China’s New Laws on Foreign NGOs

Operating in China just became a bit more complex for foreign nongovernmental organizations （NGOs）. Chinas new “Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations Activities within Mainland China”， which was passed at the 20th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National Peoples Congress on April 28， 2016， centralizes the regulation of the registration， management and reporting requirements for foreign NGOs with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security （MPS）.

The law applies to “foreign NGOs”， which are defined in the law as social organizations including foundations， social groups and think tanks. The law allows foreign NGOs to operate in the areas of economics， education， science， culture， health， sports， environmental protection and poverty and disaster relief while expressly forbidding them from funding or engaging in any for-profit， political or religious activities or engaging in any activities that “endanger state security” or“damage the national or public interest”.

Foreign NGOs that want to conduct long-term activities in China must obtain the consent of a Chinese professional supervisory unit to register a representative office. The specifics of this process are unclear， but the MPS is expected to issue a list of approved professional supervisory units with which foreign NGOs may partner before January 1， 2017， the effective date of the new law. Foreign NGOs that wish to en-gage in temporary activities without an office or staff in China will not need to obtain such consent， but will need to enter into arrangements， including a written agreement， with a Chinese Partner Unit， defined in the law as a state organ， mass organization， public institution or social organization， and will be subject to certain reporting requirements.

In addition to the list of approved professional supervisory units， the law also requires Chinese authorities to issue “draft catalogs of foreign NGOsactivity areas and projects”. It remains to be seen how the catalog （which will presumably list approved activities） will compare to the list of approved activities that appears in the law itself and whether the catalog will be exhaustive. It is expected that regulations outlining the implementation of the law will be issued， but it is not yet clear whether or not there will be an opportunity for comment on such regulations.

The final version of the law addresses some， but not all， of the critiques received in response to two previously issued drafts， which drew a great deal of criticism for being overly restrictive and for threatening the continued growth of Chinas civil society. Certain widely criticized provisions in earlier drafts were removed， such as provisions limiting foreign NGOs to having one office in China， requiring re-registration every five years and having to obtain police permits for temporary activities.