Zhaoqing city in Guangdong province participated in two local outreach meetings in late September related to the Foreign NGO Law. On September 22, the Zhaoqing Public Security Bureau (PSB) Foreign NGO Management Office held a training session related to Article 43 of the Foreign NGO Law, which states, “Departments in charge of national security, foreign affairs, finance, financial regulation, customs, taxation and foreign experts shall oversee and supervise overseas NGOs and their representative offices according to their respective duties and in accordance with the law.” Training participants included one representative each from the city’s State Security Bureau, Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau, Finance Bureau, Customs Administration, State and Local Tax Administrations, and Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, as well as the city’s branches of the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
This focus on other government entities’ roles in implementing the law echoes general implementation concerns raised by a number of foreign NGOs that have spoken with The China NGO Project. In particular, foreign NGOs have questioned whether local tax authorities are receiving adequate training and preparation to process foreign NGOs’ registration certificates in a timely manner.
The Zhaoqing PSB Foreign NGO Management Office, along with its counterparts in the Dawang city PSB, also gave a presentation two days earlier to explain the Foreign NGO Law. Held at the Guangdong Information Engineering Institute, the session covered the law’s provisions generally, as well as specifics related to the temporary activity filing process and required materials. Attendees included representatives from the institute’s publicity, foreign affairs, security, students’ affairs, youth league, and other departments.
According to Ministry of Public Security statistics, Zhaoqing city has been the site of 10 proposed or completed temporary activities since the beginning of the year.