Source: China Standards Information Service Network
On 15 February, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Medical Products Administration, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration jointly issued the "Ten Measures to Support the Resumption of Work and Production". To better implement these ten policy measures, this article interprets the background, basic considerations, key points, and highlights of the policy.
I. Background of the "Ten Measures to Support the Resumption of Work and Production"
General Secretary Xi Jinping has placed great importance on COVID-19 prevention and control and on enterprises' resumption of work and production, chairing several Politburo Standing Committee meetings to study the matter and emphasizing that, while ensuring effective epidemic prevention, the resumption of production by various enterprises must be advanced in an orderly manner to maintain stable economic operation and social harmony and stability and to deliver on the goals and tasks set by the CPC Central Committee. Premier Li Keqiang chaired State Council executive meetings to make specific arrangements; the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism issued a notice requiring effective scientific epidemic prevention and an orderly resumption of work and production by enterprises. The Party Group of the State Administration for Market Regulation took this issue very seriously: Xiao Yaqing, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Administration, immediately convened a Party Group meeting to study and apply General Secretary Xi Jinping's important directives and the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and to study policy measures supporting enterprises in resuming work and production. He emphasized the need to follow the General Secretary's call to "implement every measure thoroughly, in detail, and on the ground", and to base policy on real-world practice in proposing supportive measures that are effective and easy to put into action. Market regulation departments are both regulators and service providers: they must serve overall economic and social development by maintaining market order while also offering targeted assistance to enterprises facing real difficulties during the epidemic.
II. Basic considerations behind the "Ten Measures"
The "Ten Measures" were drafted in response to the practical difficulties enterprises face in resuming work and production, drawing on the duties of market regulation departments to put forward targeted, actionable measures and approaches. On the one hand, the measures take a problem-driven approach, addressing the specific difficulties and issues enterprises face. During the epidemic, enterprises resuming work and production have encountered new pain points and problems. Many enterprises resuming work, especially those switching production to make epidemic-prevention supplies, face issues related to obtaining and extending production licences and mandatory certifications. A large number of foreign-trade export enterprises resuming work face questions of how to align and convert international and domestic standards. Enterprise credit is critical to resuming work and production, raising the issue of credit-restoration mechanisms. Many products entering the market require third-party technical services such as certification, accreditation, and testing. Many of these issues are closely linked to market regulation duties and are key focal points of the ten measures. On the other hand, the measures take a precise, targeted approach, starting from reform and improvement of market regulation work itself. To address the special difficulties enterprises face during the epidemic, market regulation departments — guided by the principles of handling special cases as such, optimizing services, easing burdens, and reducing costs — are reforming and improving regulatory rules and methods. First, they are improving the efficiency of administrative approvals: simplifying what can be simplified, consolidating what can be consolidated, and removing unnecessary steps and procedures. Second, in light of the special situation during the epidemic, they are adopting emergency and transitional measures, such as extending administrative licences, implementing notice-based commitments, and applying standards conversion. Third, they are taking a proactive approach, putting themselves at the forefront of services, anticipating and addressing enterprises' concerns, and providing targeted, quality-related technical assistance.
III. Key points and highlights of the "Ten Measures"
Article 1: Online registration. During the epidemic, the establishment of new enterprises remains a fresh force supporting economic recovery. Online registration reduces gatherings and movement of people while improving the efficiency of registration services. For newly established enterprises producing emergency supplies such as epidemic-prevention products, green channels are being opened, dedicated personnel assigned, and special cases handled as such, allowing enterprises to enter production as quickly as possible. In response to the new business models and formats that have emerged during the epidemic — such as the production of epidemic-prevention supplies, online office work, and online education — market regulation departments are actively adapting to enterprises' innovation needs by updating and adjusting registration standards, including business scope, in a timely manner to support enterprises' innovation and transformation.
