Procedures for Application for Projects of Foreign Investment in Commercial Fields

Submitted by acdc on Tue, 2007-01-02 14:17. china | invest | Procedures

I. Procedures in the Presence of a Competent Local Commerce Authority

1. In cases where an investor intends to establish a commercial FIE or applies to open outlets through an already existent commercial FIE, or an already existent FIE attempts investment in commercial fields in the Chinese territory, the applicant shall have all relevant materials prepared in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 of Decree No.8 and make a single submission of the materials to a competent provincial commerce authority of where the FIE is registered.

2. The competent provincial commerce authority of where the FIE applicant is registered shall conduct a preliminary review of the application pursuant to Decree No.8 to determine whether the outlet being applied for by the commercial FIE complies with the urban commercial network planning, contract and articles of association of the enterprise (in the case of a commercial FIE application, only articles of association are needed).In the event that the location of the outlet being applied for and that of the FIE registration do not fall under the jurisdiction of the same province, autonomous region, municipality or city under direct state planning, the competent provincial commerce authority of where the FIE is registered shall seek the consent of its counterpart of where the FIE operates.

3. Competent provincial commerce authorities that meet Sections 3 and 4 of Article 10 of Decree No.8 or authorized by the Ministry of Commerce may verify and approve the application within their designated review and approval power, followed by a notification to the Ministry of Commerce.

4. Applications required to be processed and determined by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) shall be transferred by the competent provincial commerce authority of where the FIE is registered, upon its preliminary review, together with the application materials.

II. Procedures in the Absence of a Competent Local Commerce Authority

2. In the event that the location of the outlet being applied for and that of the FIE registration fall under the jurisdiction of the same province, autonomous region, municipality or city under direct state planning, a preliminary review shall be conducted by the competent provincial foreign trade and economic administrator of where of the FIE is registered, the result of which will be reported to the Ministry of Commerce for one-off approval upon the consent of the provincial commodity circulation administrator. In the event that the location of the outlet being applied for and that of the FIE registration do not fall under the jurisdiction of the same province, autonomous region, municipality or city under direct state planning, a preliminary review shall be conducted by the competent provincial foreign trade and economic administrator of where of the FIE is registered and be reported to the Ministry of Commerce for one-off approval upon the consent of the competent provincial foreign trade and economic administrator of where of the FIE operates (which shall prior to giving the consent, seek the consent of its same-level commodity circulation administrator).

3. Competent provincial foreign trade and economic authorities that meet Sections 3 and 4 of Article 10 of Decree No.8 or authorized by the Ministry of Commerce may review and approve the application in line with the procedure set forth in the preceding paragraph, followed by a notification to the Ministry of Commerce.

4. Applications required to be processed and determined by the Ministry of Commerce shall be transferred by the competent provincial foreign trade and economic administrator of where the FIE is registered, upon its preliminary review, together with the application materials.

III. Procedures for Centrally Regulated Enterprises (CREs)

1. In cases where a CRE intending to establish a joint equity or contractual commercial enterprise with a foreign investor or applies to open outlets through an already existent commercial FIE, or an already existent FIE attempts investment in commercial fields in the Chinese territory, the applicant shall have all relevant materials prepared in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 of Decree No.8 and make a single submission of the materials to the Ministry of Commerce or otherwise to a competent provincial commerce authority or foreign trade and economic administrator in the same fashion if Section 4 of Article 10 of Decree No.8 is met, followed by a notification to the Ministry of Commerce.

2. The Ministry of Commerce will, upon reviewing the nature of the project, forward the application materials to a competent provincial commerce authority or foreign trade and economic administrator of where the FIE operates for preliminary review comments.

3. The Ministry of Commerce shall make a one-off approval after receipt of affirmative preliminary review comments.

Note: The term “provincial” in the text refers to a province, autonomous region, municipality or city under direct state planning.