Commentary on Foreign NGO Guidelines for Registering Representative Offices and Filing to Conduct Temporary Activities
2016-11-29
On November 28, 2016, the Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) released the Guidelines for Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations (“Foreign NGOs”) for Registering Representative Offices (“Rep Offices”) and Filing to Conduct Temporary Activities (the “Guidelines”) on its website, which Foreign NGOs have long anticipated. The Guidelines are the first implementing rules for the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations' Activities within Mainland China (the “Foreign NGO Law”) which was promulgated on April 28, 2016, with the aim of providing guidelines for the implementation of the Foreign NGO Law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2017.
In essence, the Guidelines show very few modifications from the version previously issued to certain invited Foreign NGOs for comment. The Guidelines are composed of four parts: Rep Office registration, filing for temporary activities, related matters and appendices (including filing forms and procedure flow-charts).