The National Energy Administration ("NEA") has recently issued the Supplementary Provisions to the Interim Administrative Measures for National Research and Engineering Demonstrative Programs for Energy Application Technologies (the "Provisions"), immediately effective from the issue date.
According to the Provisions, the NEA is the department responsible for organizing the whole-process management and acceptance checks of national research and engineering demonstrative projects for energy application technologies, while entities leading these programs shall take charge of specific work in five aspects to carry out these programs, including "leading the preparation of annual reports and middle-term projects for programs, and applying in time as per applicable procedures for the approval to major events or to changes or adjustments to relevant items arising out of the program implementation". In addition, the Provisions clearly state that a program shall not be adjusted or altered without authorization; where it is truly necessary to make an adjustment or alteration during the implementation, the entity leading the program shall file a written application in time for this purpose and submit the same as per applicable procedures to the NEA. The acceptance check of a program will be organized and conducted by a third-party agency as commissioned by the NEA in accordance with relevant policy requirements, and the third-party agency undertaking the acceptance check of a program shall be subject to the withdrawal system. Furthermore, audit reports for the financial acceptance check will be an important determinant in the acceptance inspection of a program.