Laws of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Commerce

Circular of the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Commerce on Strengthening the Administration of Credential Evaluation for Foreign-funded Construction Enterprises

JianShi [2004] No. 159

The Construction Departments of all provinces and autonomous regions, Construction Commissions of all municipalities directly under the Central Government, Construction Administration Bureaus of Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, construction departments of relevant ministries and commissions of the State Council, Construction Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Engineering Bureau of the Barracks Division of the General Logistics Department, and the competent departments of commerce of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities directly under the state planning:

This Circular is hereby issued as follows with a view to further bettering the administration of credential evaluation of foreign-funded construction enterprises established in China by foreign enterprises:

1.

Continuously bettering the administration of the establishment of and credential evaluation for construction enterprises established in China by foreign enterprises and other relevant work concerning that

(1)

In order to ensure the smooth transition between the engineering contracting activities already in progress when this Circular is issued and the new provisions, with respect to foreign enterprises having obtained an approval for establishing foreign-funded enterprises in China but having not yet obtained credential certificate for construction enterprises, before July 1st, 2005 they may present the contract of engineering contracting to which they concluded and their Foreign Enterprise's Credential Certificate for Engineering Contracting and, after the administrative department for construction at the provincial level has made preliminary examination and approved, have a contracting certificate for a specific project handled by the Ministry of Construction. No foreign enterprise without a credential certificate for a construction enterprise may contract any engineering project after July 1st, 2005.

The administrative departments for construction and other relevant departments at various levels shall make best use of their time in conducting the work of examination and approval of the establishment and applications for credentials of foreign-funded construction enterprises.

(2)

Any foreign-funded enterprise having obtained the Construction Enterprise's Credential Certificate may, before July 1st, 2005, contract engineering projects in China with its Construction Enterprise's Credential Certificate or Foreign Enterprise's Credential Certificate for Engineering Contracting. Such engineering contracting performance may be treated as its performance for the purpose of credential upgrade and annual review.

2.

Treatment of some issues in the examination and appraisal of credentials of foreign-funded construction enterprises

In order to encourage international large-scale engineering contracting companies to establish foreign-funded construction enterprises in China, newly established foreign-funded construction enterprises not meeting the required credential standards in terms of performance or personnel shall be treated as follows:

(1)

The foreign investor's engineering contracting performance in China may be treated as that of the enterprise newly established by it in China. The foreign investor applying for a credential certificate shall provide materials certifying its corresponding performance, which shall be subject to the examination and confirmation by the credential authority in accordance with the credential standards for construction enterprises.

(2)

The foreign-funded construction enterprise may retain overseas service providers as its technical and managerial personnel. Such overseas service providers must fulfill the requirements equal to those for the technical title as required by the credential standard for the construction enterprise.

The qualifications for certain technical titles of the overseas service providers shall be determined by the credential authority based on their educational credentials and work experience when the authority examines the construction enterprise's credentials, pursuant to the Measures for Implementing the Provisions Concerning the Administration of Credential Evaluation in the Provisions Concerning the Administration of Foreign-funded Construction Enterprises as issued by the Ministry of Construction (JianShi [2003]No. 73).

(3)

The foreign-funded construction enterprise may retain overseas service providers as its project managers. The qualifications of such overseas service providers shall be examined and determined by the credential authority based on their experience in managing engineering projects, when the authority examines the construction enterprise's credentials, in accordance with the credential standards for construction enterprises and the Measures for Implementing the Provisions Concerning the Administration of Credential Evaluation in Provisions Concerning the Administration of Foreign-funded Construction Enterprises issued by the Ministry of Construction (JianShi [2003]No. 73).

There is no limit to the number of overseas service providers retained by a foreign-funded construction enterprise as its project managers.

The administrative competent departments for construction of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall conduct the administration of credential evaluation for foreign-funded construction enterprises in light of the spirit of this Circular and promptly report any problem as may arise in the work to the Construction Market Administration Department of the Ministry of Construction and the Foreign Investment Administration Department of the Ministry of Commerce.

The Ministry of Construction

The Ministry of Commerce

September 6th, 2004