The revised "Measures for the Administration of Express Delivery Market" will be implemented on March 1st.

The Ministry of Transport announced the newly revised Measures for the Administration of Express Delivery Market, which will take effect on March 1, 2024. The revised Measures focus on seven aspects: strengthening the regulation of express service behavior, strengthening the management requirements of market order, and strictly regulating the express waybill and code number. Among them, it is stipulated that the express mail should be guaranteed to be safe, to prevent the express mail from being lost, damaged and short of internal parts, and not to throw or trample on the express mail; Without the user’s consent, it is not allowed to confirm the receipt of the express mail, and it is not allowed to deliver the express mail to the intelligent express box, express service station and other express terminal service facilities without authorization.

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Measures for the Administration of Express Delivery Market (Order No.22, 2023 of the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China)

The latest inspection standard for drunk driving will be implemented on March 1.

The national standard "Determination of ethanol, methanol, n-propanol, acetone, isopropanol and n-butanol in blood and urine" (GB/T 42430-2023) came into effect on March 1, 2024. The new test standard takes the test of alcohol content in blood as an example: drinking and driving is 0.20mg/mL, and the driver’s blood alcohol content is greater than or equal to 0.80mg/mL, which belongs to drunk driving. The linear range is 0.1mg/mL~3mg/mL. The national standard can be applied to poisoning, death inspection, medical emergency inspection, scientific research and other broader scenarios of five alcohol substances and acetone.

It is related to the production and management of special foods, and the new rules for the assessment of food safety management personnel will be implemented in March.

The General Administration of Market Supervision issued "Guidelines for Supervision and Inspection of Enterprise Food Safety Managers" and "Outline for Supervision and Inspection of Enterprise Food Safety Managers", which will take effect on March 1, 2024. It is further clarified that the main persons in charge of special food production and operation enterprises should master the important provisions of food safety laws, regulations, rules and standards related to special food production and operation, implement the provisions of enterprise main responsibility system, and the dynamic management mechanism based on risk prevention and control. Special foods include health foods, formula foods for special medical purposes and infant formula foods, which are related to the health and life safety of key groups such as "one old and one young".

Mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand will take effect in March.

China and Thailand sign visa exemption agreement in Bangkok, Thailand. The agreement came into force on March 1, 2024. After the agreement comes into effect, Chinese ordinary passport holders, ordinary passport holders and Thai ordinary passport holders can enter the other country without a visa for a single stay of no more than 30 days (no more than 90 days for every 180 days). Those who enter the other country for work, study, news reporting, settlement and other activities that require prior approval and intend to stay in the other country for more than 30 days must complete the corresponding visa before entering the other country.

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Mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand will take effect in March.

The detailed rules for the implementation of the newly revised invoice management measures shall come into force on March 1.

State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China promulgated the Decision on Amending the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures for the Administration of Invoices in People’s Republic of China (PRC) (Order No.56 of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China), which will take effect on March 1, 2024. The main contents of the revision are as follows: First, clarify the basic management regulations of electronic invoices, emphasizing that "electronic invoices have the same legal effect as paper invoices, and no unit or individual may refuse them"; The second is to increase the provisions on the safety management of invoice data, making it clear that "tax authorities can extract, transfer, consult and copy invoice data during invoice inspection"; The third is to refine the identification of invoice violations; The fourth is to link up with the current laws and regulations; The fifth is to improve the regulations on printing, collecting and issuing invoices.

There are new regulations on preventing and investigating the registration of counterfeit enterprises, which will be implemented on March 15th.

The General Administration of Market Supervision issued the Provisions on Preventing and Investigating Illegal Registration of Counterfeit Enterprises, which was officially implemented on March 15, 2024. The "Regulations" clarify that both natural persons and enterprises as investors need to cooperate with the registration authority for identity verification; The "Regulations" propose that if an enterprise is registered by submitting false materials or concealing important facts by other fraudulent means, the registration authority shall order it to make corrections according to law, confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine. The person directly responsible shall not apply for enterprise registration again within 3 years, and shall be included in the list of serious violations of law and dishonesty in market supervision and management.

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The General Administration of Market Supervision issued the Provisions on Preventing and Investigating Illegal Registration of Counterfeit Enterprises.

