WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/N/225
24 December 2002
(02-7099)
Council for Trade in Services Original:  English
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES
The following notification has been received from the delegation of the People's Republic of
China.
____________
1. Member notifying:
The People's Republic of China
2. Notification under:
Article III, paragraph 3 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
3. Date of entry into force/duration:
2002/6/13
4. Agency responsible for implementati on and enforcement of the measure:
The People's Bank of China
5. Complete description of the measure* indicating the modes of supply covered, the effect
on trade in services (e.g., restrictions/liber alization measures) and the impact of the
measure on commitments in the Member's schedule and Article II (MFN) exemption
list, if relevant:
Measures for Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign-Capital Financial
Institutions in China
Full text English translation of the measures is attached1. The English translation is for reference
only and the Chinese version shall be authentic.
6. Members specifically affected, if any:
All Members
7. The texts are available from:
- Enquiry point /g254
- WTO Secretariat /g254
- Other sources (address, fax
and telephone of other body)  /g168
                                                     
* Including international agreements, recognition measures or other types.
1 In English only.S/C/N/225
Page 2
Measures for Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Capital
Financial Institutions in China
(Promulgated by the People’s Bank of China on June 13, 2002)
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1 In order to meet the requirements of economic development and the reform and open
to foreign countries, and to improve the management to the representative offices of foreign capital
financial institutes, these Regulations are formulated according to the stipulations of the Regulations
of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of Foreign Capital Financial Institutions.
Article 2 The foreign capital financial institutions under these Measures include foreign
financial institutions and the foreign funded financial institution founded and registered in China.
Foreign financial institutions mean those financial institutions that are registered in foreign countries
and are approved by the financial supervision authorities or industrial association of the localcountries or regions.
The foreign capital financial institutes registered in China include: foreign capital bank whose
headquarters is registered in China; the joint venture bank that are founded by foreign financial
institution and Chinese company or enterprise in China; foreign capital financial company, currencybroker or credit card company whose parent companies are in China; financial company, currency
broker and credit card company that are founded by foreign financial institution and Chinese company
or enterprise in China; other foreign capital financial institutions that are approved by the People’s
Bank of China to be established in China.
The representative offices of foreign capital financial institutions under these Measures (hereafter
referred to as the “representative offices”) include: representative offices and general representative
offices (engaged in consultative services, comm unication, market research and other non-commercial
activities) established by foreign capital financial institutions in China. The key responsible person of
representative office is chief representative, and the key responsible person of general representative
office is general representative.
Article 3 Any representative office must abide by the laws and regulations of the People's
Republic of China, and its legal rights and interests are protected by the laws of the People’s Republic
of China.
Chapter 2 Application and Establishment
Article 4 For any foreign financial institution to establish representative office, the applicant
must have following qualifications:
1. The country or region where the applicant is registered must have good financial supervision 
and management system;
2. The applicant is the financial institution that is established as approved by the financial 
supervision authority of its country or region, or the applicant is one of the member of 
financial industry association;
3. The operating status of the applicant is good, and there is not any key violative record;4. Other prudent conditions specified by the Peoples Bank of China. For any foreign capital 
financial institution that is registered in China to establish representative office, the applicant 
must have the qualifications of above clause 3.
Article 5 To apply for the establishment of representative office, the applicant shall take
application form from the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China (the branch bank and theS/C/N/225
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representative office (to be founded) are located at the same place). The filled application form and
following documents shall be submitted to the local branch bank of the People's Bank of China:
1. The application that is signed by board chairm an or bank president (CEO or general manager)
and is to be submitted to the president of the People' Bank of China;
2. Copy of business license or legal practice certificate issued by relevant administrative
authority of local country or region;
3. Company by law, the list of directors and 10 biggest shareholders or main partners;
4. The annual financial reports of the three years before the application;
5. The Opinions issued by local financial supervision authority on the applicant's establishment 
of representative office in China, or the Recommendation issued by corresponding industry 
association;
6. The future chief representative's status certificate, certificate of educational background, 
resume and the statement signed by the chief representative (to be) to indicate whether the 
representative has bad record.
