Summary:

• The Announcement on Renewal of Business Licence with Unified Social Credit Code was gazetted by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the business licence without unified code was ceased to be used in the end of 2017.
• The Measures on Enterprise Annuity was gazetted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance. The state encourages enterprises to establish enterprise annuity system as supplementary pension insurance, but it is not a mandatory requirement.
• The Implementation Measures for Liability Insurance of Safety Production was gazetted by the State Administration of Work Safety, China Insurance Regulation Commission and the Ministry of Finance to enable Insurance Institutes participate in the functions of risk assessment, control and accident prevention.
• The Interim Measures on Environmental Protection Acceptance Check for Completed Construction Projects was gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. It applies to the construction projects required to compile Environmental Impact Report (or Report Form) and the Environmental Protection Acceptance Check shall be carried out by the Construction Entity.
• The Administrative Measures on Pollutant Discharge Permission (Trial) was adopted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. It applies to the application, approval and issuance, implementation, supervision and administration, and penalty on pollutant discharge permit.
• Updated Minimum Wage Standard of Zhejiang Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region and Liaoning Province.

Contents

Labour

• < Announcement on Renewal of Business Licence with Unified Social Credit Code >
• < Measures on Enterprise Annuity >

Health and Safety

• < Implementation Measures for Liability Insurance of Safety Production >

Environment

• < Interim Measures on Environmental Protection Acceptance Check for Completed Construction Projects >
• < Administrative Measures on Pollutant Discharge Permission (Trial) >

Minimum Wage Standard Update

• Zhejiang Province, Guangxi Autonomous Region, Liaoning Province

Summary of Law Updates:

Labour

1. < Announcement on Renewal of Business Licence with Unified Social Credit Code > (2017-12-27)

After the promulgation of the Notice on Accelerating the “Five Licences in One” Registration System Reform by the General Office of the State Council on 5^th July 2016, the Announcement on Renewal of Business Licence with Unified Social Credit Code (hereinafter referred to as Announcement) was gazetted by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on 27^th December 2017. The main requirements are as follows:

1)    The business licence without unified code was ceased to be used in the end of 2017, and the enterprises shall use the business licence with a unified code approved and issued by the department of Industry and Commerce or the market regulatory authorities.

2)    After 1^st January 2018, for enterprises have not replaced the business licence by one with a unified code, their entity and operation qualifications in the market remain valid, while relevant administrative departments use unified codes for business. In order to avoid the impact on operation, the enterprises shall apply for renewal of business licence as soon as possible, if it is not done.

3)    Nevertheless, the individual business entities shall follow the Opinions on Implementation of "Integration of Two Certificates" namely Business Licence and Tax Registration Certificate for Individual Businesses to renew the business licence voluntarily, and the business licences in old format shall still be valid.

What is “Five Licences in One”? Since 1^st October 2016, the policy of “Five Licences in One, One Code for One Licence” for streamlining and decentralization has been implemented. The five licences include Business Licence, Organization Code Certificate, Tax Registration Certificate, Social Insurance Registration Certificate and Statistics Registration Certificate. The unified social credit code is a set of 18-digit code used for identification of legal persons and other organizations.

2. < Measures on Enterprise Annuity > (2018-02-01)

The Measures on Enterprise Annuity (hereinafter referred to as Measures) has been adopted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance on 20^th December 2016, and gazetted on 18^th December 2017. It will come into force on 1^st February 2018. The Measures is the amendment and improvement for the Trial Measures on Enterprise Annuity which was gazetted in 2004.

The term Enterprise Annuity in the Measures refers to the supplementary pension insurance system established independently by both the enterprise and its employees in addition to the participation in the basic endowment insurance according to law. The state encourages enterprises to establish enterprise annuity system, but it is not a mandatory requirement.

The main provisions in the Measures are as follows:

1)    The enterprise shall submit the scheme of enterprise annuity to the Administrative Department of Human Resources and Social Security at the county level or above ｗｈｅｒｅ it is located, then the scheme of enterprise annuity may come into force if no objection from the administrative department.

2)    The costs of enterprise annuity shall be paid jointly by the enterprise and its individual employees. The annual contribution from the enterprise shall not exceed 8% of the total wages for its employees, and the total contributions from both the enterprise and its individual employees shall not exceed 12% of the total wages of all employees.

3)    The contribution from individual employee and relevant investment income in the individual employee’s account in the enterprise annuity system ab initio belong to the individual employee. The contribution from the enterprise and relevant investment income in the individual employee’s account may ab initio belong to the individual employee, or gradually then fully belong to the individual employee along with the increase of the year of service upon agreement between the enterprise and its individual employee. However, the required longest year of service of individual employees shall not exceed 8 years till the contribution from the enterprise and relevant investment income fully belong to the individual employees.

In addition, the Measures also provides the conditions for receiving enterprise annuities.