The Ministry of Finance revised and promulgated the Measures for the National Unified Examination of Certified Public Accountants.

The Ministry of Finance promulgated the Decision on Amending the Measures for the National Unified Examination of Certified Public Accountants, which will take effect on March 1, 2024. The "Decision" has been amended by two articles. First, improve the examination review system and increase the provision that "the results after review are the final results". The second is to improve the confidentiality system of the examination, and the relevant provisions are amended as "The examination questions, reference answers and grading standards before the opening of the national unified examination for certified public accountants are managed according to state secrets".

From March 6th, Xi ‘an and Qingdao can issue "individual travel endorsements" to and from Hong Kong and Macao.

Recently, the State Council approved the increase of Xi ‘an, Shaanxi Province and Qingdao, Shandong Province as "individual travel" cities for the mainland to Hong Kong and Macao. The Exit-Entry Administration of People’s Republic of China (PRC) has decided to issue "individual travel endorsements" to and from Hong Kong and Macao for qualified personnel in Xi ‘an and Qingdao from March 6, 2024. Resident and residence permit holders in Xi ‘an and Qingdao can submit their applications at the artificial window of exit-entry management of public security organs in Xi ‘an and Qingdao, or the intelligent endorsement equipment located at the artificial window, and they can choose to apply for "individual travel endorsement" or "group travel endorsement" by themselves, without submitting application materials.

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Announcement on Issuing "Personal Travel Endorsement" to and from Hong Kong and Macao in Xi ‘an City, Shaanxi Province and Qingdao City, Shandong Province

The "Regulations on the Implementation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Archives Law" will come into force on March 1.

The Regulations on the Implementation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Archives Law shall come into force on March 1, 2024. The "Regulations" focus on the following contents: First, improve the working mechanism of archives. Strengthen the responsibilities of people’s governments at or above the county level, and add provisions on the responsibilities of archives work of township people’s governments. The second is to standardize the management of file collection. Clarify the filing responsibility and transfer responsibility, and require the archives to collect files in accordance with relevant state regulations, and consider the rarity of files and the importance of contents. The third is to improve the file storage system. The fourth is to refine the open utilization measures. It is stipulated that the National Archives should establish a collaborative mechanism for the open audit of archives, and require the archives authorities at or above the county level to strengthen the overall coordination of the open audit of archives.

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Regulations of People’s Republic of China (PRC) Municipality on the Implementation of Archives Law

The State Council’s Decision on Amending the Regulations on the Management of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer came into effect on March 1.

The Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations on the Management of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer shall come into force on March 1, 2024. The "Regulations" focus on the docking with international conventions, improving the management measures of ozone-depleting substances, and strengthening legal responsibilities to determine the revised content. Define ozone-depleting substances as "chemicals listed in the list of controlled ozone-depleting substances in China", and no longer retain the restrictive expression of "damaging the ozone layer" in order to include hydrofluorocarbons in the controlled list; It is stipulated that units that produce and use a large amount of ozone-depleting substances and produce a large amount of ozone-depleting substances in the production process shall install automatic monitoring equipment, which shall be networked with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of ecological environment, and ensure the normal operation of the monitoring equipment and the authenticity and accuracy of the monitoring data.

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Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations on the Administration of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

The Provisions on Fine Punishment of Production Safety Accidents will come into effect on March 1st.

The Emergency Management Department issued the Regulations on Fine and Punishment for Production Safety Accidents, which will take effect on March 1, 2024. The main contents of the "Regulations" are as follows: First, improve the benchmark of the discretionary power of accident fine punishment to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and reasonably divide the amount of fines for general accidents, major accidents, major accidents and particularly serious accidents into three orders; Second, according to the practice, the determination of serious illegal circumstances is standardized according to law, and it is clear that six kinds of monitoring, alarm, protection and life-saving equipment that are directly related to production safety can be fined according to the amount of fines of more than two times and less than five times. The third is to adjust and clarify the relevant fine amount according to the law.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council implements classified supervision and management of the safety production of central enterprises, which will take effect on March 1.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council issued the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Work Safety of Central Enterprises, which will take effect on March 1, 2024. The "Measures" clarify that the central enterprises are divided into three categories according to the main business and safety production risks approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council: enterprises engaged in coal and non-coal mining and construction are the first category; Enterprises whose main business is electronics and medicine (except chemical medicine) are the second category; Enterprises other than the above-mentioned first and second types of enterprises are the third type. The first type of central enterprises and the headquarters of central enterprise groups involved in mines should be equipped with full-time safety production directors, and enterprises with high safety risks should fully implement the full-time safety production director system. The "Measures" propose that central enterprises should strengthen the safety management of contractors, strictly access the qualification management, and unify contractors and labor dispatch personnel into the enterprise safety management system.

