
Medical
institutions
7.
Movie theater, travel
agencies
8.
Telecommunications
9.
Construction and
engineering design
10. Publication,
printing, audio-visual products
11. Petroleum
resources
12. Advertisement,
accounting, asset appraisal, commodity inspection, certification, social
investigation, job referral
13. Others
1.
General
Law of
the People’s Republic of China on Foreign-Capital Enterprises
(Adopted at the 4th Session of the 6th National People’s Congress on Apr. 12, 1986, amended at the 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People’s Congress on Oct. 31, 2000)
Rules for
Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Foreign-Capital
Enterprises
(Approved by the State Council on Oct. 28,1990, promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade on Dec. 12, 1990, and amended by the State Council on Apr. 12, 2001)
Law of
the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures
(Adopted at the 1st Session of the 7th National People’s Congress on Apr. 13, 1988, amended at the 18th Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People’s Congress on Oct. 31, 2000)
Rules for
Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign
Contractual Joint Ventures
(Approved by the State Council on Aug. 7, 1995, promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Sep. 4, 1995)
Law of
the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures
(Adopted at the 2nd Session of the 5th National People’s Congress on July 1, 1979, amended at the 3rd Session of the 7th National People’s Congress on Apr. 4, 1990, amended at the 4th Session of the 9th National People’s Congress on Mar. 15, 2001)
Rules for
Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign
Equity Joint Ventures
(Promulgated by the State Council on Sep. 20, 1983, amended by the State Council on Jan. 15, 1986, Dec. 21, 1987, and July 22, 2001)
Provisions on
Guiding Foreign Investment Direction
(Promulgated by the State Council on Feb. 11, 2002)
Catalogue
for Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries
(Approved by the State Council on Mar. 4, 2002, Promulgated by the State Development and Planning Commission, the State Economic and Trade Commission, and The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Mar. 11, 2002)
Protocol
of the Accession of the People’s Republic of China to WTO
Annex 9: Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services List of Article II MFN
Exemptions
(China acceded to WTO on the terms and conditions set out in the Protocol on Nov. 10, 2001)
2.
Venture investment
Provisions
on Administration of Foreign-Invested Venture Investment Enterprises
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the State Administration for Tax and the State Administration for Foreign Exchange on January 30, 2003)
3.
Transportation and logistics
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on International Maritime Transportation
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Dec. 11, 2001)
(Chapter IV of the Regulations refer to Special Provisions on Investment in and
Operation of International Maritime Transportation and Auxiliary Business
Relating Thereto by Foreign Investors)
Interim
Measures for Administration of Examination and Approval of Wholly
Foreign-Invested Shipping Companies
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Jan. 28, 2000)
Notice on
Strengthening and Improving the Supervision and Management of the Resident
Representative Offices of Foreign Shipping Companies and the Agencies of Wholly
Foreign-Invested Shipping Companies
(Issued by the Ministry of Communications and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Oct. 10, 1999)
Interim
Measures for Examination, Approval and Administration of Foreign Investment in
Railway Freight Transport Industry
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Aug. 29, 2000)
Provisions
on Administration of Foreign Investment in Road Transport Industry
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Nov. 20, 2001)
Provisions
on Foreign Investment in Civil Aviation Industry
(Promulgated by the General Administration of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the State Development and Planning Commission on June 21, 2002)
Measures for Administration of International Freight Forwarding Agency Enterprises with Foreign Investment
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Dec. 11, 2002)
Notice
Regarding Issues on Establishment of Foreign-Invested Logistics Enterprises in
Trial Locations
(Issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on June 22, 2002)
4.
Bank, insurance, securities and fund, leasing
Measures for Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign-Funded Financial Institutions in China
(Promulgated by the People’s Bank of Chin on June 13, 2002)
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on Administration of Foreign-Funded
Financial Institutions
(Promulgated by the State Council on Dec 20, 2001)
Proclamation
by the People’s Bank of China on the Related Issues of Foreign-Funded
Financial Institutions’ Market Access
(Dec. 9, 2001)
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on Administration of Foreign-Funded
Insurance Companies
(Promulgated by the State Council on Dec 12, 2001)
Rules
for Establishing Foreign-Invested Securities Companies
(Promulgated by China Securities Regulatory Commission on June 1, 2002)
Rules
for Establishing Foreign-Invested Fund Management Companies
(Promulgated by China Securities Regulatory Commission on June 1, 2002)
Interim Measures for Examination, Approval and Administration of Foreign-Invested Leasing Companies
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Aug. 14, 2001)
5.
Commerce, foreign trade
Measures
for Trial of Foreign-Invested Merchandising Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on June 25, 1999)
Interim Measures for Establishment of Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Foreign Trade Companies
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on January 31, 2003)
6.
Medical institutions
Interim Measures for Administration of Chinese-Foreign Equity and Cooperative Joint Venture Medical Institutions
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on May 15, 2000)
Notice on Issues Concerning Implementation of Interim Measures for Administration of Chinese-Foreign Equity and Cooperative Joint Venture Medical Institutions
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on June 23, 2000)
7.
