Decree of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province

　　No. 204

　　The Measures of Guangdong Province for the Handling of and Service for Complaints Lodged by Foreign-invested Enterprises adopted at the Thirty-second Executive Meeting of the Twelfth Session of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province on September 9, 2014, are hereby promulgated and shall become effective as of December 15, 2014.

　　                                                  Governor

　　Zhu Xiaodan

　　                                                     October 27, 2014

　　Measures of Guangdong Province for the Handling of and Service for Complaints Lodged 

by Foreign-invested Enterprises

Article 1

These Measures are formulated for the purposes of handling the complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises in a timely and effective manner, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-invested enterprises and their investors, and further optimizing the investment environment of this Province in accordance with the provisions of relevant provisions of national laws and regulations and in light of the actual situation of this Province.

Article 2

These Measures shall apply to the acceptance and handling of the complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises within the administrative region of this Province.

Article 3

For the purpose of these Measures, the term “complaint by foreign-invested enterprises” means the act of lawfully established Sino-foreign joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises and exclusively foreign-owned enterprises (hereinafter collectively referred to as “foreign-invested enterprises”) and the Chinese and foreign investors therein (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “complainants”), which believe that any government department or any other unit or any staff member thereof damages the interests of such foreign-invested enterprises during the establishment, production, operation or termination of such foreign-invested enterprises, reporting issues pertinent to such damage to competent authorities responsible for handling the complaints (hereinafter referred to as the “complaint-handling authority”) and requesting such complaint-handling authority to coordinate in addressing such issues.

Article 4

The principles of solid legal and factual basis, fairness and impartiality, convenience and efficiency shall be followed in handling the complaints lodged by the foreign-invested enterprises.

Article 5 

The provincial administrative department of commerce shall be responsible for the coordination, guidance and supervision of the handling of the complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises throughout this Province.

People’s governments at or above the prefectural level and people’s governments of counties (districts) with a sufficiently large number of foreign-invested enterprises, and the departments of the administrative commission of economic parks shall be responsible for handling complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises within their respective administrative region.

Such administrative departments as those of the development and reform, public security, finance, human resources and social security, land and resources, environmental protection, taxation, industry and commerce, quality supervision, food and drug supervision, customs, inspection and quarantine and foreign exchange shall contribute to the handling of complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises to the extent of their respective functions and duties.

Article 6 

The complaint-handling authorities at all levels shall be responsible for the following functions and duties:

(1) To accept the complaints lodged by the complainants and those complaints assigned, transferred to them and supervised by relevant higher authorities;

(2) To convene regular meetings on handling complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises, which shall be attended by representatives from other authorities concerned, and coordinate relevant authorities concerned in handling major complaints;

(3) To report to the higher authorities on major complaints of foreign investors, and to issue notices on complaints lodged against units concerned and the handling result of such complaints, and put forward opinions and suggestions on such complaints;

(4) To carry out training on handling complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises;

(5) To be responsible for keeping statistics on and analyze the complaints lodged by local foreign-invested enterprises; and

(6) To guide subordinate complaint-handling authorities within their respective administrative region, and to supervise the handling of complaints that have a major impact.

Article 7 

People’s governments at all levels shall provide necessary financial support for handling the complaints lodged by foreign-invested enterprises.

Article 8

The complainants shall lodge their complaints to the complaint-handling authority in the place where the matter(s) in question occurs. Where there is no complaint-handling authority at the place where the matter complained of occurs, they may lodge their complaints to the complaint-handling authority at the next higher level or to the provincial administrative department of commerce. Where the complaint-handling authority at the place where the matter complained of occurs deems that such matter does not fall under its authority, it shall report the complaint to its superior complaint-handling authority so that the latter can designate a competent authority to accept such complaint.

Article 9

Complainants may lodge complaints, inter alia, by in-person interview, post, fax, email, among others.

The complaint-handling authorities shall disclose to the public the procedures and ways by which they accept complaints. After receiving a complaint, they shall timely verify and handle such complaints in accordance with law.

Article 10

A complaint will be accepted if it meets the followingconditions:

(1) Identification of the complainant is available;

(2) There is a clearly specified target against which the complaint is lodged;

(3) There are clear claims and supporting facts; and

(4) The complaint falls under the authority of the complaint-handling authority to which the complaint is lodged.

Where any of the complaint materials is written in a foreign language, a Chinese version thereof shall be provided.

Where a complainant entrusts another person to lodge the complaint, such person shall provide the power of attorney issued by the complainant.