The state establishes and improves the market price mechanism of electric auxiliary services.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the Notice on Establishing and Improving the Market Price Mechanism of Electric Auxiliary Services, and decided to establish and improve the market price mechanism of electric auxiliary services at the national level. Relevant policies will be implemented as of March 1, 2024. The main contents include: first, optimize the transaction and price mechanism of auxiliary services such as peak shaving, frequency modulation and standby, make principled provisions on the transaction mechanism that affects the price formation of auxiliary services, and unify and clarify the pricing rules. The second is to standardize the price transmission of auxiliary services, clarify the cost of auxiliary services borne by users, and limit the losses caused by the failure to generate electricity due to the provision of auxiliary services that cannot be compensated in the electric energy market. The third is to strengthen policy support.

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Responsible comrades of the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration answered reporters’ questions on establishing and improving the market price mechanism of electric auxiliary services.

Recently, seven departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance, officially issued the Notice on Further Doing a Good Job in Automobile Trade-in. The new round of automobile trade-in will raise the subsidy standard and intensify efforts to promote automobile trade-in. After the standard is raised, the maximum subsidy for buying a new car through trade-in will be 20,000 yuan. Understand the specific content together.

After the standard is raised, the maximum subsidy is 20,000 yuan.

According to the notice, for individual consumers who comply with the "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Vehicle Trade-in Subsidies" and scrap old cars and buy new ones, the subsidy standard will be increased from 10,000 yuan for new energy passenger cars and 7,000 yuan for fuel passenger cars to 20,000 yuan and 15,000 yuan respectively.

Eligible subsidy applications submitted from April 24, 2024 to January 10, 2025, the date of issuance of the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Automobile Trade-in Subsidies, will be subsidized according to the clear standards in this notice. For subsidy applications that have been issued according to the previous standards, all localities will make up the difference.

The notice requires that the supervision process of automobile scrapping update review and disbursement be optimized, and the subsidy funds should be disbursed to the bank account provided by the applicant according to the procedures.

The circular proposes that all localities should speed up the formulation of the implementation plan for automobile replacement and update, and reasonably determine the subsidy standards, subsidy conditions and implementation methods.

The full text of the notice is as follows:

According to the Notice of the Ministry of Finance of the National Development and Reform Commission on Printing and Distributing Several Measures for Supporting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods (No.1104 [2024] of the Development and Reform Commission, hereinafter referred to as "Several Measures"), in order to further improve the trade-in of automobiles and strive to stabilize and expand automobile consumption, relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

First, improve the subsidy standard for scrapping and updating

In accordance with the Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance and other seven departments on Printing and Distributing the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Automobile Trade-in Subsidies (Shang Consumption Letter [2024] No.75, hereinafter referred to as the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Subsidies), individual consumers will scrap fuel passenger cars with emission standards of Grade III and below or 2018 from April 24, 2024 (including the same day, the same below) to December 31, 2024. And purchase a new energy passenger car or a fuel passenger car with a displacement of 2.0 liters or less, which is included in the Catalogue of New Energy Vehicles with Vehicle Purchase Tax Exemption by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and adjust the subsidy standard, as follows:

For scrapping the above two types of used cars and buying new energy passenger cars, the subsidy is 20 thousand yuan; For scrapping fuel passenger cars with national emission standards of Grade III and below and buying fuel passenger cars with a displacement of 2.0 liters and below, the subsidy is 15,000 yuan.

Eligible subsidy applications (including applications for completing subsidy distribution) submitted from April 24, 2024 to January 10, 2025 shall be subsidized according to the standards specified in this notice. Among them, for the subsidy applications that have been issued according to the previous standards, all localities will make up the difference according to the standards specified in this notice.

