Administrative Procedures of Shanghai Municipality for the Approval of Enterprise-Invested Projects

english.shanghai.gov.cn

Administrative Procedures of Shanghai Municipality for the

Approval of Enterprise-Invested Projects

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

With a view to regulating the approval by the government of the enterprise-invested projects, these Procedures are formulated in accordance with the Regulations on Administration of Approval and Filing of Enterprises' Investment Projects issued by the State Council and the Administrative Procedures for the Approval and Filing of Enterprise-Invested Projects issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

The enterprise-invested projects referred to in these Procedures (hereinafter referred to as "the projects") mean the fixed asset investment projects invested and constructed in Shanghai by enterprises, including the projects with self-raised funds by enterprises, as well as the projects with a combination of self-raised funds by enterprises and government investment subsidies or loans at subsidized interest rates upon application by enterprises.

The scope of investment projects subject to the approval system and the competence of the departments responsible for project approval shall be determined in accordance with the Catalogue of Investment Projects Approved by the Government (hereinafter referred to as "the Catalogue") promulgated by the State Council and the Detailed Guidelines on the Catalogue of Investment Projects Subject to the Approval by Shanghai Municipal People's Government (hereinafter referred to as "the Catalogue Guidelines"). This Municipality will adjust the Catalogue Guidelines in due time subject to the possible changes in circumstances.

The administration of foreign-invested projects shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality.

Where laws, rules or regulations provide otherwise, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 3

The departments responsible for the approval of the projects of this Municipality (hereinafter referred to as "the project approving departments") refer to Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, the competent investment departments at the district-level, and the agencies responsible for the approval of the projects within their jurisdictions pursuant to the provisions of local rules and regulations.

Article 4

The market prospects, economic efficiency, capital sources, product and technology schemes, etc. of the projects shall be decided by the enterprises on their own and at their own risk in accordance with law. The project approving departments and other administrative departments shall not illegally interfere in the autonomy of the enterprises in their investment.

Article 5

The project approving departments and their staff members shall approve the projects in accordance with law, and shall not add or diminish the conditions for review without authorization, nor shall they exceed the time limits for the review.

Article 6

The project approving departments shall follow the principle of "efficiency, and convenience for the people", aiming to improve the efficiency in their provision of high-quality services.

The project approving departments shall formulate and publish service guidelines, which shall specify the application submissions and the required attachments, ways of acceptance of the applications, conditions for review, the procedures and the time limits of processing, etc., so as to improve the transparency, and provide guidance and services for the enterprises.

Article 7

All district people's governments and the relevant departments of the Municipal People's Government shall, in accordance with relevant laws, rules and regulations, carry out supervision and regulation over the enterprises in their fixed asset investment.

Any unit or individual has the right to report to the relevant departments on the violations in the course of project approval or construction, which the relevant departments shall investigate and deal with in a timely manner.

Article 8

Except for the projects involving secrets of the State, project approval shall be conducted via the Shanghai Municipal Investment Project Platform for Online Examination and Supervision (hereinafter referred to as "the Online Platform") for online acceptance, processing, supervision and servicing, so that the approval process as well as the results will be open for inquires and supervision.

Article 9

The project approving departments and other relevant departments shall all use the same project codes generated by the Online Platform to go through the relevant formalities.

When a project is applied for via the Online Platform, one single project code is generated as the identity of the project during its whole construction cycle. The review and approval information, supervision (punishment) information, and the important information in the process of project implementation are gathered in a unified way under the same project code and docked with the social credit system to be used as the basic conditions for follow-up supervision.

Article 10

The project approving departments and relevant departments shall publish via the Online Platform the development plannings, industry policies and market access standards related to the projects.

The project approving departments shall publish the approval results in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information.

Article 11

The enterprises investing in and constructing fixed asset investment projects shall abide by the relevant laws, rules and regulations, comply with the requirements of the general plans for national economic and social development, special plans, regional plans, industry policies, market access standards, resources exploitation, energy consumption, and environmental management, go through the project approval formalities and other relevant formalities in accordance with law, go through procedures related to planning, use of land (sea area), environmental protection, energy resources utilization, safety in production, etc. in accordance with law, and provide relevant submissions and report relevant information truthfully.