Movie theater, travel agencies
Interim
Provisions on Foreign-Invested Movie Theater
(Promulgated by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture on Oct. 25, 2000)
Notice on Strictly Implementation of Interim Provisions on Foreign-Invested Movie Theater
(Issued by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture on Feb. 19, 2001)
Regulations
on Administration of Travel Agencies
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Oct. 15, 1996, and amended by the State Council on Dec. 11, 2001)
(Chapter IV of the Regulations refer to Special Provisions on Foreign-Invested
Travel Agencies)
8.
Telecommunications
Provisions
on Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Dec. 11, 2001)
(According to Article 7 of the Provisions, in addition to the conditions
specified in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Provisions, a foreign-Invested
telecommunications enterprise providing telecommunications services shall also
comply with the conditions specified in the Regulations of the People’s
Republic of China on Telecommunications on the provisions of basic or
value-added telecommunications services.)
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on Telecommunications
(Promulgated by the State Council on Dec. 25, 2000)
9.
Construction and engineering design
Provisions
on Administration of Foreign-Invested Construction Enterprises
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Sep. 27, 2002)
Provisions
on Administration of Foreign-Invested Building and Engineering Design
Enterprises
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Sep. 27, 2002)
10.
Publication, printing, audio-visual products
Regulations
on Administration of Publication
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Dec. 25, 2001)
(According to Article 39 of the
Regulations, China allows establishing Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures,
Chinese-foreign contractual joint ventures and foreign capital enterprises to
engage in distribution business of books, newspapers and periodicals.)
Interim
Provisions on Establishment of Foreign-Invested Printing Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Administration for Press and Publication and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Jan. 29, 2002)
Regulations
on Administration of Printing Industry
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Aug. 2, 2001)
(According to Article 12 of the Regulations, China allows establishing
Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures and Chinese-foreign contractual joint
ventures to engage in printing business, also allows establishing of foreign
capital enterprises to engage in printing business with regard to packaging and
decoration.)
Measures for Administration of Chinese-Foreign Contractual Distribution Ventures of Audio-Visual Products
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Dec. 10, 2001)
Regulations
on Administration of Audio-Visual Products
(Promulgated by the State Council on
Dec. 25, 2001)
(According to Article 15 of the Regulations, an audio-visual publishing unit of
China may cooperate with an organization or individual from Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and the region of
Taiwan or from a foreign country to produce audio-visual products.)
Notice
Concerning the Related Issues on Establishment of Chinese-Foreign Equity and
Cooperative Compact Disk Duplication and Production Joint Ventures and the
Import of Equipment
(Issued by the State Administration for Press and Publication and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Nov. 2, 2000)
11.
Petroleum resources
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on Exploitation of On-Shore Petroleum
Resources in Cooperation with Foreign Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Council on Oct. 7, 1993, and amended by the State Council on Sep. 23, 2001)
Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on Exploitation of Off-Shore Petroleum
Resources in Cooperation with Foreign Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Council on Jan 30, 1982, and amended by the State Council on Sep. 23, 2001)
12.
Advertisement, accounting, asset appraisal, commodity inspection,
certification, social investigation, job referral
Several
Provisions on Establishment of Foreign-Invested Advertising Enterprises
(Promulgated by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Nov. 3, 1994)
Notice
Concerning Relevant Issues on Establishment of Branch Offices by
Foreign-Invested Advertising Enterprises
(Issued by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on May 17, 1995)
Administrative
Measures for Certifying Overseas Asset Appraisal Institutions
(Promulgated by the State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine on Aug. 2, 2000)
Interim
Provisions on Performance of Asset Appraisal Businesses in China Territory by
Foreign Asset Appraisal Institutions
(Promulgated by the State Administration for State-Owned Assets on May 19, 1997)
Several Interim Provisions on Establishment of Asset Appraisal Institutions with Foreign Investment
(Promulgated by the State Administration for State-Owned Assets and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Apr. 7, 1997)
Provisions on Examination and Approval of Establishment of Import and Export Commodity Inspection and Appraisal Companies with Foreign Investment
(Promulgated by the State Administration for Import and Export Commodity Inspection and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Oct. 9, 1995)
Measures for Examination, Approval, Registration, Supervision and Administration of Certification Institutions, Certification Training and Consulting Institutions
(Promulgated by the State Administration
for Certification and Accreditation, the State Administration for Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, The State Administration for Industry
and Commerce, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Apr.
2, 2002)
(Chapter V of the Measures refer to Examination, Approval and Registration of
Foreign-Invested Certification Institutions, Certification Training and
Consulting Institutions, Chapter VI refer to Examination, Approval and
Registration of Chinese Resident Representative Offices of Foreign Certification
Institutions, Certification Training and Consulting Institutions)
Interim Measures for Administration of Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Accounting Firms
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Finance on Mar. 28, 1996)
Provisions on Administration of City Planning Service Enterprises with Foreign Investment
(Promulgated by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on Feb. 13, 2003)
13.
Others
Interim
Provisions on Administration of Foreign Investment in Rare-Earth Industry
(Promulgated by the State Development and Planning Commission on Aug. 1, 2002)