(Promulgated by the Ministry² of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and General Administration of Customs on 8 February 2002 and effective as of the date of promulgation³.)

颁布日期：20020208 　实施日期：20020208 　颁布单位：对外贸易经济合作部、 海关总署

　　Article 1　These Rules are formulated⁴ in accordance with the Administration of Automatic Import Licensing⁵ of Goods Procedures in order to standardize⁶ the administration of automatic import licensing of foreign investment enterprises.

　　Article 2　These Rules shall apply to the import of goods subject to the administration of automatic import licensing by foreign investment enterprises into the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 3　The PRC Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) shall be responsible for the guidance and administration of the import by foreign investment enterprises of goods that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing, and shall together with the General Administration of Customs promulgate¹ the list of authorities issuing automatic import licences for foreign investment enterprises (see Appendix 1). The departments in charge of foreign trade, economic cooperation and investment of each province, autonomous⁷ region, municipality directly under the central government and municipality with independent development plans (Local Departments in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment) shall be responsible for the administration of automatic import licensing of foreign investment enterprises in their locality.

　　Article 4　Foreign investment enterprises applying for automatic import licences shall submit the following information:

　　1. the application form for automatic import licence (see Appendix 2);

　　2. a copy of the foreign investment enterprise's approval certificate (including a joint⁸ annual certificate of qualification);

　　3. a copy of the foreign investment enterprise's business licence;

　　4. a copy of the foreign investment enterprise's joint equity⁹ or joint management contract, or its articles of association;

　　5. a copy of the capital verification report;

　　6. a statement of the foreign investment enterprise's actual production capacity; and

　　7. other information as required.

　　Article 5　Foreign investment enterprises importing goods that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing shall comply with the relevant provisions of laws and administrative¹⁰ regulations, and shall fulfil the following criteria¹¹:

　　1. the foreign investment enterprise applying for import shall not have violated laws and regulations on foreign exchange evasion¹², obtaining foreign exchange by illegal means, fraudulent import tax refunds¹³ or smuggling¹⁴ in the previous three years;

　　2. the goods being imported shall fulfil the relevant provisions of bilateral¹⁵ and multilateral trade agreements to which China is a party; and

　　3. the relevant provisions of other laws, administrative regulations and industrial policies.

　　Article 6　Automatic import licensing of foreign investment enterprises shall be carried out in accordance with the following procedure:

　　1. where raw materials and parts that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing are imported for investment and own use by foreign investment enterprises, the Automatic Import Licence shall not be required. Goods imported for investment and own use by foreign investment enterprises shall refer to mechanical equipment, parts and other materials imported by foreign investors¹⁶ as investment, or imported using funds within its total investment or other funds of its own (specifically the enterprise's reserves, development funds, or after-depreciation and tax profits) by the foreign investment enterprise because they are necessary for its production and operation;

　　2. where goods that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing are imported by foreign investment enterprises for processing trade, the Automatic Import Licence shall not be required. The goods shall be processed and re-exported in accordance with provisions;

　　3. foreign investment enterprises importing goods for sale on the domestic market that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing (as listed in Sections One and Three of Appendix One of the Administration of Automatic Import Licensing of Goods Procedures) shall apply to the relevant Local Department in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment for an automatic import licence before submitting a customs declaration. Foreign investment enterprises shall inform the Local Department in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment of the terms of the import contract and of the estimated arrival time of the goods in port one month before applying for an Automatic Import Licence. The Local Department in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment shall make a true record hereof and submit a combined monthly report to MOFTEC; and

　　4. the Local Department in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment shall, upon receipt of an Application for Automatic Import Licence and the relevant information that satisfies the provisions hereof, issue an Automatic Import Licence immediately (see Appendix 3). The Licence shall be issued in not more than 10 working days except in special circumstances.

　　Article 7　In the case of goods imported by foreign investment enterprises for investment and own use that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing, Customs shall inspect and release them on the strength of the inventory¹⁷ list of the equipment or goods bearing the "Special Seal for Examination and Verification of Import by Foreign Investment Enterprises" of the department in charge of foreign trade, economic cooperation and investment (see Appendix 4).