7. Power of Attorney signed by the board chairman, bank president (CEO or general manager) 
or authorized person on the appointment of chief representative;
8. Other materials that shall be submitted as required by the People’s Bank of China.  The 
documents submitted by foreign capital financial institution that is registered in China 
exclude the document specified by above clause 5.
Article 6 The submitted documents, except for the annual financial report, shall have Chinese
version if they are in foreign languages.
In which: the Power of Attorney, Business License (copy) or Practice Certificate (copy) must be
verified by the notary organ approved by local country or region, or verified by the Chinese embassy
or consulate in the local country or region.
Article 7 The local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China shall first primarily examine the
application documents submitted by foreign capital financial institutions, and then furnish them to the
headquarters of the People’s Bank of China for verification and approval.
Article 8 The name of representative office is composed of as follows successively: the name
of foreign capital financial institution, the name of local city and the words of “representative office”.
Article 9 In case that a foreign financial institution has established five or five more affiliates
in China, the financial institution can apply for th e establishment of general representative office.
The management and procedures of application and establishment of general representative office are
identical to those of representative office.
The name of general representative office is composed of as follows successively: the name of foreign
capital financial institution and the words of “general representative office in China”.
Article 10 Examination and verification system shall be applied to the position qualifications of
the general representative and chief representative.
The headquarters of the People's Bank of China is responsible for verifying or cancelling the
qualifications of positions of general representative for general representative office and the chiefrepresentative for representative office.
Article 11 The general representative of general representative office and the chief
representative of representative office shall have following qualifications:S/C/N/225
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1. In general, the candidate of general representative of general representative office must have
5 more years experiences engaged in financial field or relevant works and 3 more years
experiences engaged in taking the position above the manager of business department or
equivalent to the manger of business department;
2. In general, the candidate of chief representative of representative office must have 3 more
years experiences engaged in financial field or relevant works;
3. The candidate shall at least have academic diploma of university graduate. If  the candidate
has no such academic diploma, the candidate of general representative's experiences engaged
in financial field or relevant works shall increase 6 years, and the candidate of chief
representative's experiences engaged in financial field or relevant works shall increase
3 years.
Article 12 If any foreign capital financial institution applies for the replacement of general
representative and/or chief representative, the foreign capital financial institution shall submit
following documents to the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China:
1. The Application that is signed by the person authorized by the foreign capital financial
institution and is submitted to the president of the People’s Bank of China;
2. Power of Attorney signed by the person authorized by the foreign capital financial institution;
3. The resume of the person who is to take the position;
4. The copies of status certificate and certificate of academic diploma of the person who is to
take the position;
5. The Statement signed by the person who is to take the position; the Statement shall indicate
whether the person has bad record;
6. Other documents required by the People's Bank of China.
Article 13 The local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China shall first primarily verify and
examine the documents submitted by the foreign ca pital financial institution for the replacement of
general representative and/or chief representative, then furnish the documents to the headquarters of
the People’s Bank of China for verification and approval.
Article 14 If the establishment of representative office is approved, the headquarters of the
People's Bank of China shall issue Approval Certificate, and the valid period of the representative is
6 years.
After has got the Approval Certificate, the representative office shall go to the management
department of industry and commerce to finish registration according to relevant stipulations. If the
representative office does not finish the registration procedures within specified term, another
application signed by the board chairman or bank president (CEO or general manager) of the foreign
capital financial institution shall be submitted to the People's Bank of China to transact the Approval
Certificate again.
The representative office must be moved to the specified office site within 6 months after it gets the
approval from the People's Bank of China. If the representative office is not moved to the specifiedoffice site after 6 months, the original approval shall be invalid automatically.
Chapter 3 Supervision and Management
Article 15 Any representative office and it’s staff members are not allowed to enter into any
contract or agreement that may bring income to the representative office or the represented foreign
capital financial institution with any undertaking or natural person, and they may not conduct any
commercial activities in any form.
Article 16 The establishment, termination, renewal and prolongation of the representative office
shall be proclaimed at the newspaper specified by the headquarters of the People's Bank of ChinaS/C/N/225
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within 15 days after the representative office is re gistered at relevant administration of industry and
commerce. In addition, they shall be reported to local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China.
