Environment Protection

Establishment of foreign-invested projects must, before applying for enterprise approval, be 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.

The 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 is proposed for preventing or decreasing the negative impact to the environment.

China's government started to implement margin system for treatment and rehabilitation of mining environment from the year of 2006; and the responsibility mechanism will be gradually established. The government attaches sufficient importance to funds and measures at the same time for treatment,  those  are:  well  defining  the  responsibility according to the principle of "to hold those who cause damage responsible for rehabilitation"; and increasing the investment by using market mechanism according to the principle of "to those who invest will benefit from the gains".

Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Land and Resources and State Environmental  Protection  Administration  jointly  issued <Guidance  Proposals  on  Working  up  a  Responsibility Mechanism  for  Mining  Environment  Treatment  and Restoration of the Natural Environment> on February 10, 2006.  It  points  out  that  administrative  departments responsible for land resources should organize the bodies with qualification to evaluate the trial mines one by one, and set the objectives and demands according to restoration of mining environment and natural function on the whole.

Mining enterprises, both new established and put into production, should draw comprehensive treatment plan as said above under the supervision of the local administrative departments and offer the specific methods for objective achievement. On this situation, in the light of expected service life of new mine and residual life of served mine, as well as expenditure required for this purpose, the local administrative  department  for  land  resources  and environmental protection, jointly with financial departments, must confirm the number of margins drew out in advance yearly by mining enterprises in proportion of selling income of mineral products and place the margins into cost.

Foreign Exchange

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange and its branch bureaus 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 anon-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, abraders 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 materials, 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 or the mport/export contracts.