General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, Measures for the Administration of the Examination and Approval of Resident Representative Offices of Foreign Air Carriers

Promulgated: April 3 2006
Effective: May 3 2006
Applicability: The term 'representative offices' refers to representative offices of foreign air carriers that are to be established in China to engage in business activities, subject to approval (Article 2).

Main contents: Foreign air carriers (Carriers) applying for establishment of representative offices in China shall be subject to the approval of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, and shall carry out registration procedures with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, or its authorized administration for industry and commerce of the relevant province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government and city with an independent development plan (Article 3). Carriers establishing representative offices shall, in accordance with the air transport agreement or related agreements signed between the government of the home country of the Carrier and the PRC government, have obtained the required qualifications for engaging in air transportation services between the two countries. Carriers that wish to establish representative offices but have not obtained the required qualifications for engaging in air transportation services between the two countries shall be subject to the special approval of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (Article 7). Chief representatives and representatives of such representative offices shall be foreign citizens holding valid passports (excluding foreign students studying in China) (Article 20). Carriers shall bear the legal liability for all the activities engaged in by the representative offices established by them in China (Article 24). Carriers applying to appoint resident representatives in China and foreign ground services enterprises applying to establish representative offices or appoint resident representatives in China shall, mutatis mutandis, be handled in accordance with these Measures (Article 26).
Related legislation: Tentative Provisions for the Administration of Resident Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises, Oct 30 1980
Repealed legislation: Circular on Implementing the 《Tentative Provisions Concerning Residnet Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises》,
Dec 4 1980