Article 17 The representative office must have independent office site, office facilities and full
time staff members.
Article 18 In general, the tenure of general representative or chief representative shall be more
than two years, and the general representative and chief representative are not allowed to take
management position(s) in commercial organization(s) during the tenure.
The general representative and the chief representative shall be always at the representative office to
control daily works. If they continuously leave their posts for more than one month, special personsshall be appointed to perform their functions on their behalf, and such case shall be reported to the
local branch bank of the People's Bank of China. In the case that the representative continuously
leaves his/her post for more than 3 months, another person shall be appointed to replace original
representative if there is no any special reason, the replacement shall be submitted to the headquarters
of the People's Bank of China for verification and approval.
Article 19 The representative office shall furnish previous year's work report to the local branch
bank of the People's Bank of China by the end of Feb. of every year, and the local branch bank of the
People's Bank of China shall forward the work report to the headquarters of the People's Bank of
China.
The work report of the representative office shall be finished in Chinese according to the format
specified by the People’s Bank of China.
Article 20 The representative office shall furnish the annual report to the local branch bank of
the People’s Bank of China within 6 months after the end of financial year of the represented foreign
capital financial institution.
Article 21 If the foreign financial institution that has established representative office in China
happens any following important matter, its representative office shall promptly report the matter to
the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of Ch ina, and the local branch shall forward the matter to
the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China:
1. The change of by law, registered capital or registered address;
2. Organization recombination, equity change or the change of key responsible persons;
3. Serious loss of operating;
4. Important case;5. The important supervision measures implemented for the foreign financial institution by the
supervision authority of its country or region;
6. Other matters that can bring important impacts on the operating and production of the foreign 
financial institution.
Article 22 In the case that any foreign capital financial institution changes the name of
representative office in China because of incorporation, division and other recombination, application
and following documents shall be first submit to the headquarters of the People's Bank of China:
1. The application that is signed by board chairm an or bank president (CEO or general manager)
of new institution;
2. Approval Certificate of Recombination issued by relevant administrative authority of local
country or region;
3. Consolidated financial statements of the new institution;
4. By law, the list of directors and 10 biggest shareholders or main partners of the new
institution;S/C/N/225
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5. Copy of business license or legal practice certificate issued by relevant administrative
authority of local country or region of the new institution;
6. The chief representative's status certificate, certificate of educational background, resume and
the statement signed by the chief representative (to be) to indicate whether above
representative of the new institution has bad record.
7. Power of Attorney signed by the board chairman, bank president (CEO or general manager)
or authorized person of the new institution on the appointment of chief representative;
8. Other materials that shall be submitted as required by the People's Bank of China.
Article 23 In the case that foreign capital financial institute changes the name of its
representative office in China because of other reasons, the Application signed by the board chairman
or bank president (CEO or general manager) must be furnished to the headquarters of the People'sBank of China, and the copy of the Application shall be submitted to the local branch bank of the
People’s Bank of China.
Article 24 After the foreign capital financial institution gets the approval for the renewal of the
name of its representative office in China from the People’s Bank of China, it shall go to theadministrative department of industry and commerce to process renewal procedures.
Article 25 Any of following case shall be submitted to the local branch bank of the People's
Bank of China for approval:
1. The prolongation of the valid period of the representative office. The Application signed by
the authorized person of the foreign capital financial institution and the work report of latest
three years signed by the general representative or the chief representative shall be submitted
to the Business Management Department of the local branch bank under the People's Bank of
China for approval 2 months before the expiry. The prolonged period of every application is6 years.
2. Address change. The Application of Address Chan ge signed by the chief representative or the
general representative shall be submitted to the Business Management Department of the
local branch bank under the People's Bank of China for approval. The Application of Address
Change shall be also reported to the headquarters of the People's Bank of China. The
representative office must move to the new address within 3 months after it gets the approval.
