The General Office of the State Council has recently issued the Circular on Further Standardizing the Charging of Fees by Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce (the "Circular").
The Circular requires that the illegal and irregular charging of fees by industry associations and chambers of commerce shall be comprehensively cleaned up and cancelled. It is strictly prohibited to impose compulsory membership and charge compulsory fees, to charge irregular fees by taking advantage of statutory duties and matters entrusted or authorized by the government, and to charge fees through evaluation and recognition activities. Meanwhile, the Circular proposes to further enhance the standardization and transparency of the charging of fees by industry associations and chambers of commerce. Membership fees shall not be charged if the standards for membership fees are not formulated or modified according to prescribed procedures. For certain monopolistic and compulsory business service charges, it is necessary to break the monopoly to achieve marketization of service prices by relaxing access conditions and introducing diversified service providers. In addition, the Circular emphasizes the establishment and perfection of a long-term regulatory mechanism for the charging of fees by industry associations and chambers of commerce. Efforts shall be made to strengthen source governance, basically complete the reform of delinking industry associations and chambers of commerce from administrative organs by the end of 2020, promote the promulgation of the Administrative Regulations on the Registration of Social Organizations, strictly control the registration of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and explore and improve the exit mechanism for industry associations and chambers of commerce.