Article 2: Notice-based commitment. The notice-based commitment system is an important step in deepening the reform of administrative approvals. In the course of resuming work and production, enterprises encounter administrative approvals such as production licences and mandatory certifications, the standard processing of which involves extensive paperwork and lengthy turnaround times. Therefore, where enterprises possess the necessary production conditions but are temporarily unable to submit the corresponding materials, the notice-based commitment system applies: enterprises only need to commit to submitting the relevant documents within a specified period, and approvals can be processed on the spot — preventing resumption of work and production from being held up at the market-entry stage. Ensuring food safety is particularly important during the epidemic. At present, food enterprise production and operation are subject to strict licensing administration. While safeguarding food safety, licensing processes are being further simplified, and electronic certificates for food business operation licences are being promoted. At the same time, licensing processes are being optimized: for enterprises producing or operating low-risk foods, notice-based commitment will be applied, and a licence may be issued as long as the enterprise commits to meeting the relevant conditions, with on-site inspection conducted at a later date. In addition, qualification accreditation for testing and inspection bodies has also adopted notice-based commitments and other new mechanisms, and the review of business operator concentrations is now conducted online with documentation provided electronically — all of which will further raise efficiency and bring greater convenience to enterprises.
Article 3: Establishing administrative-licence emergency green channels. At the current stage, the production of emergency supplies is essential for the fight against the epidemic. In particular, enterprises producing masks, protective clothing, drugs, medical devices, and other medical and protective products generally face tight resumption schedules and heavy production tasks; administrative licensing for such enterprises directly affects production capacity recovery and product supply. Therefore, special cases must be handled as such, "green lights" widely opened, and relevant enterprises helped to resume work and production as quickly as possible. For enterprises switching to the production of emergency supplies — particularly masks and protective clothing — emergency approval procedures for production qualifications should be activated, approval processes simplified and consolidated, and relevant administrative licences issued as quickly as possible. For producers of drugs and medical devices needed for epidemic prevention and control, approval timelines should be accelerated. Patent applications and trademark registrations involving epidemic prevention and control may, on request, be subject to priority and expedited review.
Article 4: Extending the validity of administrative licences. Administrative licences generally have specific validity periods. Owing to delayed start dates, late return of personnel to work, and the suspension of relevant qualification reviews, some enterprises are unable to handle changes, extensions, or renewals during the epidemic, with their licences set to expire — affecting resumption of work and production to some extent. Targeted convenience and relief measures are therefore needed. Where business licence registration items have changed but cannot be amended in time, registration may be deferred to within one month after the epidemic is lifted. For administrative licences such as food production licences, food business operation licences, industrial product production licences, special equipment production unit licences, special equipment inspection and testing institution approvals, and qualification certificates for testing and inspection bodies, validity periods may be appropriately extended, with relevant procedures completed after the epidemic, clearing obstacles for the rapid resumption of work and production. For enterprises handling intellectual-property matters that are subject to time limits, where the epidemic causes deadlines to be exceeded, measures such as suspension and extension of time limits and requests for restoration of rights are to be granted in accordance with law.
Article 5: Accelerating standards conversion and application. Some of China's manufacturing capacity serves international markets, with products meeting international or foreign standards that under existing rules cannot be sold in the domestic market. Strengthening the alignment between international and domestic standards and tapping this capacity is an important measure to support foreign-trade enterprises in resuming work and production, ensure their stable development, and safeguard market supply. Market regulation departments will accelerate the conversion of international and domestic standards and align export-product standards with domestic standards. Products produced in accordance with international standards whose key technical indicators meet the safety requirements of mandatory national standards will be permitted for sale in the domestic market. Social organizations are encouraged to develop relevant group standards to increase the effective supply of standards needed for resumption of work and production. For enterprises producing masks for export to foreign-standard markets that are capable of producing masks meeting domestic standards but lack the relevant qualifications, processing will be accelerated.
Article 6: Prudent management of the directory of enterprises with abnormal operations. Enterprise credit is highly important to resumption of work and production: enterprises listed in the directory of enterprises with abnormal operations face restrictions and constraints in registration, bidding, and financing. To support enterprises producing or operating epidemic-prevention supplies in resuming work and production as quickly as possible, on application by the relevant enterprises, local market regulation departments will swiftly remove them from the directory and publicize the change on the credit information disclosure system. Enterprises temporarily unreachable owing to the epidemic may, for the time being, be exempted from being listed in the directory.
