Laws of the People's Republic of China

General Administration of Civil Aviation of China

Order of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China

No.165

The Administrative Measures for the Examination and Approval of Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises, adopted at the executive meeting of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China on March 31, 2006, are hereby promulgated, and shall go into effect as of May 3, 2006.

Director General, Yang Yuanyuan

April 3, 2006

Administrative Measures for the Examination and Approval of Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

In order to regulate the administration of permanent representative offices of foreign air transport enterprises (hereinafter referred to as representative offices) and their staff members, these Administrative Measures are formulated in accordance with the Interim Provisions of the State Council on the Administration of Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises.

Article 2

The "representative offices" as mentioned in these Administrative Measures refers to the agencies that are set up upon approval by foreign air transport enterprises within the territory of China and engage in the business operations.

The "chief representatives" as mentioned in these Administrative Measures refers to the principal responsible persons of the agencies; and the "representatives" as mentioned in these Administrative Measures refers to other main staff members of the agencies.

Article 3

To apply for setting up a representative office within the territory of the People's Republic of China, a foreign air transport enterprise shall be approved by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the CAAC), and go through the registration formalities at the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China or the authorized administrative bureau for industry and commerce of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government or city under separate state planning (hereinafter referred to as the registration organ).

Article 4

A foreign air transport enterprise may not set up a representative office within the territory of the People's Republic of China without approval and registration, nor may it carry out any business operation concerning air transport.

Article 5

The representative offices and their staff members shall comply with the laws, regulations and rules for civil aviation of the People's Republic of China, and shall not damage the security of the People's Republic of China or the social and public interests. The lawful rights and interests of the representative offices and their staff members shall be under the protection of the laws of China.

Article 6

The CAAC shall, in accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China and the authorization of the State Council, implement the administrative functions for the representative offices under its own jurisdiction.

Chapter II Establishment, Extension, Alteration and Termination of Representative Offices

Article 7

For the purpose of setting up a representative office, a foreign air transport enterprise shall comply with the basic conditions as follows:

(1)

In accordance with the air transport treaty or the relative agreement signed between the government of the country where the foreign air transport enterprise is located and the government of the People's Republic of China, the foreign air transport enterprise has obtained the designated qualification for providing air transport services between two countries;

The setting up of any representative office by a foreign air transport enterprise that has not obtained the designated qualification for providing air transport services between two countries shall be specially approved by the CAAC; and

(2)

The foreign air transport enterprise shall go through the approval formalities in accordance with these Administrative Measures.

Article 8

For the purpose of setting up a representative office, a foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the application materials to the CAAC in accordance with different situations:

(1)

For the purpose of setting up a representative office, a designated foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the application materials as follows to the CAAC:

1.

A photocopy of the business license or any other approval document issued by the CAAC;

2.

An application form signed by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise, which shall indicate: the purposes of setting up the representative office, the name of the representative office, the persons to be assigned to the representative office (chief representative and representatives), range of business, business address, and the contact information, etc.;

3.

Letter of attorney issued by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise for entrusting the chief representative and representatives of the representative office, and the photocopies of the valid travel certificates of the chief representative and representatives; and

4.

Registration Forms for the Staff Members of Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises in duplicate filled by the chief representative and representatives.

(2)

For the purpose of setting up a representative office, a non-designated foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the application materials as follows to the CAAC:

1.

A photocopy of the relative agreement signed between the authorities of the country where the foreign air transport enterprise is located or the foreign air transport enterprise and the CAAC;

2.

An application form signed by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise, consisting of: the brief information about the enterprise, the purposes for setting up the representative office, the name of the representative office, the persons to be assigned to the representative office (chief representative and representatives), range of business, business address, and the contact information, etc.;

3.

The certificate (duplicate) on lawful business initiation issued by the authorities of the country where the foreign air transport enterprise is located;

4.

Letter of attorney issued by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise for entrusting the chief representative and representatives of the representative office, and the photocopies of the valid travel certificates of the chief representative and representatives; and

5.

