The 2011 Joint Annual Inspection of Foreign-Invested Enterprises in China

Notice of the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Bureau of Statistics, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Carrying out Joint Annual Inspection of Foreign-invested Enterprises for 2011

Shang-Zi-Han [2011] No. 75

The competent departments of commerce, departments (bureaus) of finance, state taxation bureaus, local taxation bureaus, administrations for industry and commerce, bureaus of statistics, and administrations of foreign exchange of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities under the central government, cities under separate state planning and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

Joint annual inspection of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) is a major approach to strengthening supervision and administration of FIEs, transforming government management styles and improving the investment environment, and provides a platform for enabling the government to keep informed of the existence of FIEs and make proper decisions. To seriously implement the Notice on the Implementation Plan for Joint Annual Inspection of Foreign-invested Enterprises ([1998] Wai-Jing-Mao-Zi-Fa No. 938, hereinafter the "Notice"), and to smoothly carry out the joint annual inspection of the country’s foreign-invested enterprises for 2011, this notice is hereby issued to you with respect to relevant issues as follows:

1. All departments that participate in the joint annual inspection shall organize joint annual inspection of FIEs in strictly compliance with the requirements under this Notice. They shall do their own jobs well, carry out administration according to law, and perform their respective duties.

They shall also strengthen coordination and cooperation, make careful arrangements, meticulously organize activities, and take effective measures to step up publicity efforts to improve the participation rate of enterprises, and complete the joint annual inspection successfully.

2. The period from March 2, 2011 to June 30 will be the office hours for the joint annual inspection of FIEs, and the annual inspection will cover the status of operation of FIEs in 2010. Any FIEs that have been established and registered with approval according to law and have obtained legal personality shall be subject to the annual inspection.

3. All departments that participate in the joint annual inspection shall make full use of modern information technologies and the existing network resources, and diligently carry out online annual inspection of FIEs. If conditions allow, participating departments may use the online platform for annual inspection to complete relevant data collection.

4. Regions that engage in pilot work on electronic signature and seal shall carry out such work to the extent financial support has been obtained, and may not apportion expenses among enterprises.

5. With respect to any enterprises that fail to apply for annual inspection, fail to submit materials required for the annual inspection truthfully, or have committed illegal or irregular acts in their production and business activities, the departments participating in the joint annual inspection shall deal with the same to the extent of their respective functions according to law. Accounting firms shall issue authentication documents and provide services in an objective, truthful and fair manner pursuant to the Accounting Law of the People’s Republic of China (the "PRC"), the PRC Law on Certified Public Accountants, Regulations on Financial and Accounting Reports of Enterprises and other financial and accounting regulations.

6. Departments participating in the joint annual inspection shall provide better guidance for the annual inspection work at the grassroots level, keep informed of the work progress, coordinate in addressing any problems that have arisen therefrom, and ensure the orderly process of the annual inspection. They shall strengthen the trainings for annual inspection personnel from government departments and enterprises to effectively improve the business capabilities of annual inspection personnel. They shall also strengthen the statistical analysis of annual inspection data, make full use of the information resources and data in relation to the annual inspection, make in-depth analysis of the status of operation of FIEs, and prepare and submit an analysis report to the higher authorities after the annual inspection work is completed.

Ministry of Commerce
Ministry of Finance
State Administration of Taxation
State Administration of Industry and Commercewww
National Bureau of Statistics
State Administration of Foreign Exchange

February 23, 2011