Laws of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Commerce

Decree of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

No. 10

With a view to promoting Hong Kong and Macao to establish a closer economic and trade relationship with the Mainland, the Supplementary Provisions on the Interim Measures for the Establishment of Sino-foreign Joint Venture Foreign Trade Companies, which were adopted at the 8th executive meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on December 7th, 2003, are hereby promulgated, and shall be implemented as of January 1st, 2004.

Lv Fuyuan, Minister of the Ministry of Commerce

December 7th, 2003

Supplementary Provisions on the Interim Measures for the Establishment of Sino-foreign Joint Venture Foreign Trade Companies

With a view to promoting Hong Kong and Macao to establish a closer economic and trade relationship with the Mainland, encouraging service providers from Hong Kong and Macao to establish within the Mainland enterprises engaging in foreign trade business, we have hereby made the following special provisions on the Interim Measures for the Establishment of Sino-Foreign Joint Venture Foreign Trade Companies (WaiJingMaoBu [2003] Order No. 1) in accordance with the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement approved by the State Council:

I.

As of January 1st, 2004, service providers from Hong Kong and Macao shall be permitted to establish foreign trade companies within the Mainland by means of joint venture, cooperative or solely funded enterprise.

II.

For the establishment of a foreign trade company, the average trade amount with the Mainland by a service provider from Hong Kong or Macao during the three years prior to the application shall be no less than US$10 million. For the establishment of a foreign trade company in the central and western regions of the Mainland, the average trade amount with the Mainland by a service provider from Hong Kong or Macao during the three years prior to the application shall be no less than US$5 million.

III.

Where a service provider from Hong Kong or Macao files an application to establish a foreign trade company, the registered capital of the foreign trade company shall be no less than RMB20 million Yuan; if the service provider establishes a foreign trade company in the central and western regions, such registered capital shall be no less than RMB10 million Yuan.

IV.

With regard to other matters for service providers from Hong Kong and Macao to invest in the Mainland to establish foreign trade companies, the Interim Measures on Establishing Sino-foreign Joint Venture Foreign Trade Companies shall still be applied.

V.

The service providers from Hong Kong and Macao mentioned in the present Supplementary Provisions shall respectively meet the requirements in the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and the Mainland and Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement on the definition of "service provider", and in other relevant provisions, as well.

VI.

The power to interpret the present Supplementary Provisions shall remain with the Ministry of Commerce.

VII.

The present Supplementary Provisions shall be implemented as of January 1st, 2004.