Health and Safety

1. < Implementation Measures for Liability Insurance of Safety Production > (2018-01-01)

The Implementation Measures for Liability Insurance of Safety Production (hereinafter referred to as Measures) was gazetted by the State Administration of Work Safety, China Insurance Regulation Commission and the Ministry of Finance on 20^th December 2017 and it had come into force on 1^st January 2018. The main contents of the Measures are as follows:

1)    The Liability Insurance of Safety Production in the Measures refers to a commercial insurance that the insurance institutions compensate the insured production and business entities for the casualties and related economic losses caused by the production accidents, and provide prevention services of production accidents for such insured entities.

2)    Production and business entities in high-risk industries such as coal mines, other mines, dangerous chemicals, fireworks and firecrackers, transportation, construction, explosives, metal smelting and fishery production shall insure liability insurance of safety production. It is encouraged that production and business entities in other industries to insure such insurance.

3)    Unless the production and business activities are banned or completely closed according to law, the production and business entities that obliged to insure the liability insurance of safety production shall not surrender or postpone the renewal of insurance.

4)    The premium of liability insurance of safety production shall be paid by the production and business entities and shall not be apportioned to the individual employees by any means.

5)    The scope of liability insurance of safety production insured by the production and business entity shall cover all its employees.

Environment

1. < Interim Measures on Environmental Protection Acceptance Check for Completed Construction Projects > (2017-11-20)

The Interim Measures on Environmental Protection Acceptance Check for Completed Construction Projects was formulated and gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and it has come into force on 22^nd November 2017. The main contents are as follows:

1)    Scope of application

• The construction projects that an Environmental Impact Report (or Report Form) is required and when the projects are completed the Environmental Protection Acceptance Check shall be carried out by the Construction Entity according to the provisions of environmental laws and regulations.

2)    Contents of the Acceptance Check Report

• The acceptance monitoring (investigation) report
• The acceptance advices
• Other matters needed to be explained

3)    Information disclosure

• The Construction Entity shall publicize the Acceptance Check Report within 5 working days after the report is compiled through its website or other means easily accessible by the public. The publicity period shall not be fewer than 20 working days.
• Within 5 working days after the publicity of the Acceptance Check Report expired, the Construction Entity shall log in the national information platform of Environmental Protection Acceptance Check for Completed Construction Projects and declare the acceptance check information.

4)    Time limit of Acceptance Check

• Time limit of Acceptance Check refers to the period between the completion date of environmental protection facilities of the construction project and the date of publicizing the Acceptance Check Report by the Construction Entity. Generally the period is not more than 3 months, and the longest no more than 12 months.

5)    Other requirements

• The acceptance monitoring (investigation) report is allowed to be compiled by the Construction Entity or a competent technical agency entrusted by the Entity.
• The Construction Entity may organize a working group of expertise for Acceptance Check, and the members of the working group shall be determined by the Entity. But the working group is not mandatory and the Entity may carry out the Acceptance Check independently.
• Only after the attached environmental protection facilities for the construction project passed the Acceptance Check, the main work of the project can be put into production or use. The main work is not allowed to put into production or use prior to the acceptance check or it is failed.

2. < Administrative Measures on Pollutant Discharge Permission (Trial) > (2018-01-10)

The Administrative Measures on Pollutant Discharge Permission (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as Measures) was adopted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and it has come into force on 10^th January 2018. The main contents are as follows:

1)    This Measures applies to the application, approval and issuance, implementation, supervision and administration, and penalty on pollutant discharge permit.

2)    Enterprises, institutions and other business operators (hereinafter referred to as pollutant discharge entities) of a listed industry in the Catalogue for Classified Administration of Discharge Permission for Stationary Pollution Sources (hereinafter referred to as Catalogue) shall apply for and obtain the pollutant discharge permits in accordance with the prescribed time limit. Pollutant discharge entities not of a listed industry in the Catalogue are not required to apply for the pollutant discharge permit currently.

3)    The pollutant discharge entities that have been built and actually discharged pollutant(s) before the deadline provided by the Catalogue shall apply for pollutant discharge permit within the given deadline. The pollutant discharge entities that have been built after the deadline provided by the Catalogue shall apply for pollutant discharge permit prior to the production families putting into use or actual discharge of pollutant(s).

4)    The pollutant discharge entities shall hold a pollutant discharge permit in accordance with law and discharge pollutants according to the provisions of the pollutant discharge permit. It is prohibited to discharge pollutants without pollutant discharge permit for entities required to hold a permit.

5)    Pollutant discharge permit shall come into force since the date of approval. The validity for the first issue of a pollutant discharge permit is three (3) years and the renewal of pollutant discharge permit shall be valid for five (5) years.

6)    The pollutant discharge entities shall carry out self-monitoring and keep the original monitoring records.

7)    Within the validity period of the pollutant discharge permit, if conditions required by laws and regulations changed, the pollutant discharge entities shall, within the required timeline, submit an application to the Environmental Protection Department for change of the pollutant discharge permit.

China Minimum Wage Standard Update - January 2018

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