Implementing Rules of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Maritime Transportation (Revised in 2013)

Implementing Rules of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Maritime Transportation (Revised in 2013)

Order of the Ministry of Communications [2013] No. 9

August 29, 2013

(Issued on January 20, 2003 and revised in accordance with Decision on the Revision of the Implementing Rules of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Maritime Transportation on August 29, 2013)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These Implementation Rules are enacted in accordance with the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Ocean Shipping (hereinafter referred to as the Shipping Regulations).

Article 2 The Ministry of Communications and the communications authorities of the relevant local people's governments shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Shipping Regulations and these implementation rules and in line with the principles of fairness, high efficiency and convenience, administer the business activities of international ocean shipping, and the business activities affiliated to international ocean shipping, and encourage fair competition and prohibit unfair competition.

Article 3 The meaning of the following terms as used in the Shipping Regulations and these implementation rules are as follows:
1. International shipping business refers to the services of international marine cargo and passenger transportation that the international shipping operator provides by using the ships and shipping space it owns or operates, as well as the relevant activities carried out for the completion of these services around its ships, passengers or goods carried, including signing the relevant agreements, accepting bookings, negotiating on and taking charges, issuing bills of lading and other relevant transport documents, arranging for loading and unloading of goods, arranging for storage, handing over the goods, and arranging for transshipment and ship's entry and exit of the port etc.
2. International shipping operators include Chinese international shipping operators and foreign international shipping operators. Among which, Chinese international shipping operators refer to the Chinese business corporations operating international shipping business that have obtained the International Shipping License pursuant to the Shipping Regulations and these implementation rules; foreign international shipping operators refer to the foreign enterprises established according to foreign laws and operating international shipping business through Chinese ports.
3. International liner shipping business refers to providing regular international ocean cargo or passenger transportation between fixed ports by using the ships self-owned or operated, or by the method provided in Paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Shipping Regulations.
4. Non-vessel shipping refers to the business provided in Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Shipping Regulations, including the following activities conducted around the goods for the completion of that business:
(1) Signing international cargo transportation contract with the consignor as the carrier;
(2) Accepting and delivering the goods as the carrier;
(3) Issuing the bills of lading or other transportation documents;
(4) Taking freight and other remunerations for the service;
(5) Booking shipping space and handling consignment for the goods carried with the international shipping operators or operators of other transportation means;
(6) Paying port charges or other transportation fees;
(7) Devanning and consolidating containers; and
(8) Other relevant businesses.
5. Non-vessel shipping operators include Chinese non-vessel shipping operators and foreign non-vessel shipping operators. Among which, Chinese non-vessel shipping operators refer to the Chinese business corporations that have obtained the qualification for non-vessel shipping business according to the Shipping Regulations and these implementation rules; foreign non-vessel shipping operators refer to the foreign enterprises that were established according to foreign laws and that have obtained the qualification for non-vessel shipping business through Chinese ports according to the relevant provisions of the Shipping Regulations and these implementation rules.
6. International ship agency operators refer to the Chinese business corporations that were established according to the law of China and that undertake the businesses provided in Article 29 of the Shipping Regulations.
7. International ship management operators refer to the Chinese business corporations that were established according to the law of China and that undertake the businesses provided in Article 30 of the Shipping Regulations.
8. International shipping storage operators refer to the Chinese business corporations that were established according to the law of China and that provide the services of storage of shipped goods, management of stored goods, as well as the arrangement, packing, packaging and grouping of goods etc.
9. International ocean shipping container station and stacking operators refer to the Chinese business corporations that were established according to the law of China and that provide the services of piling, keeping, cleaning and repairing of containers of shipped goods, as well as the services of storage, consolidation and grouping etc of the goods in containers.
10. Foreign-funded enterprises refer to the Chinese-foreign equity-joint ventures, Chinese-foreign contractual joint ventures and solely foreign-funded enterprises that were established according to the law of China.
11. Resident representative offices of foreign merchants refer to the non-business agencies established by foreign enterprises or other economic organizations within China to carry out activities like publicity, introduction, consultation and contact etc.
12. Enterprise business registration documents refer to the business licenses or establishment certificate of the enterprise issued by the enterprise registration department or the relevant authority of the country where the enterprise is located. In case the enterprise business registration documents are photocopies, they must be accompanied by the confirmation of the enterprise registration department or the notarization certifying that the photocopies and the originals are consistent.
13. Special invoice refers to the voucher uniformly printed by the State Administration of Taxation, which is the evidence proving that the payer has paid the freight or the other relevant charges to the international shipping operator or the agent thereof, the non-vessel shipping operator or the agent thereof, including International Ocean Shipping Special Invoice and International Ship Agency Special Invoice.
14. Liner conference agreements refer to the various kinds of agreements that are concluded by and between the members of the liner conference and between the liner conferences themselves and that are in conformity with the definition of the Convention On a Code of Conduct for Liner Conference, 1974.
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