　　Article 8　In the case of goods imported for processing trade by foreign investment enterprises that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing, Customs shall carry out the inspection¹⁸ and release procedures for the imported goods on the strength of the processing trade contract approved by the department in charge of foreign trade, and the relevant documents.

　　Article 9　In the case of goods imported for processing trade by foreign investment enterprises that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing, if they have to be sold on the domestic market due to particular reasons, Customs shall, after levying¹⁹ tax and tax interest on the strength of the Domestic Sale of Bonded²⁰ Materials and Parts Imported for Processing Trade Approval Certificate and the Automatic Import Licence issued by the department in charge of foreign trade and economic cooperation at the provincial²¹ level, cancel the contract after verification.

　　If a foreign investment enterprise fails to submit to Customs the Domestic Sale of Bonded Materials and Parts Imported for Processing Trade Approval Certificate and the Automatic Import Licence within the specified²² period for contract cancellation²³, Customs shall, in addition to levying tax and tax interest, cancel the contract after imposing²⁴ a fine in accordance with the relevant provisions.

　　Article 10　When a foreign investment enterprise imports goods that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing for production of products for sale on the domestic market, it shall effect sale and payment of foreign exchange at a bank on the strength of the Automatic Import Licence, and Customs shall carry out the inspection and release procedures for the goods on the basis of the Automatic Import Licence.

　　Article 11　The first and second columns of a foreign investment enterprise's Automatic Import Licence shall include the import and export companies' code. The numbering rules for the "automatic import licence code" in the third column shall be: local code-year-WZ-five figure number in sequence. For example, the code for a 2002 Beijing Municipality foreign investment enterprise automatic import licence would be 1100-2002-WZ-XXXXX, and likewise for other provinces. The "expiry date of validity of automatic import licence" in the fourth column should not exceed 31 December of the year of issue of the licence. Foreign investment enterprises importing goods that are subject to the administration of automatic import licensing for producing products to be sold on the domestic market should enter "equity joint venture import", "cooperative joint venture import" or "foreign investment enterprise import" under "form of trade" in the fifth column.

　　Article 12　Automatic Import Licences shall be valid²⁵ for six months within the year of issue, and subject to the system of one issue for multiple batches²⁶, but they shall not be used more than six times. Customs shall retain a photocopy²⁷ once the "Customs inspection and release comments" column of the original Automatic Import Licence is annotated²⁸ in regular script and shall retain the original after final use of the licence.

　　Information entered on the Automatic Import Licence shall not be amended²⁹. If in special circumstances amendment³⁰ of the information entered on the Automatic Import Licence or an extension is necessary within its period of validity, the foreign investment enterprise shall submit the original Automatic Import Licence to the original issuing authority for amendment. A licence may only be extended once during its period of validity. The original issuing authority shall retain the original licence and shall print the words "amended licence" in the remarks column on the new amended licence.

　　Article 13　If an Automatic Import Licence is lost, the foreign investment enterprise shall report this immediately to the original issuing authority. Once the issuing authority has verified the loss, it shall issue a new licence if there have been no harmful consequences of the loss.

　　Article 14　If an Automatic Import Licence issued to a foreign investment enterprise is determined³¹ to be invalid³², it must be returned immediately to the original issuing authority.

　　Article 15　If, in the course of automatic import licensing, the foreign investment enterprise comes into dispute with the Local Department in charge of Foreign Trade, Economic Cooperation and Investment, the enterprise may apply for an administrative review or institute an administrative action in accordance with the law.

　　Article 16　MOFTEC shall supervise the unified³³ formulation of Automatic Import Licences.

　　Article 17　The valid seal for the Automatic Import Licences of the foreign investment enterprises shall be the "Special Seal for the Automatic Import Licences of Foreign Investment Enterprises" (see Appendix 5). MOFTEC shall supervise the unified formulation of the seal.

　　Article 18　These Rules shall be interpreted by MOFTEC and the General Administration of Customs. They shall take precedence over any previous regulations with which they are not in accord.

　　Article 19　These Rules shall be effective as of the date of promulgation.