Since May 2013, the Chinese State Council has set about a campaign of decentralization and cessation of certain administrative functions relating to approval procedures for some manufacturing sectors. Delegating duties from central to local management is designed to further streamline governmental administration, transform government functions while the cessation of certain functions is designed to increase overall efficiency.
According to two State Council decisions issued in May and July this year, in total about 20 chemicals related industries have been incorporated into the streamlined administration plan. In the State Council Notice No 19 of 2013, 16 categories of administrative approval demand priority concern from the chemical engineering or petrochemical sectors. These include 8 categories for which the administrative approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has been cancelled and another 8 categories delegated to provincial NDRCs.
Administrative approval called off | Administrative approval delegated to local NDRCs |
Paper pulp production | Distributed gas generation |
Polyester production with daily output at or above 300t/d | Coal-fired back pressure thermal power |
Sugar crop processing with daily output at or above 1,500t/d | Wind power plant establishment |
New oilfield development with annual output at or above 1 million t/y | Potash fertilizer production and phosphate fertilizer production |
New gas field development with annual output at or above 2 billion m3/y | New coal mines with annual output less than 1.2 million t/y (located in the national planned mining areas) |
Ethylene products renovation and expansion | Non-cross-border or non-cross-province/city oil and gas transmission pipelines |
Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production, Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production and P-xylene (PX) production | Mining development except for rare earth mines and explored iron mines with existing industrial reserve at or above 50 million t/y (excluding coal mines and uranium mines) |
Cooperation contract between domestic and oversea companies on petroleum, natural gas and coalbed methane production | Rare earth deep processing |
On 22 July, the State Council released a new round of 50 items subject to the administrative approval termination or delegation, known as the State Council Notice No 27 of 2013. The latest streamlining plan has largely focused on private publishing and film industries.
Administrative approval reforms relating to manufacturing sectors include the following items:
The authorization of drug re-registration and the modification application for 3rd class medical devices (see Chemlinked news on July 23) will be delegated to provincial FDAs;
The authorization (given by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, NHFPC) of the production of disinfectants and disinfecting instruments has been cancelled, but manufacturers using new materials, new production processes or new sterilization methodologies are not yet in the exempt conditions.
The authorization (given by the NHFPC) of the production of tap water health products will be delegated to provincial NHFPCs, while manufacturers using new materials, new processes or new chemical substances are not yet in the exempt conditions.
Administrative approval for the registration of non-special use cosmetics imported for the first time will be delegated to provincial FDAs (see Chemlinked news on July 27).
Additionally, the State Council Notice 27 has decided to cancel the NHFPC’s accreditation of qualified chemical toxicology testing institutes, which the insiders believe will greatly boost a thriving third-party chemical testing and hazard assessment businesses.