Registration Forms for the Staff Members of Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises in duplicate filled by the chief representative and representatives.

Article 9

The CAAC shall conduct the applications put forward by the applicants in accordance with the conditions as follows:

(1)

If there is any error in the application materials that can be corrected on the spot, the CAAC shall allow the applicant to make corrections on the spot;

(2)

If the application materials are incomplete or inconsistent with statutory forms, all the contents that need to be corrected once and for all shall be informed of the applicants by the CAAC within 5 days, . If the CAAC fails to do so within the aforesaid time limit, it shall be considered to have accepted the application materials as of the day when it receives them; and

(3)

The CAAC shall accept the application, in case the application materials are complete and consistent with statutory forms, or all the corrected application materials have been handed in by the applicant as required.

Article 10

The CAAC shall, within 20 days as of the date of acceptance, make a decision to approve or disapprove the setting up of a representative office. If it fails to make a decision within 20 days, the time limit may be extended to another 10 days upon approval of its principal, and it shall inform the applicant of the reasons for the extension .

If the CAAC makes a decision on approval of the setting up of the representative office, it shall issue an approval certificate to the applicant within 10 days as of the day when the decision is made; if it makes a decision on disapproval of the setting up of the representative office, it shall inform the applicant of this and make an explanation on the reasons for the disapproval.

Article 11

After an application of a foreign air transport enterprise for setting up a representative office is approved, this representative office shall go through the registration formalities at the registration organ in accordance with the relative provisions. If it fails to do so within the aforesaid time limit, the approval certificate shall be invalidated automatically.

Article 12

The valid time limit of the approval document on the representative office of a designated foreign air transport enterprise shall accord with that of the business license issued by the CAAC. The valid time limit of the representative office of a non-designated foreign air transport enterprise shall generally be 3 years calculated as of the day when the CAAC issues the approval certificate. If the valid time limit expires and needs to be extended, the foreign air transport enterprise shall, 45 days in advance, submit an application to the examination and approval organ, and go through the formalities for the extension.

Article 13

For the purpose of applying for an extension, a representative office shall submit the application materials in accordance with different situations as follows:

(1)

A designated foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the materials as follows:

1.

A photocopy of the valid business license or any other approval document issued by the CAAC;

2.

An application form for extension signed by the legal representative of the enterprise; and

3.

The photocopies of the approval certificate and the registration certificate of the permanent representative office of the enterprise.

(2)

A non-designated foreign air transport enterprise shall submit the following materials:

1.

A photocopy of the relative agreement signed between the authorities of the country where the foreign air transport enterprise is located or the foreign air transport enterprise and the CAAC;

2.

An application form for extension signed by the legal representative of the enterprise; and

3.

A photocopy of the approval document and the registration certificate of the permanent representative office of the enterprise.

Article 14

The valid extension time limit of an approval document on the representative office of a designated foreign air transport enterprise shall accord with that of the business license issued by the CAAC. The valid extension time limit of an approval document for the representative office of a non-designated foreign air transport enterprise shall generally be 3 years. After an application for extension handed in by a representative office is approved, the CAAC shall issue a certificate on approval of the extension, and the representative office shall go through the registration formalities for the extension in accordance with the relative provisions.

Article 15

If a foreign air transport enterprise applies for changing the name of its representative office, replacing or adding the chief representative or representatives, altering the business range or business address of its representative office, it shall hand in an application form signed by the legal representative of the enterprise and the relative materials about the matter to be altered to the CAAC.

An application form for changing the business address within the same city may be signed by the chief representative of the representative office.

Article 16

After an application for alteration is approved, the CAAC shall issue a certificate on approval of the alteration, and the representative office shall go through the registration formalities in accordance with the relative provisions.

Article 17

If a representative office does not hand in an application for extension after the expiration of the term of dispatch, its original approval certificate shall be cancelled by the CAAC.

