Issue 81

Shanghai Weekly Bulletin

No.1, February 2025

Shanghai Weekly Bulletin is an information service presented by the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government in collaboration with Wolters Kluwer to foreign-funded enterprises, foreign-related institutions as well as people from overseas living in Shanghai. Covering major national and Shanghai foreign-related news, event information, policy Q&A and interpretations in the past week, it keeps you up-to-date with the latest foreign-related policies and developments in Shanghai.

 

Laws and Regulations

【National】

1. Five Authorities Jointly Propose 20 Policy Measures to Promote Institutional Opening-up in the Financial Sector

【Keywords: Finance, Opening-up】

Recently, the People's Bank of China, together with four other authorities, jointly issued the Opinions on Piloting Institutional Opening-up in the Financial Sector of Qualified Free Trade Zones (Ports) to Align with International High Standards. The Opinions put forward 20 policy measures in six aspects, including allowing foreign financial institutions to provide new financial services similar to those of Chinese financial institutions, making decisions on applications for relevant services by financial institutions within 120 days, and supporting the cross-border purchase of certain types of overseas financial services in accordance with the law.

Source: People's Bank of China

 

2. State Taxation Administration Issues Notice to Support Tax Rebates for Cross-border E-commerce Exports to Overseas Warehouses

【Keywords: Cross-border e-commerce, Overseas warehouse, Tax rebates】

Recently, the State Taxation Administration issued the Announcement on Supporting Tax Rebates (Exemption) for Cross-border E-commerce Exports to Overseas Warehouses, clarifying that taxpayers exporting goods through cross-border e-commerce to overseas warehouses will be subject to "tax rebates upon departure" policy.

Source: State Taxation Administration

 

【Shanghai】

1. Shanghai Unveils Action Plan 8.0 to Further Optimize Business Environment

【Keyword: Business Environment】

Recently, Shanghai has released the Action Plan for Shanghai to Focus on Enhancing Enterprises' Experience and Continuously Building a World-Class Business Environment. The Plan outlines action measures centered around five key areas: aligning reforms with World Bank B-READY standards, optimizing overall services for enterprises, optimizing enterprise-related regulatory inspections, strengthening the community-level foundation of business environment, and fostering a favorable social environment.

Source: Intl Services Shanghai

 

2. Shanghai Market Supervision Bureau Unveils Ten Measures to Facilitate Market Entry Registration

【Keyword: Market entry】

On February 6, 2025, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation released Ten Measures to Facilitate Market Entry Registration. The Ten Measures include expanding the coverage of the "Shanghai Online Business Registration" service, promoting the digital upgrading of the “Shanghai Online Business Registration” platform, optimizing the intelligent assistance system for enterprise name selection, and simplifying real-name authentication, electronic signatures, and electronic business license downloads.

Source:Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation

 

3. Shanghai Rolls Out "Version 3.0" of the Integrated Cash Pooling for Multinational Corporations, Enhancing Policy Convenience for Multinational Corporations

【Keyword: Multinational corporations】

Recently, the Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange issued the Management Measures for the Pilot of Integrated RMB and Foreign Currency Cash Pooling Business of Multinational Corporations in Shanghai. The pilot program mainly includes allowing multinational corporations to directly handle relevant business based on payment instructions within their foreign debt and overseas lending quotas, allowing the competent enterprise of a multinational corporation to handle centralized receipts and payments, on behalf of its overseas member enterprises, with its domestic member enterprises or other overseas entities, allowing multinational corporations to pool part of their foreign debt and overseas lending quotas, and allowing cross-currency lending between domestic member enterprises of multinational corporations for cross-border payments under current account transactions.

Source: People's Bank of China Shanghai Headquarter

 

One Week in Shanghai

【Latest News】

1. Shanghai Customs Tops the Nation in RCEP Preferential Import Value in 2024

【Keywords: Customs, RCEP】

In 2024, Shanghai Customs processed a total of 57,000 customs declarations for imports enjoying RCEP preferential treatment, with a total value of RMB 45.95 billion and tariff reductions of RMB 1.23 billion, representing year-on-year increases of 35.3%, 30.6%, and 37.6%, respectively. Shanghai ranked first nationwide in all key indicators of preferential imports under the RCEP. Since the RCEP agreement came into effect three years ago, the total value of imports and exports enjoying preferential treatment in the Shanghai Customs area has reached RMB 189.23 billion, and the level of preferential treatment enjoyed by foreign trade enterprises has continued to improve.

