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Ministry of Public Security (China) regulates the overseas NGOs by controlling and managing these foreign NGOs’ activities in China. Unlike the foreign NGOs, the domestic NGOs are regulated by Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Definition
The overseas non-profit organisations include humanitarian and relief organizations, faith-based organizations, campaigning organizations, private universities, research institutes and think-tanks, foundations, and cultural, trade, professional, scientific and sporting associations. The ONGOs we are concerned with are generally formal organizations with staff and offices that are registered outside of China, including the territories of Hong Kong and Macau, and have programs and/or offices in China as well as other countries. They do not include Chinese NGOs that have overseas offices.

Benefits
Article 36 of the Overseas NGO Law states that “representative offices of overseas NGOs may benefit from tax incentives and other preferential policies in accordance with the law.” These incentives have yet to be specified.

Obligations
Representative offices of overseas non-profit organizations must go through the annual inspection process, in which they submit the required reports to their PSUs for approval and then to the registration authority (e.g., the provincial Public Security Bureau where they are registered) for approval before March 31. The reports are to be made public on the website of the Ministry of Public Security. Each year before December 31, organizations’ representative offices must submit plans for the following year’s activities, including projected projects and funding, to their PSUs. They must also submit this information to the registration authorities within ten days following approval by their PSUs. Organisations carrying out temporary activities with Chinese partners must submit reports within thirty days of completion of activities (including details on funding) to the registration authorities

Political Activities
The Overseas NGO Law has language prohibiting activities that could be construed as political, including “the incitement of resistance to implementation of laws and regulations; illegal efforts to obtain state secrets; the spread of rumors, defamation, or the publication or dissemination of other harmful information that endangers state security or damages the national interest; participation in or funding of political activity or illegal religious activities; or other activities that endanger state security or damage the national or public interest.”

The Overseas NGO (ONGO) law
The Overseas NGOs (ONGO) law was promulgated in April 2016 and went into effect on January 1, 2017. It is implemented on a national basis by the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing and province-level and lower public security bureaux throughout the country. The ONGO Law framework mandated a “two masters” system: for each overseas NGO and foundation seeking to work in China, a professional Chinese partner organization must approve work plans, and the relevant public security unit must also approve the organization’s plans and presence in China. This framework generally allowed overseas NGOs, foundations and other nonprofits to be active in China only through representative offices or one-year (often renewable) “temporary activities” projects.

The Ministry created an online platform for Overseas NGOs in China. Through the platform platform, overseas NGOs will be able to find out more about the process of registration as mandated by the new law, apply for appointments with the authorities in charge of the registration process, and hand in the required documentation.

Control and manage the work of overseas nonprofit organizations in China
The ministry presented a draft Overseas NGO Law to the National People’s Congress in 2016. The new overseas NGO framework granted the Ministry an overall control over the approval and management of overseas nonprofit activity in China.

Under the Overseas NGO Law, there are only two channels for the foreign NGOs to carry out activities in China:

1. Establish a representative office for long-term activities with the approval of the Professional Supervisory Authority and registration with the Ministry.

2. Cooperate with a Chinese Partner for temporary activities, and have the Chinese Partner apply for an approval of the competent authority and file and record the temporary activities with the Ministry.

History and Recent Developments

 * In 1989, the 1989 Provisional Regulations for the Administration of Foreign Chambers of Commerce in China (waiguo shanghui guanli zanxing tiaoli) was introduced. This is the first national-level regulations that addressing ONGOs only, which focuses on a small subset of ONGOs in China whose mission is to promote trade and economic exchanges between their members and China.