Chapter II Application Documents for Project Approval

Article 12

The enterprises going through the formalities of project approval shall formulate the project application reports in accordance with the relevant requirements of the State and submit them in accordance with Article 17 of these Procedures with the relevant attachments as provided under Article 16 of these Procedures.

Article 13

The project units that formulate and submit the project application reports shall be responsible for the authenticity, legality and completeness of such reports and their attachments.

Article 14

A project application report shall mainly include:

1. a description of the project unit;

2. a description of the proposed project including the name, and construction site, scale and content of the project;

3. an analysis of the project resources utilization and its impact on the ecology and environment;

4. and an analysis of the economic and social impact of the project.

Article 15

A project application report shall be formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions on the generic text of such reports. The project application report may be formulated by the project unit itself or by an engineering consultancy with relevant experience and capability entrusted by the project unit. No unit or individual shall compel the project unit to entrust an engineering consultancy to formulate the project application report.

The engineering consultancy that is entrusted with the formulation of the relevant documents shall act in accordance with law, and in an independent, objective and impartial manner, and shall be responsible for the documents formulated.

Article 16

When submitting the project application report, the project unit shall attach the following documents:

1. a letter of opinion on land planning, or a contract for the compensated right to use State-owned land for construction purposes, or a market-entry contract for rural collectively-run land for construction purposes; where the use of sea areas is involved, a pre-assessment opinion on sea areas use issued by the marine department shall be attached;

2. and other relevant formalities as required by laws and administrative rules.

The project units shall not be required to provide repeatedly the documents that can be obtained by way of mutual recognition and sharing of data with the big data platform of this Municipality.

Chapter III Basic Procedures for Project Approval

Article 17

In the case of the projects to be approved by the State project approving departments, the relevant provisions of the State shall be followed.

In the case of the projects to be approved by the municipal project approving departments, the project application reports may be directly submitted by the enterprises, or be transferred by the district-level project approving departments

In the case of the projects to be approved by the district-level project approving departments, the project application reports shall be directly submitted by the enterprises to the district-level project approving departments.

The project units are encouraged to log onto the Integrated Online Platform, to submit the application reports to the project approving departments via the Online Platform.

Article 18

The project approving departments shall accept the project application submissions when they are complete and conform to the statutory forms.

When the project application submissions are incomplete or do not conform to the statutory forms, the project approving department shall make a one-time notification to the project unit to supplement all the required relevant documents or adjust the relevant content within five working days from the date of their receiving the project application submissions. In the case that no such notification is made within the time limit, it shall be deemed that the applications are accepted on the date when the project application submissions are received.

Whether it decides to accept or reject the application submissions, the project approving department shall issue a written notice with the seal of the project approving department and with the date indicated. As for the accepted application submissions, the written notice shall bear the project code, with which the project unit may make inquiries and supervise online the approval process and results.

Article 19

After it formally accepts the project application reports and there is a need to make an assessment, the project approving department shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions, within four working days, entrust an engineering consultancy with relevant experience and capability to conduct an assessment of the project. When it is entrusting the assessment, the project approving department shall, in light of the specific conditions of the project, specify the priorities of the assessment and the time limits for the assessment.

Where the engineering consultancy and the engineering consultancy that formulates the project application report are the same unit, or they have a relationship of share controlling or management, or have the same person in charge, the engineering consultancy shall not undertake the assessment of the project. When the project consultancy and the project unit have a relationship of share controlling  or management, or have the same person in charge, the project consultancy shall not undertake the assessment of the project of such project unit.

Except for complicated circumstances of the project, the time limit for the assessment shall not exceed 30 working days. The entrusted engineering consultancy shall make the assessment report within the time limit as required by the project approving department and shall be responsible for the assessment conclusion. Where the circumstances of the project are complicated, the time limit set for the assessment may be extended after the approval procedure, but the extended time limit shall not exceed 60 working days.

