China Market Intelligence
NPC and State Council
Transparency Commitments: An Evaluation
T
he National People’s Congress (NPC) and State
Council both announced initiatives in spring 2008 to
increase transparency and public participation in the
formulation of legislation and administrative measures. The
US-China Business Council (USCBC) has been tracking
NPC and State Council compliance with their commitments
in this area since late summer. Based on USCBC’s review, the
NPC has been fairly consistent in its transparency efforts,
while the State Council has been decidedly less so.
NPC
To promote open participation in its legislative process,
the Standing Committee of the 11th NPC announced last
April that it would solicit public comments on most draft
laws and amendments reviewed by the NPC Standing
Committee. It also stated it would “in general” post draft
laws and amendments that have gone through a first
Standing Committee review on the NPC website. In
addition, it will release the draft in major media outlets, if
the Standing Committee chair determines a draft law to be
of immediate public interest.
In accordance with its April announcement, the NPC has
posted several draft laws for public comment, including the
draft Patent and Insurance laws, which were open for
comment from August 29 to October 10, 2008. The NPC in
late October read three drafts for the first time and
subsequently posted them for comment on its website: the
draft State Compensation Law, draft Earthquake Protection
and Disaster Relief Law, and draft Postal Law.
State Council
At the fourth Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), held in
June 2008, China agreed to three significant transparency-
related points:
■ Publish for comment all draft economic regulations and
rules, not just those related to trade;
■ Allow at least 30 days for public comments; and
■ Publish these measures in a single location, the PRC State
Council Legislative Affairs Office’s (SCLAO) legislative
information website (http://yijian.chinalaw.gov.cn/lisms).
Despite these commitments, as of early December 2008,
few of the economic regulations and rules released for
comment since late summer had been posted on the
designated SCLAO website. Though the draft Ozone
Depleting Substances Regulations, PRC Customs Services
Guarantee Rules, and Administrative Regulations on
Registration of Resident Foreign Enterprise Representative
Offices had been posted there, others, such as the Technical
Rules for the Circulation of Second-Hand Equipment and
12 January–February 2009 chinabusinessreview.com
the Administrative Rules for Special Approval of Drug
Registration, had not. Rather, these had been posted for
comment only on the websites of the agencies responsible
for them—the Ministry of Commerce and State Food and
Drug Administration, respectively. In fact, from September
1 through December 1, these and other administrative
agencies solicited comments on 14 draft regulations that
were not posted on the designated SCLAO website.
Moreover, during that period, the website only listed five
laws and regulations for comment, two of which, the Social
Welfare Law and the People’s Fitness Rules, were not
economic in nature. None of the regulations posted on this
website have been open for comment for the full 30-day
period agreed to during the fourth SED.
In addition to the SCLAO website mentioned above,
however, the State Council recently added a link to
another site (http://bmyj.chinalaw.gov.cn/lisms/action/guest
LoginAction.do) to collect public comments on department
regulations (internal regulations) and related documents. As
of December 1, only three items—an amended draft of a
Patent Examination Directory, Procedures for Handling
Traffic Safety Violations, and Methods for Examining Land
Use Plans—were posted on the site.
USCBC is aware of other regulations that the State
Council has approved or issued since late summer without
posting for comment on the designated SCLAO website.
These include the Draft Regulations for Dairy Product Safety
and the Value-Added Tax Reform Plan, which was submitted
to the State Council in September 2008, approved in
November 2008, and took effect on January 1, 2009.
In addition, USCBC understands that there are other
regulations, specifically the Anti-Price-Monopoly Rules and
draft amendments to the Anti-Unfair-Competition Law, that
are making their way through the legislative process but have
not yet been posted on the SCLAO website for comment.
Though the Anti-Price-Monopoly Rules may not be ready for
comment, the State Administration of Industry and
Commerce has solicited comments on draft amendments to
the Anti-Unfair-Competition Law from a few chosen
organizations without posting the law for comment on either
the NPC or SCLAO websites.
The State Council’s uneven implementation of its
commitments to transparency and public participation in the
regulation-drafting process warrants further monitoring.
This article is adapted from a report that first appeared in China Market
Intelligence, the US-China Business Council’s (USCBC) members-only
newsletter. To find out more about USCBC member company benefits, see
www.uschina.org/benefits.html.