If a foreign air transport enterprise cancels a representative office before the expiration of the valid time limit, the legal representative of this air transport enterprise shall sign a notification on cancellation of the representative office 30 days before the termination, and a photocopy of the original approval document shall be handed in to the CAAC for an archive.

Article 18

The name of a representative office shall be ascertained in the pattern of "country + name of the enterprise + name of the city + representative office".

Article 19

An application form for establishing, extending, altering or canceling a representative office or a letter of attorney for the chief representative or any representative shall be written in Chinese; and if it is written in any other language, an enclosure of Chinese translation thereof shall be followed. If any other application material is written in the language other than Chinese, an enclosure of Chinese translation thereof shall be followed. For the legal force of the relative documents or materials, the Chinese version thereof shall prevail

Chapter III Administration of Chief Representatives and Representatives

Article 20

A chief representative or representative of a representative office shall have the qualifications as follows:

(1)

A foreign citizen with a valid passport (excluding foreign students in China);

(2)

A Chinese citizen who is qualified for long-term residence abroad;

(3)

A citizen from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan holding a valid certificate; and

(4)

In case a foreign air transport enterprise employs a Chinese citizen to be the chief representative or representative of its representative office (excluding the Chinese citizens mentioned in Paragraph 2 of this Article), it shall go through the approval formalities in accordance with the relative laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China.

Article 21

A foreign chief representative or representative of a representative office shall, after entering into the territory of China, acquire an employment permit on the basis of the strength of his/her occupation visa and other relative certificates; if he/she has no occupation visa, he shall acquire an occupation visa and an employment permit on the basis of the strength of a Registration Certificate for the Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises and a Work Certificate for the Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises. If the country where the foreign air transport enterprise is located has reached an agreement on mutual exemption of visas with China, he/she shall go through the formalities in accordance with the agreement.

Article 22

For the purpose of applying for changing the chief representative of a representative office, the foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the materials as follows to the CAAC:

(1)

An application form signed by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise;

(2)

A letter of attorney signed by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise;

(3)

A Registration Form for the Staff Members of Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises in duplicate filled by the person who is to be appointed; and

(4)

A photocopy of the valid travel certificate of the person who is to be appointed.

For the purpose of applying for changing a representative, the representative office of a foreign air transport enterprise shall hand in the materials as follows to the CAAC:

(1)

An application form signed by the chief representative of the representative office of the foreign air transport enterprise;

(2)

A letter of attorney signed by the legal representative of the foreign air transport enterprise;

(3)

A Registration Form on the Staff Members of Representative Offices of Foreign Air Transport Enterprises in duplicate filled by the person who is to be appointed; and

(4)

A photocopy of the valid travel certificate of the person who is to be appointed.

Chapter IV Supervision and Administration of Representative Offices

Article 23

In accordance with the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises, these Administrative Measures and other relative laws and regulations, the CAAC shall administer, supervise and inspect the business operations of the representative offices of foreign air transport enterprises jointly with the relevant departments.

Article 24

A foreign air transport enterprise shall undertake the legal liabilities for all the business operations that are implemented by its representative offices within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

Article 25

If a representative office violates the laws or regulations of the People's Republic of China or these Administrative Measures, the CAAC shall impose administrative punishment on it under its jurisdiction and in accordance with the severity of the circumstances.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 26

These Administrative Measures by analogy shall apply to the applications of foreign air transport enterprises for assigning permanent representatives to the People's Republic of China .

The applications of foreign air transport services security enterprises for setting up representative offices within or assigning permanent representatives to the People's Republic of China shall be governed by these Administrative Measures by analogy.

Article 27

The time limits prescribed in these Administrative Measures shall be calculated with the working days, excluding official holidays.

Article 28

These Administrative Measures shall go into effect 30 days after the date of promulgation. The Circular on Implementing the Interim Provisions on the Administration of Permanent Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises (Min Hang Ji [80] No. 399) prevailed on December 4, 1980 shall be abolished at the same time.