The project approving department shall keep on file the project assessment report together with the approval documents for future reference.

The assessment fees shall be borne by the project approving department entrusting the assessment, and the engineering consultancy and its staff members shall not collect any fees from the project unit.

Article 20

When the projects involve the responsibilities of the relevant industry administration departments or the local governments where the projects are located, the project approving departments shall consult with and request the relevant industry administration departments or the local governments to issue a written review opinion within seven working days. In case that the relevant industry management departments or local governments fail to give feedback with a written review opinion within the time limit, it shall be deemed as an approval upon review.

Article 21

When the project construction may have a significant impact on the public interest, the project approving department shall take appropriate measures to solicit public opinions before making a decision of approval.

When the relevant departments have conducted substantive reviews on issues that are directly related to the vital interest of the public such as land use (sea use), environmental impact and risks associated with social stability before issuing relevant approval documents, the project approving department may not need to solicit public opinions on the relevant content.

For particularly significant projects, an expert review may be adopted. In principle, the time limit for an expert review shall not exceed 30 working days, except for the extremely complicated circumstances of the projects.

Article 22

The project approving department may, on the basis of the assessment opinions, the opinions of the relevant departments and the public opinions, require the project units to adjust the relevant content or to make further clarifications and supplements for the relevant information and documents.

Article 23

When the projects are in violations of relevant laws, rules or regulations or do not meet the requirements of development planning, industry policies or market access standards, the project approving departments may directly make a decision of disapproval of the projects without carrying out the procedures such as entrusting an assessment or soliciting opinions.

Article 24

The project approving departments shall make a decision of approval or disapproval of the projects within 20 working days from the date of formally accepting the application submissions. When the circumstances of the project are complicated or when seeking the opinions of the relevant units is needed, the time limit for approval may be extended with the approval of the principal person(s) in charge of the administrative department in question, but the extended time limit shall not exceed 40 working days, and the project units shall be informed of the reasons for such an extension.

When the project approving departments need to entrust an assessment or to conduct an expert review, such time required shall not be included in the above-mentioned time limits. The project approving departments shall inform the project units of the time required for consultancy service, assessment and expert review in writing.

Article 25

When the projects meet the requirements for approval, the project approving departments shall grant their approval of the projects and issue the project approval documents to the project units.

When the projects do not meet the requirements for approval, the project approving departments shall issue a written notification of disapproval and explain the reasons for the disapproval.

For the projects subject to approval by the State Council, the competent investment departments under the State Council shall issue the project approval documents or written notifications of disapproval to the project units in accordance with the decisions of the State Council.

The project approval documents or the written notifications of disapproval issued by the project approving departments shall be forwarded to the relevant departments at the same level, such as industry administration departments, housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, water (ocean), and other administrative departments as required.

Chapter IV Review of Project Approval and Its Legal Effect

Article 26

The project approving departments shall examine the projects from the following aspects:

1. whether the projects pose dangers to national security, including economic, social and ecological security;

2. whether the projects conform to the relevant development and construction plannings, industry policies and technical standards;

3. whether the projects make rational exploitation and efficient utilization of resources;

4. and whether the projects make an adverse impact on the material public interests.

Article 27

In addition to the documents attached to the project application reports as provided under Article 16 of these Procedures, the project units shall also go through other relevant formalities in accordance with law before starting the construction of the projects.

Article 28

As for the projects which have obtained documents of approval, the project units shall, in any of the following circumstances, submit applications for an alteration to the original project approving departments in writing in a timely manner:

1. The legal persons of the projects have changed;

2. The construction sites have changed;

3. There are considerable changes in the investment scale, the construction scale and the construction content;

4. The changes in the projects may have a significant adverse impact on the economy, society and environment; 

5. Or there are other major situations that require an adjustment of the content specified in the project approval documents.

Article 29

For an application for an alteration submitted by a project unit, the original project approving department shall, within 20 working days from the date of accepting such an application, make a written decision on whether it grants such an alteration.

When the original project approving department needs to entrust an assessment or conduct an expert review, the time required shall not be included in the time limit specified in the preceding Paragraph.

