The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development issued two documents on August 22 outlining the procedures for foreign NGOs seeking to register a representative office or file a temporary activity in conjunction with the Office. These documents represent a significant step forward in transparency for those foreign NGOs hoping to work with the Office. The China NGO Project is not aware of any other Professional Supervisory Units (PSUs) or Chinese Partner Units (CPUs) that have issued similar formal documentation of their adjudication procedures. As we have reported previously, a number of foreign NGOs have been unable to register or carry out temporary activities due to applications or filings that have stalled out in the hands of PSUs or CPUs.
The first document, “Work Measures for Processing Foreign NGOs’ Professional Supervisory Unit Applications and Related Matters (Trial)” (Chinese), is aimed at foreign NGOs who wish the Office to serve as the PSU for their representative offices. It enumerates the eligibility requirements for foreign NGOs, the Office’s application review procedure and timeline (including its eventual submission to Public Security), and the documentation each foreign NGO should submit to the Office. The second document, “Work Measures for Foreign NGOs’ Temporary Activity Filings and Related Matters (Trial)” (Chinese), similarly lists foreign NGO eligibility requirements, restrictions related to the nature of the proposed temporary activity, the Office’s filing review procedure and timeline, and the documentation each foreign NGO should submit to the Office.
The China NGO Project will update this post when full English translations of these documents become available.