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(No.322 Decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, November 16, 2001)
Chapter 1 General Provisions
1. In order to regulate the procedures of the rules formulating and maintain quality of the rules, the Regulations on Procedures of the Rules Formulating (Provisions) are hereby enacted in accordance with pertinent provisions of the Legislation Law.
2. These Provisions are applicable to the initiation, drafting, examination, decision-making, promulgation and interpretation of the rules. Any rule formulated in violation of these Provisions shall be invalid.
3. The rules shall be formulated in compliance with the legislative principles as prescribed by the Legislation Law and the requirements of the Constitution Law, laws, administrative regulations and any other superior laws.
4. The lawful rights and interests of the citizens, legal entities and other organizations shall be protected by formulation of the rules when the duties to be fulfilled are provided with the corresponding rights and the safeguard means.
The principle of balanced power and responsibility in the administrative authorities shall be followed in formation of the rules, whereby the administrative authorities are granted the necessary powers under specified conditions and procedures requirements.
5. The formulation of rules shall demonstrate the spirit of reform, regularize administrative conducts in a scientific manner and promote the governmental functions to shift towards the economic regulation, social administration and public service.
The formulation of rules shall follow the principle of simplicity, unity and efficiency, and the same or similar functions shall be undertaken by a single administrative organ so that the administrative procedures can be simplified.
6. The rules are generally named as the “regulations” or “measures”, but not the “Regulations”.
7. The rules shall use the precise and concise language, and contain the definite, specific and operable articles.
Once included in the laws and regulations, the contents shall not be repeated in principle by the rules.
The rules shall not be divided into chapters and sections except those with the complicated contents.
8. If some issues involve the scopes of power of at least two departments under the State Council and there is an immature condition for formulating the administrative regulations, the rules concerned shall be formulated jointly by the related departments under the State Council.
In case of the said situation, the rules shall be invalid if designed by a single department concerned under the State Council.
Chapter 2 Project Determination
9. If the rules are considered necessary by the institutions under the State Council departments or any other institutions, the institutions shall apply to the related departments for initiating the projects.
If the local rules are considered necessary by the working departments under the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and major cities or the people’s governments of lower levels, the working departments or people’s governments of lower levels shall apply to the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government for initiating the projects.
10. The applications for starting the formulation of rules shall include the contents such as the necessity for formulating the rules, the main problems to be resolved and the major systems to be established.
11. The legislative affairs institutions under the State Council departments and those under the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and those under the major cities (hereinafter referred to as the legislative affairs institutions) shall collect and study the applications for starting the formulation of rules, draft the annual working plans of the departments and people’s governments of their levels, and submit them to the departments and the people’s governments of their levels for approval, and then start to execute.
The annual working plans for formulating the rules shall specify the names of the rules, the drafting units and deadline.
12. The departments under the State Council, the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and the major cities shall strengthen their leadership in the execution of aforesaid working plans. If the projects are not included in the annual working plans, the drafting units shall work hard and submit in conformity with the requirements to the departments or the people’ governments at their level for decision.
The annual working plans may be regulated in conformity with the actual situation in the process of their execution and the rules to be added shall be deliberated.
Chapter 3 Drafting
13. The department rules shall be organized for drafting by the departments under the State Council while the local rules shall be organized for drafting by the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and the major cities.
The departments under the State Council may determine that one or several institutions under them or other institutions shall take the specific responsibility for drafting work, or that their legislative affairs institutions shall draft or organize the drafting work.
The people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and the major cities may determine that one or several departments under them shall take the specific responsibility for drafting work, or that their legislative affairs institutions shall draft or organize the drafting work.
The related experts and organizations can be invited to participate in the drafting work or directly entrusted with the drafting work.
14. When the rules are drafted, it’s necessary to conduct the in-depth investigation and study, summarize the practical experience, and collect the opinions from the related organs, organizations and citizens. The opinions can be collected in various forms such as writings, symposiums, demonstration meetings and hearings.
