Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Administration of Registration of Technology Import and Export Contracts Measures

Promulgated: December 30 2001
Effective: January 1 2002
Applicability: Technology import contracts entered into as capital contribution to, and acting as an attachment to the articles of association of, a Sino-foreign equity or cooperative joint venture or wholly foreign-owned enterprise shall be subject to the Measures set out in laws relating to foreign investment enterprises (Article 1). Technology import and export contracts include patent right assignment contracts, patent application right assignment contracts, patent licensing contracts, technical secret licensing contracts, technical service contracts and other contracts containing provisions regarding the import or export of technology (Article 2).

Main contents: Unrestricted technology import and export contracts shall, upon their effectiveness, be registered with the provincial level foreign trade and economic cooperation authorities or their authorized lower level foreign trade and economic cooperation authorities (Article 5). However, technology import and export contracts for major projects shall be registered with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) (Article 4). A major project is one approved by the State Council and financed with State funds and/or loans from foreign governments and international financial organizations. Registration shall be made electronically at a designated website and by hard copy with the relevant authorities. Upon completion of registration, certificates of registration shall be issued to the relevant parties. The main contents to be registered include the contracting parties, technology end users, contract value and terms of payment (Article 7). If the registered contents of a contract are modified, the contract shall be registered anew (Article 9).
Related legislation: PRC, Administration of Technology Import and Export Regulations, Dec 10 2001, CLP 2002 No.1 p56