Article 7: Strict crackdown on arbitrary fees and price gouging. Price is the core of the market mechanism. Maintaining market price order and price stability is critical to reducing the costs and burden on enterprises resuming work and production. The full restoration of supply chains will still take some time, and there are signs that market price fluctuations are being transmitted from the consumer end to upstream production. Market regulation departments will strengthen oversight of pricing and fees to create a sound pricing environment for enterprises resuming work and production. On the one hand, strict action will be taken against arbitrary fees, including the failure of administrative and public institutions to implement preferential or waiver fee policies, the unauthorized establishment of deposit items, and forced charges in the course of commercial bank lending. On the other hand, illegal acts such as collusive price increases and price gouging will be severely investigated and dealt with in accordance with law, to prevent abnormal price movements in equipment and raw materials from disrupting overall market prices for prevention and control supplies and to firmly safeguard overall price stability across the entire production, wholesale, and retail chain for prevention and control supplies.
Article 8: Strengthening quality-related technical service support. Many aspects of resuming work and production require corresponding metrology, standards, certification and accreditation, and testing and inspection services. Market regulation departments must further leverage their functional advantages, take an active and proactive role, and put themselves at the forefront of service. Type evaluation for the manufacture of measuring instruments will be handled by dedicated personnel within compressed timelines, and the validity of expiring measurement standard instruments will be extended. Standardization technical organizations and institutions are encouraged to provide standardization consulting services, conduct comparative standards research, and help enterprises establish and improve their standards systems. Certification, accreditation, and testing and inspection bodies are giving priority to safety- and health-related certifications such as 3C certification, while meeting enterprise needs through online services and deferred on-site audits.
Article 9: Reducing or waiving fees for technical services. During the epidemic, enterprises face many difficulties and burdens in production and operation, and reducing fees and burdens is the joint responsibility of all parties. Building on earlier reductions and waivers required by the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation has further sharply reduced fees for technical services provided by its affiliated institutions, including quality testing, metrological testing, special equipment inspection, and standardization services. The metrology verification, product quality testing, and special equipment inspection institutions affiliated with the State Administration for Market Regulation will reduce by 50% the fees for measuring-instrument verification and calibration, product quality testing, and special equipment inspection for enterprises resuming work and production, and will fully waive all such verification, calibration, and testing fees for enterprises in Hubei Province. Standardization technical institutions affiliated with the State Administration for Market Regulation will waive fees for Chinese and foreign standards information consulting services, standards currency confirmation, and standards translation.
Article 10: Encouraging enterprises to participate in the "Three Guarantees" initiative. The State Administration for Market Regulation has launched the "Guarantee Prices, Guarantee Quality, Guarantee Supply" series of initiatives, the goal of which is to build a platform of trust between public expectations and enterprise responsibility — by promoting public commitments by enterprises, ensuring main responsibility, stabilizing market expectations, and bringing together social forces in epidemic prevention and control — to ensure that the prices of epidemic-prevention supplies and essential consumer goods do not rise, that quality does not decline, and that supply is uninterrupted. Since the launch of the "Three Guarantees" initiative on 29 January, by 26 February a total of 7,893 enterprises had formally joined the "Three Guarantees" pledge, covering production processing, distribution, catering, medical devices, drugs, materials, and other industries. In the "Three Guarantees" initiative, participating enterprises have actively delivered on their commitments, continuously innovating business models, accelerating the recovery and expansion of capacity, working to open up sources of supply, ensuring smooth supply and distribution channels, and strengthening safety protection at production and consumption premises — playing an active role in safeguarding price stability, quality and safety, and market supply. We will continue to encourage and guide more enterprises to participate in the "Three Guarantees" initiative and to broaden its coverage.
Implementing the "Ten Measures to Support the Resumption of Work and Production" requires further refinement and substantiation in each locality, providing tangible support to enterprises and creating positive policy effects. Market regulation, drug regulation, and intellectual property departments at all levels must enhance their political awareness, strengthen the big-picture perspective, take active responsibility, and — closely tied to local realities — further refine and fully implement the ten policy measures, better serving enterprises' resumption of work and production, and resolutely winning the battle against the epidemic.