Article 30

When the project construction does not start within two years from the date when the project approving department issued the project approval documents or from the date when the decision of granting an alteration to the project was made, and there is a need to postpone the project construction, the project unit shall apply to the project approving department for the postponement of the construction 30 working days prior to the expiration of the two-year time limit.

The project approving department shall, within 20 working days from the date of accepting the application, make a decision on whether it grants the postponement of the construction and then issues the relevant documents. Construction of the project may only be postponed once, with a maximum time period of no more than one year. Where the State has other provisions on the postponement of the project construction, such provisions shall prevail.

In case that the construction does not start within the two-year time limit, and the application for the postponement is not made to the project approving department in accordance with the provisions, the project approval documents or the decision of granting an alteration to the project shall automatically become invalid.

Article 31

For the projects that should have been reported to the project approving departments for approval or for a grant of an alteration, but no application has been made, or for the projects that have been reported but fail to be approved, the departments in charge of housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), etc. shall not handle the relevant formalities for such projects.

Chapter V Supervisory Administration

Article 32

The higher project approving departments shall strengthen their guidance and supervision over the lower project approving departments.

Article 33

The project approving departments, and the departments in charge of industry administration, housing and urban-rural development, national security, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), municipal financial regulation, audit, etc., shall follow the principle of "those who approve shall supervise and those who are in charge shall supervise" to conduct online monitoring and on-the-spot inspection so as to strengthen in-process and ex post supervision of the projects in accordance with law.

The project approving departments shall supervise the projects in accordance with relevant laws, rules and regulations, development planning, industry policies, cap control target, technology policies, market access standards and relevant requirements.

The departments in charge of housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), and industry administration shall perform their supervisory duties in accordance with law, and supervise the projects within the scope of their respective responsibilities.

The municipal financial regulatory department shall strengthen guidance and supervision to guide the local financial organizations to provide financial services pursuant to commercial principles and in accordance with laws, rules and regulations.

The audit departments shall strengthen their audit supervision over the projects invested in by the state-owned enterprises, projects that apply for government-invested funds and other public engineering projects in accordance with laws, rules and regulations.

Article 34

The relevant government departments at all levels shall, in accordance with relevant laws, rules and regulations and their respective responsibilities, strengthen supervision and inspection of the projects within their respective administrative areas and, in the case of any violations that are found, deal with them in accordance with law, and register the relevant information on the violations via the Online Platform.

Article 35

For the disqualified projects that have been approved or the projects that have been approved beyond the departments’ statutory competence, the approval shall be revoked by the relevant departments in accordance with law.

Article 36

The information concerning project approval of the project approving departments at all levels, and the information concerning the formalities, the review results, and the supervision (punishment) of the departments in charge of housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), market regulation, etc., shall be interconnected and shared via the Online Platform.

Article 37

The project units shall truthfully submit basic information on the start of the project construction, the construction progress and the completion of the projects via the Online Platform.

Before the start of the project construction, the project units shall log onto the Online Platform to report the basic information of the start of the project. After the project construction starts, the project units shall report online the basic information of the dynamic progress of the project construction annually. After the completion and acceptance of the projects, the project units shall report online the basic information of the project completion.

Article 38

When the project units have the following conducts, the relevant information shall be listed in the credit problems records of the projects and shall also be included in the Shanghai Public Credit Information Service Platform:

1. failing to obtain project approval documents in accordance with law when they should apply for such a project approval;

2. providing false project approval information;

3. starting the project construction in violation of laws, rules or regulations;

4. failing to implement in accordance with the approved content;

5. the project units failing to submit basic information about the start of the project construction, the construction progress and the completion of the projects in accordance with the provisions of Article 37 of these Procedures, or submitting false information; 

6. or other misconducts that are against laws, rules or regulations.