15. If the draft rules involve the immediate benefits of the citizens, legal persons or other organizations, and these parties concerned are much divided in their opinions, the rules shall be publicized in the society to collect the opinions from all parts of society. The drafting units may also hold the hearings. The hearings shall be organized in accordance with the following procedure:
(1) The drafting units shall hold the hearings openly and publicize their time, location and content 30 days earlier.
(2) The related organs, organizations and citizens to participate in the hearings have the right to raise the questions and express their opinions about the draft rules.
(3) The written records shall be kept in the hearings to record the major views and reasons from the speakers.
(4) The drafting units shall carefully study various opinions in the hearings and it’s necessary to explain how and why those opinions are handled that way when the draft rules are submitted for examination.
16. If the drafting of department rules involves the responsibilities of or has a close tie with other departments under the State Council, the drafting units shall seek the opinions from these departments. If the drafting of local rules involves the responsibilities of or has a close tie with other departments under the people’s governments of their levels, the drafting units shall seek the opinions from these departments. Once the drafting units have different opinions from other departments, it’s imperative to conduct the thorough consultations. However, if no agreements have been reached, the drafting units shall explain the situations and reasons when the draft rules for review are submitted (hereinafter referred to as the rules for review).
17. The drafting units shall, according to the relevant regulations, submit for examination the rules for review, the different opinions about major problems and any other related materials.
The rules for review shall be signed by the leaders responsible in the drafting units when they are submitted for examination. If several drafting units work together to draft the rules, the rules for review shall be signed by the leaders responsible in these drafting units when they are submitted for examination.
The description of the rules for review shall include the necessity for formulation, the major measures and the opinions from those parties concerned.
The related materials shall mainly include the collected opinions, the written records in the hearings, the research reports, and the domestic and foreign legislative materials.
Chapter 4 Examination
18. The legislative affairs institutions shall assume an overall responsibility for examining the rules for review. The rules for review shall be examined through the following aspects:
(1) Whether they conform to the provisions of Article 3, Article 4 and Article 5 hereof;
(2) Whether they coordinate and link up with the related rules;
(3) Whether the opinions of the related departments, organizations and citizens about those major problems are properly handled;
(4) Whether the legislative technology requirements are matched;
(5) Other contents to be examined.
19. The legislative affairs institutions shall delay the processing of the rules for review or return them to the drafting units if these rules are found in one of the following situations.
(1) The basic conditions for formulating the rules are not mature enough;
(2) The related institutions or departments have the considerable controversies about the major systems included in the rules for review, and the drafting units have not consulted with the related institutions or departments.
(3) The rules for review don’t conform to the provisions of Article 17 hereof.
20. The legislative affairs institutions shall send the rules for review or the major problems involved to the related organs, organizations and experts so as to seek their opinions.
21. If the major problems are involved in the rules for review, the legislative institutions shall conduct the grassroots investigation and study and hear the opinions from the related grassroots organs, organizations and citizens.
22. If the major problems are involved in the rules for review, the legislative affairs institutions shall hold the symposiums and hearings attended by the related units and experts to seek the opinions and conduct the study and deliberation.
23. If the rules for review involve the immediate benefits of the citizens, legal persons or other organizations and all these parties concerned are much divided in their opinions, the legislative affairs institutions have the right, once the drafting units have not published the draft rules or held the symposiums during the drafting work, to take these actions once they are approved by the departments or the people’s governments of their levels.
The hearings shall be organized and held according to the procedure enumerated in Article 15 hereof.
24. If the related institutions or departments are divided in their opinions about the major measures, the administration systems and the division in scope of power, the legislative affairs institutions shall arrange the consultation so as to reach an agreement. However, once disagreement still remains, the major problems, and the opinions from the related institutions or departments and from the legislative affairs institutions shall be submitted to their departments or the people’s governments of their levels for decision.
25. The legislative institutions shall carefully study the opinions from all the parties, and revise the draft rules for review and produce the draft rules and their interpretations after they consult with the drafting units. The interpretations shall include the major problems to be resolved by the rules, the major measures to be taken and the coordination with the related departments.
The draft rules and their interpretations shall be signed by the leaders in charge in the said institutions. It’s necessary to put forward the suggestions to be discussed by the related meetings of their departments or the people’s governments of their levels.