Chapter 4 The Termination of the Representative Office
Article 26 The Application to close the representative office shall be signed by the board
chairman or bank president (CEO or general mana ger) of foreign capital financial institution and
submitted to the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China. The local branch bank of thePeople's Bank of China shall primarily examine the application and forward to the headquarters of the
People’s Bank of China for approval. After approval, application of registration cancellation shall
submitted to relevant administrative department of industry and commerce, and relevant procedures of
cancellation shall be finished at relevant department.
Article 27 In case that the representative office is approved by the People’s Bank of China to
become a commercial affiliate or a general representative office, the original representative shall be
closed, and the application of registration cancellation must be submitted to relevant department.
Article 28 After the representative office is closed or is cancelled by the People’s Bank of China
according to relevant laws, the general representative office, if any, shall be responsible for unfinished
matters. If the general representative office is legally cancelled by the People's Bank of China, or the
representative office is cancelled by the People's Bank of China according to relevant laws and there
is no general representative office, the foreign capital financial institution represented by the
representative office shall be responsible for the disposal of unfinished matters.S/C/N/225
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Chapter 5 Punishment Rules
Article 29 If undertaking or natural person violates the stipulations of these Measures and
establishes the representative office of foreign capital financial institution without the approval of the
People's Bank of China, including hanging a horizontal board inscribed the name specified inArticle 9 at fixed site, the People’s Bank of China shall ban it. If the violation is criminal, criminal
responsibilities shall be ascertained according to relevant law.
Article 30 In the case that the foreign capital financial institution establishes representative
office without the approval of the People’s Bank of China, the People’s Bank of China shall not
accept its application to establish representative office or other commercial organization in China
within 5 years after the illegal representative office is cancelled.
Article 31 If the representative office does not regularly submit the reports and documents
specified in Article 19 - 21 according to the stipulations, the local branch bank of the People's Bank of
China shall warn the representative office.  If the representative office does not submit the reports and
documents for two years, the application to cancel the representative office shall be submitted to the
headquarters of the People's Bank of China by the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China.
Article 32 If the representative office and its staff members violate the stipulations of Article 15
to conduct financial activities, the People’s Bank of China shall punish them according to the
Punishment Method to Financial Violation. If they conduct commercial activities, the People's Bankof China shall warn them, and the representative office shall be cancelled in the case that the violation
is serious.
Article 33 If the representative office does not submit the application to prolong the valid
period, apologetic letter issued by the represented foreign capital financial institution shall besubmitted to the local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China to explain the reasons.
The local branch bank of the People’s Bank of China shall determine whether to approve the
prolongation of valid period.
Article 34 In one of following cases, the People’s Bank of China shall cancel the qualification to
take the position of general representative or chief representative for a concrete or even lifelong
period:
1. The representative office or its staff member conducts financial activities or other commercial
activities;
2. The representative office provides untrue information or conceals important facts, and the
circumstances are serious;
3. The representative office violates the stipulations of Article 21 - 21 and does not submit the
annual reports and the important matters of the represented foreign capital financial
institution;
4. Criminal responsibilities are ascertained to the chief representative or the general
representative;
5. The representative office refuses, disturb, hinder or seriously affect the legal supervision of
the People's Bank of China;
6. As to the general representative or chief representative who has taken the position, the
People's Bank of China finds that the general representative or chief representative has
violative behaviours or other behaviours that mean he/she is not suitable to take the position.
Article 35 If the representative office provides untrue information or the submitted documents
conceal important facts, the People's Bank of China shall warn it.S/C/N/225
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Article 36 If other stipulations of these Measures are violated, the People’s Bank of China shall
warn it or advise the represented foreign capital financial institution to replace the general
representative or chief representative.
Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions
Article 37 These Regulations shall be referred and applicable to the establishment of
representative offices by the financial institutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
the Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Region. In addition, These Measures shall also
be referred and applicable to the establishment of representative offices by the fully funded banks,
joint venture bank, fully funded financial companies and equity joint financial companies that are
founded in the Mainland by the financial institutions in above three regions of China.
Article 38 These Measures shall go into effect as of July 18, 2002, and the Measures for
Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Financial Institutions in China issued on
April 29, 1996 shall be annulled at the same time.
Article 39 The People’s Bank of China shall be responsible for the explanation of these
Measures.
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