Starting from June, these new safety regulations and standards will be implemented!

The "Regulations on Ecological Protection Compensation" were promulgated and will take effect on June 1, 2024. The regulations propose that the state, through financial transfer payments and other methods, provide compensation to units and individuals engaged in the protection of important ecological environment elements and ecological protection in ecologically important areas. For inter-regional horizontal ecological protection compensation in particularly important ecological function areas, the central and provincial finances may provide guiding support; for significant achievements in the construction of compensation mechanisms, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and other departments may provide appropriate support in planning, funding, and project arrangements.

"Regulations on International Cruise Ship Port Supply in the People's Republic of China" effective from June 1

The "Regulations on International Cruise Ship Port Supply in the People's Republic of China" will take effect on June 1, 2024. The regulations clarify the classification management requirements for bonded oil, shore power, food, medicine, medical devices, duty-free tobacco products, etc., and stipulate that the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities where international cruise ship ports are located shall, after consulting the municipal governments of the port cities, formulate a list of commonly used low-risk materials for international cruise ship port supply, specifying the types and quantities of commonly used low-risk materials related to international cruise ship operations allowed to be supplied at ports within their administrative regions.

The Ministry of Finance launches a new government procurement method, effective from June 1

The Ministry of Finance has formulated and issued the "Interim Measures for the Management of Cooperative Innovation Procurement Methods in Government Procurement," effective from June 1, 2024. Under the cooperative innovation procurement method, purchasers may invite suppliers to cooperate in research and development, share R&D risks, and purchase successfully developed innovative products according to the quantity or amount agreed in the R&D contract. The measures clarify that procurement projects that comply with national science and technology and related industrial development plans, are conducive to implementing major national strategic goals and tasks, and meet one of the following conditions may adopt the cooperative innovation procurement method: ： 1. Existing market products or technologies cannot meet requirements and require technological breakthroughs; 2. Based on R&D of innovative products, form new paradigms or new solutions that can significantly improve functional performance and markedly enhance efficiency; 3. Other situations stipulated by the financial departments of the State Council.

New version of patent certificates launched from June 1!

The National Intellectual Property Administration announced a decision to revise patent certificates. For patents with authorization announcement dates on or after June 1, 2024, the National Intellectual Property Administration will issue the new version of patent certificates. The new version continues to use the A4 vertical layout, optimizing and adjusting the layout of recorded items. The old and new versions of patent certificates have the same legal effect. For already issued old patent certificates, the National Intellectual Property Administration does not provide replacement services for the new version. For requests to replace or correct patent certificates according to Section 1.2, Chapter 9, Part 5 of the "Patent Examination Guidelines," the new version of patent certificates will be issued on or after June 1, 2024.

Further optimization of trade foreign exchange business management

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Management of Trade Foreign Exchange Business," effective from June 1, 2024. The notice mainly includes three aspects: 1. Optimize the registration management of foreign trade enterprise directories; 2. Facilitate enterprises' cross-border trade foreign exchange receipts and payments settlement; 3. Clean up and integrate foreign exchange management regulations for goods trade.

No notarization required for amounts under 50,000 yuan! New regulations on deposit inheritance are here

The Financial Regulatory Authority and the People's Bank of China jointly issued the "Notice on Optimizing Requirements for Withdrawal of Small Deposits of Deceased Depositors," effective from June 1, 2024. After implementation, the unified account limit for simplified withdrawal of small deposits of deceased depositors is raised to 50,000 yuan. Considering regional and institutional differences, rural small and medium banks may gradually raise the limit to 50,000 yuan by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, gold accumulation products of banking financial institutions and agency sales of government bonds and wealth management products are included in the simplified withdrawal scope. The "Notice" also stipulates provisions for the first-order heirs to inquire about the deceased depositor's account transaction details and to withdraw funeral expenses and condolence payments.

New changes to the Intermediate Accounting Professional Qualification Exam starting in June

The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and Ministry of Education issued the "Notice on Properly Connecting Accounting Professional Degrees with Accounting Professional Qualifications," effective from June 1, 2024. Regarding the connection between the Intermediate Accounting Professional Qualification Exam and accounting professional degrees, the "Notice" proposes, Individuals who have obtained domestic accounting master's or doctoral professional degrees recognized by the State Council's education administrative department are exempt from the "Financial Management" subject when applying for the Intermediate Accounting Professional Qualification Exam. Regarding the connection between accounting master's professional degree education and accounting professional qualifications, the "Notice" proposes that accounting master's degree students with intermediate or higher accounting professional qualifications may apply to their schools according to relevant school regulations for exemption from "Financial Management Theory and Practice" and "Management Accounting Theory and Practice" and other required professional courses.

