1.Public Comments Requested on the Bill on Administrative Punishments Against Public Officials
1.政务处分法草案公开征求意见 On October 8, 2019, the Bill on the Administrative Punishments Against Public Officials was published on www.npc.gov.cn, and comments may be submitted until November 6, 2019.
With a total of 66 articles in seven chapters, the Bill contains general provisions, types and application of administrative punishments, illegal acts and applicable punishments, procedures for administrative punishments, review, re-examination, and petition, legal liability, and supplemental provisions.
The Bill mainly includes: (1) Clarifying the authorities imposing administrative punishments and basic principles. The Bill stipulates that the punishment decision-making organs and entities include the appointment and removal organs and entities, and the supervisory organs; and sets out five principles of placing officials under the Party supervision, complying with laws and regulations, seeking truth from facts, democratic centralism, and “learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the illness to save the patient.” (2) Specifying the types and applicable rules of administrative punishments. The Bill sets six types of disciplinary actions including warning, demerit, gross demerit, demotion, removal from office, and dismissal, as well as corresponding periods, by reference to the types of administrative punishments as provided for by the Civil Servant Law and other laws and regulations. (3) Clearly requiring illegal acts of public officials and applicable procedures. Referring to the punishment range of the regulation on Party disciplinary actions, the corresponding punishment brackets are stipulated in light of the seriousness of acts, respectively for duty-related illegal acts and general ones. (4) Strictly regulating the procedures for administrative punishments. Chapter IV provides for the procedures for case docketing, investigation, imposing disciplinary actions, and announcement, among others. (5) Specifying the remedies for the persons subject to punishments. It stipulates the legal liabilities of the punishment decision-making organs and entities and their employees not accepting and handling public officials' review, re-examination, and petition, and otherwise illegally exercising their powers. (6) Supporting provisions. The Bill states that the State Council, the State Supervision Commission, or relevant competent authorities may formulate specific provisions in accordance with this Law.
2.Regulation on Optimizing the Business Environment (Draft) Adopted
2. 《优化营商环境条例（草案）》通过 On October 8, 2019, the executive meeting of the State Council deliberated and adopted the Regulation on Optimizing the Business Environment (Draft).
10月8日，国务院常务会议审议通过《优化营商环境条例（草案）》。
The Draft mainly includes: First, greater efforts are made to delegate powers to lower- level governments: continuing to relax market access, implementing a nationwide unified negative list system for market access, promoting the "separation of permits from business license," and reducing the procedures for enterprise start-up and deregistration; implementing "one window acceptance and multi-track processing" of realty registration, trading, and tax payment; further streamlining administrative licensing and approval, and carrying out a notification and undertaking system for such matters as licenses and certificates really necessary to be retained; and strictly controlling the establishment of new administrative licensing items, and examining and approving any new one in strict accordance with laws and regulations. Second, regulation and law enforcement should be standardized and innovated: in addition to special industries and key areas that directly involve public safety and people's lives, implementing the supervision mechanism of "randomly selected subjects inspected by randomly selected inspectors and public disclosure of inspection results", advancing "Internet + regulation", and adopting an inclusive and prudent regulatory principle when it comes to emerging industries. Third, the protection of market players should be enhanced: protecting market players’ autonomy in business operations and the personal and property safety of business operators as legally required, and strictly forbidding the imposition of such administrative compulsory measures as seizure and impoundment of properties of market players and individual operators in violation of statutory authority and procedures. Fourth, the openness and transparency of government affairs should be highlighted: advancing the undifferentiated acceptance and handling by the same standards of government service items, and disclosing information such as service standards and tariff standards of water, electricity, gas, heat, and other public utilities. Fifth, the accountability should be strictly implemented. The government departments and their employees that commit the nonfeasance or malfeasance in violation of laws and regulations, public utilities that make irregular charges, and industry association, chambers of commerce and intermediaries that illegally organize the appraisal and certification or force market participants to receive intermediary services should be held liable in accordance with the law.
3.STA Bans the Advance Tax and Fee Collection in Various Forms
3.税务总局发通知严禁以各种形式提前征税收费Lately, the General Office of the State Taxation Administration (STA) issued the Notice of Adhering to the Principle of Organizing Tax Revenues to Ensure the Effective Implementation of the Tax and Fee Reduction Policies, effective from the date of issuance.
The Notice mainly includes the collection of taxes and fees in strict accordance with laws and regulations, the total ban on the advance tax and fee collection, a good environment of organizing revenues, and the reasonable adjustment to the budget in coordination with local governments.
According to the Notice, the cuts of taxes and fees as legally required must be strictly implemented, and the collection of taxes and fees must be carried out according to laws and regulations, the act of issuing false invoices for tax fraud should be resolutely cracked down upon, “over-collection of taxes and fees” should be gravely curbed, and the refund of term-end excess input value-added tax credits should be effectively conducted.
《通知》要求，务必把该减的税减到位、务必把该降的费降到位、务必把该征的税费依法依规征收好，坚决打击虚开骗税、坚决不收“过头税费”、坚决做好留抵退税工作。 All local tax authorities should strictly regulate the organization of tax revenues and the administration of tax collection, prohibit the advance tax and fee collection in all forms, and carry out the various tax and fee reduction and exemption policies to the full.
《通知》指出，各地税务机关要严格规范组织收入和税收征管行为，严禁以各种形式提前征税收费，不折不扣落实各项税费减免政策。 They should not collect taxes in advance from enterprises in violation of regulations, should not change the collection methods within a year at will, should not collect taxes before the statutory period for filing tax returns, and should not adopt any approach inconsistent with the trend of tax and fee reduction, such as the large-scale centralized repayment of tax arrears or the industry-based large-scale inspection.