The owner of scrapped cars and the owner of newly purchased cars who apply for subsidies should be the same individual consumer, and their scrapped fuel passenger cars with emission standards of Grade III and below or new energy passenger cars registered before April 30, 2018 should be registered in the name of the applicant before July 25, 2024 according to the requirements of Several Measures; From the date of issuance of this notice, the newly purchased cars shall be registered in the applicant’s name during the examination of the subsidy application.

Second, increase the central financial support.

According to the requirements of "Several Measures", the National Development and Reform Commission has arranged ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support local governments to improve the trade-in capacity of consumer goods, and promote the scrapping and renewal of automobiles and the replacement and renewal of passenger cars for individual consumers.

The subsidy funds for automobile scrapping and renewal shall be shared by the central and local governments according to the principle of overall 9:1, and the specific sharing ratio shall be determined by regions. Among them, the eastern provinces will be shared by 8.5:1.5, the central provinces by 9:1 and the western provinces by 9.5:0.5. The local share shall be arranged in proportion by the provincial finance according to the allocation of central funds.

Third, optimize the supervision process of automobile scrapping update review and disbursement.

After receiving the application materials for automobile scrapping and renewal subsidies, the local competent commercial departments shall, jointly with the departments of finance, public security, industry and information technology, conduct an audit according to their functions and responsibilities, and feed back the audit results through the national automobile trade-in platform, and the tax authorities shall do a good job in cooperation. The Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments provide information verification and comparison services such as recycling and cancellation of scrapped motor vehicles, new car registration, and new energy vehicle models, and support local governments to carry out audit work efficiently.

The competent commercial departments at the provincial level shall, jointly with relevant departments, co-ordinate to determine the audit level and audit department of subsidy applications within their respective jurisdictions. Local competent commercial departments timely collect the information of applicants who meet the subsidy conditions, determine the subsidy amount, and apply for funds to the financial department. Local financial departments shall allocate subsidy funds to the bank account provided by the applicant according to the financial arrangement opinions put forward by the competent commercial departments. When the local competent commercial departments submit the application for funds to the finance department at the same level, they shall submit the opinions on the arrangement of funds to the local supervision bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and the development and reform departments at the same level.

After the end of the policy implementation period, the provincial commerce departments, development and reform departments and financial departments should submit the distribution of subsidy funds to the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance before February 10, 2025, and the Ministry of Commerce will conduct a summary review of the distribution of subsidy funds reported by various localities. In accordance with the relevant requirements of Several Measures, the audit opinions of the Ministry of Commerce and the preliminary audit results of the local supervision bureaus of the Ministry of Finance, the central and local governments shall carry out liquidation.

Fourth, strengthen supervision and management

All localities and relevant departments shall, in accordance with the "Several Measures", "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Subsidies" and other provisions, supervise and manage the subsidy work of automobile trade-in funds, do a good job in connecting relevant policies in the implementation, ensure the smooth transition of policies, improve the efficiency in the use of funds, strengthen publicity and guidance, effectively benefit enterprises and the people, and effectively guarantee the safety of subsidy funds. All localities should equally support enterprises with different ownership and different places of registration to participate in automobile trade-in. All localities should speed up the formulation of the implementation plan for automobile replacement and renewal, reasonably determine the subsidy standards, subsidy conditions and implementation methods, refine the operation process, and compact the responsibilities of all parties. Encourage qualified places to build and improve the vehicle replacement update information system, strengthen cross-departmental information sharing and verification comparison, and carry out audit work in a coordinated and efficient manner. Where the information system of automobile replacement has been established, it should be connected with the national automobile trade-in platform, and timely push the relevant data of subsidy distribution through the data interface; Where there is no information system for the time being, it is necessary to timely summarize the replacement and update data of the local area and push it to the Ministry of Commerce through the "National Automobile Circulation Information Management" system.

This notice shall be implemented as of the date of promulgation. If the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Subsidies are inconsistent with the provisions of this notice, this notice shall prevail.

(Source: China News Network, Xinhua News Agency, Ministry of Commerce official website)