Environmental Protection

Establishment of foreign-invested projects must, before applying for enterprise approval, have submitted the documents describing the project location orientation, scale, product plans, processes, measures to handle and manage the contamination, etc. to the relevant environmental protection administrative bodies with approval authority.  At the same time, the approval formalities for the environmental impact report (form) must be handled according to their requirements. The approval of an environmental impact report must be granted by the environmental protection authority at the same level of the authority as the authority that approved the establishment of foreign enterprises.

As of September 1, 2003, the Chinese government requires that analysis, evaluation and assessment be conducted, concerning of the potential environmental impact of the project and that countermeasures and methods be proposed for preventing or decreasing the negative impact to the environment.

Foreign Exchange

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange and its branch bureaux are the administrative authorities for registration of enterprises' foreign exchange.  Within 30 days of receiving the 'PRC Enterprise Legal Person Business License', the enterprise must handle the application for foreign exchange registration formalities with the local FOREX bureau at its place of registration.  For such registration applications, the following materials need to be provided together with a filled-in 'Foreign Enterprise Basic Data Registration Form'.

i) 'Foreign Enterprise Basic Data Registration Form';

ii) A duplicated copy of the Enterprise Legal Person Business License, or the business license from a non-Legal person Sino-foreign Co-operative JV;

iii) The original copy of the approval documents for the establishment of the enterprise and the approval certificate issued by the relevant commercial administrative authority;

iv) Contract and Articles of Association of the equity JV or cooperative JV which have been duly approved to be valid and effective;

v) The Enterprise Legal Person Code Certificate;

vi) Other related materials.

For enterprises that have completed the handling the foreign exchange registration at their place of registration, it is not necessary for their branches located in different provinces or overseas to handle foreign exchange registration separately.

Customs

If the products of those foreign-invested enterprises making applications to be established involve export licenses, export quotas, and import licenses, or if import of those products are restricted by the State, the enterprises must seek prior consent from the relevant foreign economic and trade departments who themselves are subject to the relevant management authority. The imported equipment and materials used as investment by foreign investors belongs to the merchandise categorized for import license administration. Customs authorities will accept and release the merchandise according to the import license, which will have been issued based on the approved enterprise's contracts and lists of equipment and materials to be imported. Those that do not belong to the merchandise categorized by the import license will be accepted and released by the custom according to the original approval list of the imported equipment and materials of the enterprise.

Bonded goods include imported machinery equipment, vehicles used for production, raw materials, fuels, remnants, parts and components, elements and devices and accessories necessary that the foreign enterprise needs in order to carry out contracted product export. Those goods will be managed according to the <PRC Custom Registration Manual for the Process and Re-exportation of Necessary Imported Goods and Materials for Foreign Enterprises to Implement their Product Export Contract>  issued by the Customs authorities. Vehicles used for production include vans, special vehicles and station wagons used for transportation. After examination and approval by the customs authorities, tax exemption may be granted for a reasonable amount of catalyzers, activators, abrasers and fuels that will be utilized during the course of production, and that are imported to be used directly for producing those processed products for export.

All imported machinery equipment, vehicles, raw material fuels, remnants, parts and components, elements and devices and accessories necessary for carrying out contracted export deals by foreign enterprises, (including products that should need import licenses), do not need import licenses.  The customs authorities will accept and release the goods according the enterprises' contracts or the import/export contracts.