Chapter VI Legal Liability

Article 39

In any of the following circumstances, the project approving departments shall be ordered by their superior administrative departments to make corrections, and the responsible leader(s) and the person(s) directly responsible shall be punished by the relevant departments and units in accordance with law and disciplines:

1. approving the projects beyond their statutory competence;

2. approving the projects that do not meet the statutory requirements;

3. disapproving the projects that meet the statutory requirements;

4. adding or diminishing the conditions for examination and approval without authorization;

5. failing to make decisions of approval within the statutory time limit; 

6. or failing to perform supervisory duties in accordance with law or failing to conduct adequate supervision, with a result of causing serious consequences.

Article 40

In case that the project approving departments and their staff members, as well as other relevant departments and their staff members, neglect their duties, abuse their powers, play favoritism and commit malpractices for personal gains, or solicit or accept bribes in the process of examination and approval of the project and in the procedures related to project examination and approval, the responsible leader(s) and the person(s) directly responsible shall be punished in accordance with law; if the cases constitute crimes, they shall be investigated for criminal liability by relevant departments in accordance with law.

Article 41

When the project approving departments and the departments in charge of housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), etc. violate the relevant laws, rules or regulations and fail to perform their supervisory duties in accordance with law, the person(s) directly in charge and the other persons directly responsible shall be punished in accordance with law; if the cases constitute crimes, they shall be investigated for criminal liability by relevant departments in accordance with law.

When the government department of the region where a project is located fails to perform its regulatory duties concerning enterprise investment, the person(s) directly in charge and the person(s) directly responsible shall be punished in accordance with law.

Article 42

When the enterprises apply for approval by unfair means such as splitting up the projects, concealing relevant information or providing false application submissions, the project approving departments shall not accept or approve such applications, and shall give such enterprises warnings.

Article 43

When the enterprises fail to go through the formalities for approval in accordance with law before starting the construction of the projects which are subject to approval administration, or fail to carry out the construction of such projects according to the approved site, scale, content, etc., the project approving departments shall order them to stop the construction or stop the production, and impose on the enterprises a fine of not less than 1‰ but not more than 5‰ of the total investment amount of the projects; and the person(s) directly in charge and the other persons directly responsible shall be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan. If they are State functionaries, they shall be punished in accordance with law. The projects shall be dismantled or the relevant formalities shall be completed as deemed appropriate depending on the circumstances.

When the project approval documents were obtained by deception, bribery or other improper means and the construction has not yet started, the project approving department shall revoke the approval documents and impose a fine of not less than 1‰ but not more than 5‰ of the total investment amount of the project; when the construction has already started, a penalty shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Paragraph; when such conduct constitutes crimes, investigations shall be made of their criminal liability by relevant departments in accordance with law.

Article 44

When the enterprises invest in the construction of the projects that are prohibited by the industry policies, the competent government departments in charge of investment at or above the district level shall order them to stop the construction or stop the production and restore to the state before the construction, and impose on the enterprises a fine of not less than 5‰ but not more than 10‰ of the total investment amount of the project; the person(s) directly in charge and the other persons directly responsible shall be subject to a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan. If they are State functionaries, they shall be punished in accordance with law. When there are other provisions under laws or administrative rules, such other provisions shall prevail.

Article 45

When the project units violate the laws, rules or regulations on housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, ecology and environment, emergency management, water (ocean), and energy conservation, or violate the requirements of relevant approval documents in the process of the project construction, the relevant departments shall deal with such violations in accordance with law.

Article 46

Where the engineering consultancy and their staff members that undertake the formulation of the project application reports and the assessment, as well as the experts that participate in the expert review, violate the rules on professional conduct and cause heavy losses and bad consequences in the process of formulating the project application reports, conducting the assessment or participating in the expert review as entrusted by the project approving departments, they shall be dealt with in accordance with the Measures Regulating the Engineering Consultancy Industry and other relevant provisions. Those who violate the law shall be investigated for legal liability in accordance with law.

Chapter VII  Supplementary Provisions

Article 47

The fixed asset investment projects invested in and constructed by non-enterprise organizations, such as public institutions and social groups that use their own funds and do not apply for government investment for the construction in the mainland of China shall be regulated in the same way as the enterprise-invested projects.

Article 48

These Procedures shall be effective as of January 1, 2024 until December 31, 2028.