Source:Shanghai Customs 12360 Hotline

 

【Forum & Exhibition】 

1. 2025 Global Developer Conference to be Held

【Keyword: Global Developer Conference】

The 2025 Global Developer Conference (GDC), themed "Shaping Infinite Possibilities Globally", will be held at the West Bund in Xuhui District, Shanghai from February 21 to 23, 2025. The conference will adopt a "1+1+N+X" content structure, namely, "1 opening ceremony + 1 top young developers exchange meeting + N corporate forums + X developer activities", and will feature interactive experiences, workshops, open mic sessions, Demo Day, AIGC competitions, and more.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization

 

【Culture & Art】

1. Shanghai Quality of Life Tourism Festival Invites Exhibitors

【Keyword: Shanghai Quality of Life Tourism Festival】

From March 30 to April 2, 2025, the first Shanghai Quality of Life Tourism Festival will be grandly held at the theme pavilion of the Tourism Plus Shanghai 2025. This festival is an upgrade of the "Direct Sales Area for Tourism Products" in 2024, and the organizers will provide a subsidy of no less than 50% for qualified exhibitors.

Source: Shanghai Tourism

 

2. Multiple Thematic Exhibitions for the Year of the Snake Ongoing

【Keyword: Zodiac Exhibitions for the Year of the Snake】

The Year of the Snake has gracefully arrived. As the beginning of the new year, a series of exhibitions themed around the snake zodiac are taking place, bringing the fervor of the "Golden Snake Dance" to welcome a year of good fortune.

Source: Shanghai Tourism

 

【Corporate Activities】

1.Toyota to Establish a New R&D and Production Base for Lexus Electric Vehicles and Batteries in Shanghai

【Keywords: Toyota, Lexus】

On February 5, 2025, Toyota Motor Corporation and the Shanghai Municipal Government reached a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly promote the green and low-carbon development of the Chinese society. Toyota has decided to establish a new R&D and production company for Lexus pure electric vehicles and batteries in Jinshan District, Shanghai.

Source: Toyota Motor (China)

 

Q&A

Q1:Relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation answered questions from reporters at the press conference on Ten Measures to Facilitate Market Entry Registration held by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation — Shanghai has recently held a conference on optimizing the business environment and released the 8.0 version of the action plan. Given that the Market Supervision Bureau has many responsibilities in this area, what further actions will the bureau take to optimize the business environment this year?

A1:In recent years, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation has attached great importance to optimizing the business environment and has always adhered to a "problem-oriented, goal-oriented, results-oriented" approach, benchmarking against best practices and taking proactive actions. Significant reforms and innovations have been made to continuously improve Shanghai's business environment. This year, we will continue to implement the instructions made by the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, adhere to the spirit of "taking concrete actions and striving for breakthroughs", and promote transformation and upgrading. We will fully participate in building a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. There are mainly three aspects:

First, aligning reforms with World Bank B-READY standards to facilitate market access. 

Shanghai is currently the only sample city in China participating in the World Bank’s assessment of business environment. Benchmarking against the World Bank's new B-READY indicator system for business environment, we are coordinating the consultation and verification work for the "Business Entry" indicator, focusing on evaluation dimensions such as regulatory framework, digital public services, information transparency, time, and cost. At the same time, in the field of market access, benchmarking against the B-READY standards, we have taken the lead in launching one-stop services for enterprise establishment, promoting full electronic registration, and being the first to issue electronic business licenses and electronic seals simultaneously. Moving forward, we will continue to benchmark against international best practices and promote in-depth reforms to facilitate market access: First, we will drive innovation through digital empowerment. We will optimize the "Online Business Registration" service platform, strengthen the intelligent pre-filling of application forms, the intelligent generation of application materials, and the intelligent pre-examination of application conditions, and promote the intelligent assistance in selecting and registering enterprise names. We will also promote the application of the standardized registration information database for enterprise addresses. Second, we will streamline processes to improve efficiency. We will learn from the World Bank's advanced concept of automatic enterprise information updates, promote cross-departmental coordination, and continuously optimize the "one-stop" process for automatic enterprise information updates. We will promote the "one-time authentication and batch signing" for the registration of branches of chain enterprises. Third, we will optimize services to enhance user experience. We will explore the use of electronic business licenses to deliver easy-to-understand policy guidance directly to enterprises, and enrich the application scenarios of electronic business licenses and "enterprise codes".

Second, optimizing regulatory inspections for businesses with a focus on improving regulatory efficiency.