Accounting professional qualification exams open to foreign nationals starting in June

The Ministry of Finance issued a notice that from June 1, 2024, the accounting professional qualification exams will be open to foreign nationals legally working and residing in China, implementing a unified examination system with domestic candidates. Foreign nationals who meet the registration requirements for the accounting professional qualification exam shall register according to the principle of convenience and proximity to register. Those with work units in China shall register at their work unit location; students enrolled in domestic schools shall register at their school registration location; others shall register at their place of residence within China. Foreign nationals' accounting work experience abroad can be counted towards their accounting work years.

The newly revised "Electricity Market Supervision Measures" were published and will take effect from June 1, 2024. This revision optimizes and adjusts supervision content, adding supervision content for power sales companies, power users, energy storage companies, virtual power plants, and load aggregators; clarifying supervision of contracts signed by power generation companies, grid companies, power sales companies, power users, energy storage companies, and other power trading entities; supplementing supervision content regarding market transactions and proxy power purchases involving grid companies' affiliated or related power sales companies; based on the "Basic Rules for Medium and Long-term Electricity Transactions," it proposes market monitoring and risk prevention requirements for electricity market operators.

The new version of the "Industry Standard Management Measures" will take effect on June 1

The State Administration for Market Regulation revised and issued the "Industry Standard Management Measures," which will officially take effect on June 1, 2024. The main contents and highlights of this revision are: 1. Focusing on improving the industry standard coordination mechanism. According to the new requirements of the "Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China" and others, coordination and supporting provisions between standards are set in the drafting and implementation stages of industry standards, improving the coordination and promotion mechanism for industry standards, and building a coordinated, simplified, and efficient industry standard management system. 2. Focusing on preventing the use of industry standards to restrict competition. The "Measures" clearly stipulate, prohibiting the use of industry standards to set rewards qualifications, licensing certifications, approval registrations, evaluations, and other matters; prohibiting the government from using industry standards to exclude or restrict market competition, promoting continuous optimization of the business environment, and unleashing the vitality of market entities. 3. Systematically building an industry standard supervision system. It adds requirements for self-supervision by relevant administrative departments of the State Council, supervision and spot checks by the State Council's standardization administrative department, and social supervision through complaint and reporting channels, improving the legal responsibilities of industry standard management and building a comprehensive, clearly responsible industry standard supervision system. Fourth, promoting the lawful disclosure of industry standards. To create a good social environment for standardization and promote the lawful disclosure of industry standards, the "Measures" clearly define the main responsibility for disclosing industry standards and encourage disclosure through the National Standard Information Public Service Platform to make industry standard texts available for public consultation.

"Security Service Management System Requirements and Usage Guide" effective June 1

The State Administration for Market Regulation (National Standardization Administration) approved and issued the recommended national standard "Security Service Management System Requirements and Usage Guide" (GB/T 42765-2023), effective from June 1, 2024. This standard revises and adopts the ISO standard "Requirements and Implementation Guide for Private Security Business Management Systems" (ISO 18788:2015), specifying the basic requirements of the security service management system, providing a risk management framework, and outlining the main contents and requirements for building management systems including organizational environment, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation, and improvement. The "Security Service Management System Requirements and Usage Guide" establishes China's first security service management system and provides a basic framework and reference for security service management in the industry, improving the management level of security service organizations by adopting advanced, systematic, and scientific management techniques and methods.

Mandatory national standard "Limits of Heavy Metals and Specific Substances in Express Packaging" and recommended national standard "Express Recyclable Packaging Boxes" released, effective June 1

The "Limits of Heavy Metals and Specific Substances in Express Packaging" (GB 43352—2023) is the first mandatory national standard for express packaging. The standard targets paper, plastic, textile fiber, and composite material express packaging products, proposing overall and individual limits for heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium, and stipulating limits for specific substances such as solvent residues, bisphenol A, and phthalates, and providing test methods and sampling preparation requirements, offering technical support for the production and testing of green express packaging.