26. The draft rules drafted or organized for drafting by the legislative affairs institutions shall be signed by the leaders in charge in the said institutions. It’s necessary to put forward the suggestions to be discussed by the related meetings of their departments or the people’s governments of their levels.
Chapter 5 Decision and Promulgation
27. The department rules shall be decided by the department affairs meetings or the committee meetings.
The rules of local governments shall be decided by the standing committee meetings or the plenary sessions of governments.
28. When the drafts are discussed, their description can be provided by the legislative affairs institutions or drafting units.
29. The legislative institutions shall revise the draft rules according to the opinions from discussions in the related meetings, produce the revised draft rules, and then submit to the department leaders or provincial governors, chairmen of autonomous regions and mayors for signing and promulgating.
30. The decrees for promulgating the rules shall include such information as the drafting units, serial numbers, names, dates of approval, dates of implementation, signatures from the department leaders or provincial governors, chairmen of autonomous regions and mayors as well as the date of promulgation.
The rules jointly drafted by several departments shall be cosigned by their leaders and then promulgated. Additionally, the serial numbers of decrees for the organizing departments shall be used.
31. After the department rules are signed and promulgated, they shall be published immediately on the bulletins of the departments or the State Council and in the related newspapers with nationwide circulation.
After the rules and regulations of local governments are signed and promulgated, they shall be published immediately on the bulletins of the people’s governments of their levels or in the newspapers circulated within their administrative areas.
The texts of rules published on the bulletins of the departments or the State Council and the local people’s governments shall be deemed as the standard texts.
32. The rules shall start to take effect since the 30th day following the date of promulgation. Nevertheless, they can come into effect upon their promulgation if they mean much to the national security, the foreign exchange rates and the formulation of currency policies, and their execution, if not started immediately, will be adversely affected.
Chapter 6 Interpretation and Filing
33. The rules shall be interpreted by the formulating organs.
The rules shall be interpreted by the formulating organs if they are found in any of the following situations:
(1) The rules shall have a more definite content.
(2) Some new situations following the formulation of rules demand the specification of applicable basis.
As far as the interpretation of rules is concerned, the legislative affairs institutions of formulating organs shall propose their opinions according to review procedure of the rules for review, and submit to the formulating organs for approval and then promulgate.
The interpretation of rules shall have the same legal effect as the rules themselves.
34. The rules shall be recorded in the related organs by the legislative affairs institutions in accordance with the provisions of the Legislation Law and the Regulations on Filing the Laws and Rules within 30 days following their promulgation.
35. If the state organs, social organizations, enterprises and institutions and citizens find any discrepancy between the rules and the existing laws and administrative regulations, they shall submit the written opinions to the State Council and the legislative affairs institutions under the State Council shall study and determine the ultimate treatments.
If the state organs, social organizations, enterprises and institutions and citizens find any discrepancy between the rules and regulations of municipal people’s governments and the existing laws and administrative regulations, and any other superior laws, they can also suggest the reviews to the people’s governments of their provinces and autonomous regions, and the legislative affairs institutions under the people’s governments of their provinces and autonomous regions shall study and determine the ultimate treatments.
Chapter 7 Supplementary Provisions
36. If the local people’s governments at a level higher than county have no rights to formulate the rules according to law, but formulate and promulgate the decisions and decrees with the general binding force, the implementation shall conform to the procedures stated hereof.
37. The departments under the State Council and the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central governments and major cities shall regularly eliminate, and revise or repeal in time the rules once there is any discrepancy or conflict between the rules and the new laws and administrative regulations or other superior laws.
The procedures for revising and repealing the rules shall be executed according to the related provisions hereof.
38. When the official versions, versions of minority nationalities and foreign versions of collected rules are compiled and published, the legislative affairs institutions shall conform to the Regulations on Management of Edition and Publication of the Collected Laws and Regulations.
39. The Regulations shall come into force since January 1, 2002.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission
(This English version by Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd. is for your reference only. In case any discrepancy exists between the Chinese and English context, the Chinese version shall prevail.) | 