Article 11

A complaint shall not be accepted under any of the following circumstances:

(1) The complaint is lodged anonymously;

(2) The matter complained of has entered or gone through the proceedings of administrative reconsideration or the administrative action;

(3) The complainant misunderstands or dissents with relevant provisions of applicable laws, regulations or policies, or handling procedures of administrative affairs; or

(4) The complaint has been accepted by any other complaint-handling authority or has been duly handled by such authority.

Article 12

The complaint-handling authority shall review such complaint within five working days after accepting the complaint, and inform the complainant whether the complaint is accepted or not in writing or by any other appropriate means. Where the authority decides not to accept the complaint, it shall give the reasons therefor.

Where it is found through in-person interview that the complaint does not meet the conditions for acceptance, the complaint-handling authority shall notify the complainant of the decision on the spot, inform the complainant of the reason therefor and enter the decision into the records.

Article 13

Where the complainant raises any objection against decision of the complaint-handling authority not to accept its complaint, the complainant may report to the complaint-handling authority at the next higher level. Where the complaint-handling authority at the next higher level considers that the complaint meets the conditions for acceptance, it shall notify the complaint-handling authority to accept the complaint.

Article 14 Thecomplaint shall be handled in the following ways:

(1) Where a complaint is directly handled by the complaint-handling authority, the authority shall issue an opinion on the complaint and reply to the complainant within 15 working days after accepting the complaint;

(2) Where a complaint that is referred by the complaint-handling authority to an authority or unit concerned for handling, such authority or unit shall, within 15 working days after the date of receipt, provide a written reply to the complaint-handling authority concerning the opinion and handling of such complaint. The complaint-handling authority shall reply to the complainant within three working days after receiving the reply from the authority or entity; and

(3) Where more than one complainant lodge complaints against the same unit in connection with the same matter, the complaints may be consolidated into one for handling. Where a complaint is lodged in connection with a matter that involves a great number of departments and complex circumstances, the time limit for the handling of such complaint may be extended by 30 working days.

Article 15

The handling of a complaint shall be suspended if the complaint is under one of the following circumstances:

(1) The complainant requests for the suspension because it presents any new certification material or for other justifiable reason;

(2) Where the competent complaint-handling authority requires the complainant to supplement the certification material that has an impact on the handling result of the complaint, and the complainant fail to provide such material; or

(3) Other circumstances stipulated by laws and regulations.

The suspension period shall not be included into the time limit of complaint handling.

Article 16

The handling of a complaint shall be terminated under one of the following circumstances:

(1) The complainant applies for the withdrawal of the complaint;

(2) The complaint has entered the proceedings of administrative reconsideration or the administrative action;

(3) The handling of the complaint has been suspended for one year; or

(4) Other circumstances stipulated by laws and regulations.

Article 17

If the handling of a complaint is terminated, the complaint-handling authority shall notify the complainant of the decision to terminate the handling within five working days.

Article 18

Where the complainant requests for the confidentiality of trade secrets and privacy involved in the complaint, the complaint-handling authority shall keep confidential such trade secrets and privacy.

Article 19

Where a complaint-handling authority or any of its staff members, in violation of the provisions of these Measures, commits any of the following misconducts, the department that such authority or staff member is under or the competent authority in charge shall order to make corrections, and impose sanctions on the leaders directly in charge of such complaint-handling authority or staff member, as well as other persons directly responsible:

(1) Failing to accept a complaint that falls within the scope of acceptance;

(2) Failing to complete the handling of the complaint or make a reply to the complainant within the prescribed time limit;

(3) Failing to perform the functions and duties of inspection and supervision as is required;

(4) Violating any of the confidentiality rules; or

(5) Other circumstances stipulated by laws and regulations.

Article 20

Where a department, unit or a staff member thereof against whom a complaint is lodged by a foreign-invested enterprise violates these Measures, and commits any of the following misconduct, the competent administrative department concerned or the supervisory authority shall investigate the case, and impose sanctions on persons directly in charge of such department, entity or staff member, as well as other persons directly responsible:

(1) Overstepping the statutory authority, abuse of power, or nonfeasance;

(2) Intentional or gross negligence leading to erroneous determination of facts or improper application of the law or regulations, and thus infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of the complainant;

(3) Prevarication, skimping, or delaying the handling of a complaint without legitimate reasons;

(4) Failing to raise any objection to the handling opinion of a complaint yet refusing to make corrections in connection with the matter complained of;

(5) Threatening, persecuting or retaliating against the complainant.

Article 21 

Complaints lodged by the representative offices and branches established by Hong Kong, Macao or foreign business enterprises and other economic entities in this Province shall be handled with reference to these Measures.

Article 22 

The department of commerce at or above the prefectural level may formulate detailed implementation rules in accordance with these Measures.

Article 23

These Measures shall become effective as of December 15, 2014.