On February 8, 2021, the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau issued and implemented the Implementation Opinions on the Notification and Commitment System of Confirmed Matters for the Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in Beijing (Trial). The information commitment mentioned in this opinion means that the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau informs the applicant of the handling standards, application materials, and legal responsibilities that need to be fulfilled at one time. The applicant promises in writing that it meets the handling conditions and bears the consequences of the corresponding breach of the commitment, Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau directly makes the consent decision. The applicant can choose to notification and promise method or choose the general method.

1.      Handling matters and conditions

(1)	To apply for the identification of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing, the following conditions must be met at the same time:
	(a)	Foreign-invested enterprises with independent legal personality;
	(b)	The total assets of the overseas parent company shall not be less than USD 200 million;
	(c)	The total paid-in registered capital cumulatively contributed by the overseas parent company in Beijing shall not be less than USD10 million.
(2)	The replacement of certificate of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing must meet one of the following conditions:
	(a)	Change of the name for the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing;
	(b)	The validity period of the certificate has expired.
(3)	If the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing deregisters or relocates to outside Beijing, the certificate of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing must be deregistered.

2.       Handling process

(1)      General method

In the general method, the time limit is 3 working days for the identification of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing and 2 working days for the replacement or deregistration of certificate of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing. The procedures are as follows:  

(a)	Application submission. The applicant submits the application materials. If the materials are complete, the application will be accepted, otherwise, application will be returned.
(b)	Review and decision. The Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau shall review the materials and approve those with complete application materials, complete information, and compliance with requirements.
(c)	Issuance and delivery of certificates. The certificate can be directly picked up by the applicant or delivered to the applicant by courier.

(2)      Notification and commitment method

If the identification and replacement procedures for the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing are handled in the notification and commitment method, new certificate will be issued on the spot. The deregistration procedures can be completed on the spot too. The procedures are as follows:  

(a)

Application submission. The applicant submits the Letter of Notification and Commitment and related materials;

(b)

Decision. Formal review of the materials submitted by the applicant will be conducted, acceptance decision will be made if application meets the regulations, approval decision will be made, and Identification Certificate for the Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in Beijing will be issued; if application does not meet the regulations, it will not be accepted, and the rejection reasons will be notified.

3.       Application materials

(1)     The identification of regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing

(a)	Application form signed by the legal representative of the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing;
(b)	Authorization document signed by the legal representative of the overseas parent company;
(c)	Incorporation documents of the overseas parent company;
(d)	The financial statements or annual report of the overseas parent company in the past year.

 

(2)      Replacement or deregistration of certificate for regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing

(a)	Application form for replacement or deregistration for regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing;
(b)	The original Confirmation Certificate for the Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in Beijing.

4.       Daily supervision

The Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau conducts full-coverage verification of the data provided by the company, prepares work records, and adds them to the company files.

If the actual situation of the applicant is found to be inconsistent with the promised content through verification, it will be handled based on different situation according to the law. Minor breaches of promise and general breaches of promise shall be ordered to make rectification within a time limit. If the rectification is not met within the time limit or the conditions are not met after the rectification, the Confirmation Certificate for the Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in Beijing shall be revoked. For serious breaches of promises and dishonesty, the Confirmation Certificate for the Regional Headquarters of Multinational Companies in Beijing shall be directly revoked, and the applicant shall take legal liability in accordance with the law.

5.       Credit supervision and disciplinary measures

(1)     Classification of unfulfilled promise

The verification results are incorporated into the Beijing Public Credit Information Service Platform to implement differentiated credit management. Unfulfilled promises are divided into three situations: minor breach of promise, general breach of promise and serious breach of promise.

Minor breach of promise refers to acts such as providing incomplete or inaccurate information for no reason. General breach of promise refers to acts that provide information that is inconsistent with facts or fail to provide necessary and accurate information. Serious breach of promise refers to acts such as providing false materials, failing to make corrections within the time limit, or failing to meet requirements after corrections.

Within one year, if the applicant has accumulatively violated promises and dishonesty for more than three times (including) in matters handled by the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Beijing, it shall be dealt with according to the circumstances of general breach of promise. If there are more than two untrustworthy acts (including), it shall be handled as serious breach of promise.

 
(2)      Disciplinary measures

Information on minor breaches of promise is included in the Beijing Public Credit Information Service Platform, and only records are not published.

Information on general breach of promise is included in the Beijing Public Credit Information Service Platform and publicized. The shortest publicity period is one month and the longest is six months.

Information on serious breach of promise is included in the Beijing Public Credit Information Service Platform and publicized. The shortest publicity period is six months and the longest one year.

(3)      Distrust restoration

The applicant can take credit restoration by making credit promises and completing credit rectification. After the credit restoration is completed, the publicity period can be shortened by 1 to 6 months as appropriate. For applicants who have completed credit restoration, they should stop publicizing their untrustworthy information, and include the restoration information of the violating subject into the Beijing Public Credit Information Service Platform.