The State Council has recently distributed the Circular on Temporarily Adjusting the Implementation of Relevant Provisions of Certain Administrative Regulations in the Pilot Free Trade Zones (the "Circular").
The Circular reads that the State Council has decided to adjust, for the time being, the implementation of relevant provisions of three administrative regulations, i.e. the Administrative Regulations on Commercial Performances, the Administrative Provisions on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises and the Regulations on the Administration of Printing Industry, in the pilot free trade zones (FTZs). The Circular requires that relevant departments of the State Council, the governments of relevant provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government, including Shanghai Municipality and Guangdong Province, shall, based on the aforesaid adjustments, adjust accordingly and timely the rules and normative documents they have formulated for the local region, to establish the administrative regimes commensurate with the requirements for the pilot program. According to the Circular, adjustments made to the Administrative Provisions on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises, for example, involve Article 2 and Paragraph 2 of Article 6 thereof. As a result, the policies for the pilot program previously implemented in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, which covers an area of 28.8 square kilometers, will be expanded to all FTZs, and the authority of industry and information technology of the State Council will enact relevant administrative measures in consultation with relevant departments.