This year, a top priority for us is to reduce the frequency and improve the quality of regulatory inspections of businesses. Since January, market regulators have been widely promoting the use of "inspection codes" to notify businesses of inspections, standardize inspection procedures, and evaluate post-inspection supervision. In addition, we have implemented a comprehensive set of reform measures. First, we have adopted a systematic approach to comprehensively manage inspections of businesses. We have systematically integrated and standardized inspection activities from multiple dimensions, including setting work objectives, strengthening basic management, coordinating inspection plans, controlling task implementation, supporting information systems, and establishing performance evaluation mechanisms. In particular, we have optimized the source control of inspection plans, conducting scientific assessments of their legitimacy and rationality during the planning stage to reduce the number of inspections at the source. In the implementation of inspections of businesses, we have combined inspections whenever possible. Second, we have leveraged digitalization to optimize the methods of inspecting businesses. While "relaxing" and "reducing" inspections, we must first ensure effective oversight. We will continue to rely on the construction of digital pilot zones for market regulation to analyze and assess risks through technical means, generate early warnings, and make timely improvements to supervision, safeguarding the bottom line of safety. While ensuring effective oversight, we will gradually reduce the number of inspections. Third, we will improve the effectiveness of inspections of businesses through refined management. While conducting refined management in terms of who conducts the inspections, who is inspected, what is inspected, and how inspections are conducted, we will also use "inspection codes" to obtain comprehensive information on inspections and, combined with historical inspection frequency and the detection rate of inspection problems, continuously improve and refine our work, thereby constantly improving the efficiency of inspections.

Third, enhancing the development of new-quality productive forces by focusing on improving quality standards.

We will carry out specialized standardization actions in areas such as urban digital transformation, three leading industries, elderly care services, and commercial services, striving to achieve milestones in leading digitalization and green low-carbon transformation through standardization, and enhance the soft power of standard-led development. We will deepen the implementation of actions to empower industrial upgrading through inspection and testing, the "enhancing quality and strengthening enterprises" action, the SME measurement partnership program, and the improvement of quality management system certification for small and micro enterprises, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of quality brands. We will continue to cultivate a group of standardization technical organizations, industrial measurement and testing centers, product quality inspection centers, and advanced laboratories, focusing on key technological breakthroughs such as the International Human Phenome Project, high-end measurement of integrated circuits, and domestic substitution of key materials, to enhance the support capacity of modern industries.

Source:Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation

 

Expert Perspective

A New Guide to Data Compliance of Multinational Banks and Financial Institutions: Interpretation of the Regulations on Network Data Security Management

By Zhou Liang, Zhou Jianing (Beijing Dacheng Law Firm)

[Continuing from the Last Issue]

II. The "Regulation on Network Data Security Management" refines rules for personal information processing and strengthen regulatory compliance

3.The Regulations further consolidate the protection of minors' personal information

Article 21 of the Regulations requires that processors of personal information of minors under the age of fourteen must formulate corresponding rules for processing the information of minors. Article 22(3) of the Regulations also stipulates that for the processing of personal information of minors based on personal consent, the consent of the minor's parents or other guardians shall also be obtained.

Minors, due to their immature minds and lack of self-protection awareness, do not understand the value of personal information or the concept of privacy, nor can they anticipate the consequences of the leakage or misuse of personal information. Coupled with the fact that minors today are exposed to internet and electronic products at an earlier age, they can easily leak their personal information unintentionally and become victims of personal information infringements. In view of this, building upon the requirements of the Regulations on the Protection of Personal Information of Minors, the Regulations, with its higher legal status as an administrative regulation, further strengthens the protection of the personal information of minors.

4. Clarifying the Competent Authority for Overseas Network Data Processors

Article 26 of the Regulations clearly stipulates that overseas network data processors shall establish a dedicated institution or designate a representative in China and submit information to the cyberspace administration department of the district where the institution is located. Prior to the promulgation of the Regulations, Article 53 of the Personal Information Protection Law only generally required overseas personal information processors to establish a dedicated institution or designate a representative in China and report the name of the relevant institution or the name and contact information of the representative to the "authority responsible for personal information protection". In our opinion, the term the "authority responsible for personal information protection" is rather vague and poses difficulties in practical operation.

The promulgation of the Regulations has limited the competent authority for overseas network data processors to the "cyberspace administration department of the district where the institution is located", and requires timely reporting to the relevant competent authorities at the same level, providing the prerequisite for the enforceability of the information reporting obligation and for subsequent data security supervision. In addition, we expect that the cyberspace administration department will issue more specific normative documents on the establishment of dedicated institutions in China by overseas entities and the fulfilment of information reporting obligations, providing more practical operational guidance.

[To be Continued]