ORGANISATION MONDIALE
DU COMMERCES/C/N/217
24 décembre 2002
(02-7093)
Conseil du commerce des services Original:  anglais
NOTIFICATION AU TITRE DE L'ARTICLE III:3 DE L'ACCORD
GÉNÉRAL SUR LE COMMERCE DES SERVICES
La délégation de la République populaire de Chine a fait parvenir au Secrétariat la
notification ci-après.
____________
1. Membre adressant la notification:
République populaire de Chine
2. Notification au titre de:
Article III, paragraphe 3 de l'Accord général sur le commerce des services
3. Date d'entrée en vigueur/Durée:
11 décembre 2001
4. Organisme responsable de la mise en œuvre et de l'application de la mesure:
Administration nationale du tourisme
Ministère du commerce extérieur et de la coopération économique
5. Descriptions complète de la mesure* indiquant les modes de fourniture visés, l'effet sur
le commerce des services (par exemple, restrictions/mesures de libéralisation) et
l'incidence de la mesure sur les engagements  énoncés dans la liste du Membre et dans sa
liste d'exemptions de l'article II (NPF), le cas échéant:
Règlement sur l'administration des agences de voyages
On trouvera ci-joint le texte intégral en anglais de ce règlement.1  Seule la version en chinois
fait foi, la traduction en anglais n'étant fournie qu'à titre de référence.
6. Membres spécifiquement affectés, le cas échéant:
Tous les Membres
                                                     
* Y compris les accords internationaux, les mesures de reconnaissance ou d'autres types.
1 En anglais seulement.S/C/N/217
Page 2
7. Les textes peuvent être obtenus auprès de:
- Point d'information /g254
- Secrétariat de l'OMC /g254
- Autres sources (adresse, télécopie
et téléphone d'un autre organisme /g168S/C/N/217
Page 3
Regulations on Administration of Travel Agencies
(Promulgated by Decree No.205 of the State Counci l of the Peoples Republic of China on October 15,
1996, and revised in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations
on Administration of Travel Agencies on December 11, 2001)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purposes of strengthening the
administration of travel agencies, protecting the lawful rights and interests of tourists and travel
agencies, maintaining the order of tourism market and promoting the healthy development of tourism.
Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to travel agencies established within the territory of the
People’s Republic of China and resident offices established within the territory of the People’s
Republic of China by foreign travel agencies (hereinafter referred to as resident offices of foreign
travel agencies).
Article 3 Travel agencies referred to in these Regulations mean the enterprises that engage in
the tourism business with making profit as their aim.
Tourism business referred to in these Regulations means the business activities of providing such paid
services as fulfillment of procedures in respect of exit, entry and visa on behalf of tourists, solicitingand receiving tourists or arranging board and lodging for them.
Article 4 The competent tourism administration department of the State Council shall be
responsible for the supervision and administration of travel agencies throughout the country.
Departments for tourism administration under local people ’s governments at or above the county
level shall, according to their duties, be responsible for the supervision and administration of travel
agencies within their respective administrative areas.
Departments mentioned in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are collectively referred to as the tourism
administration departments.
Article 5 Travel agencies shall be categorized into international travel agencies and domestic
travel agencies according to their business scope. Where necessary, the special provisions of these
Regulations, if any, shall apply thereto.
The business scope of international travel agencies shall include the inbound tourism business,
outbound tourism business and domestic tourism business.
The business scope of domestic travel agencies shall be limited only to the domestic tourism business.
Chapter II Establishment of Travel Agencies
Article 6 To establish a travel agency, the following conditions shall be satisfied:
(1) having the fixed business premises;(2) having necessary business facilities;
(3) having trained business personnel who possess the qualification certificate issued by
the tourism administration department of the people ’s government at or above the
level of province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central
Government; andS/C/N/217
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(4) having the registered capital and the quality guaranty bond as specified in Articles 7
and 8 of these Regulations.
Article 7 The registered capital of travel agencies shall comply with the following
requirements:
(1) The registered capital of an international travel agency may not be less than RMB 1.5
million yuan; and
(2) The registered capital of a domestic travel agency may not be less than RMB 300,000
yuan.
Article 8 To apply to establish a travel agency, the quality guaranty bond shall be paid to the
tourism administration department according to the following provisions:
(1) The applicant for establishing an international travel agency shall pay RMB 600,000
yuan for the inbound tourism business or RMB 1 million yuan for the outbound
tourism business; and
(2) The applicant for establishing a domestic travel agency shall pay RMB 100,000 yuan.
The quality guaranty bond and its interests accrued in the period of custody by the tourism
administration department shall belong to the travel agency; the tourism administration department
may, according to the relevant provisions of the State, deduct the custody fee at a certain rate from the
interest.
Article 9 To apply to establish an international travel agency, the application shall be submitted
to the department for tourism administration of the people ’s government of the province,
autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where it is to be situated;
after the examination and consent by the department for tourism administration of the people ’s
government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central
Government, that application shall be submitted to the competent tourism administration  departmentof the State Council for examination and approval.
To apply to establish a domestic travel agency, the application shall be submitted for approval to the
department for tourism administration of the people’s government of the province, autonomous region
or municipality directly under the Central Government where it is to be situated.
Article 10 To apply to establish a travel agency, the following documents shall be submitted:
(1) the written application for the proposed travel agency;
(2) the feasibility study report for the proposed travel agency;
(3) the articles of association of the proposed travel agency;(4) resumes of the manager and deputy managers of the proposed travel agency and their
qualification certificates as specified in Item (3) of Article 6 of these Regulations;
(5) the capital and credibility certification issued by the deposit bank and the capital
verification report issued by the certified public accountant and his accounting firm or
auditing firm;
(6) the business premises certificate; and
(7) the business facilities certificate.
Article 11 The tourism administration department shall, after the receipt of an application, carry
out the examination according to the following principles:
(1) whether or not it conforms to the tourism development planning;
(2) whether or not it meets the need of tourist market; and
(3) whether or not it satisfies the conditions as specified in Article 6 of these Regulations.S/C/N/217
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The tourism administration department shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the
application, make the decision of approval or disapproval, and notify the applicant of its findings.
Article 12 If the application is approved upon examination and approval, the tourism
administration department shall issue the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency to theapplicant. The applicant shall, by presenting such a Permit, obtain the business license from the
industrial and commercial administration department.
The applicant who fails to obtain the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency may not engage in
the tourism business.
Article 13 The travel agency that intends to make a change to its business scope shall obtain
approval from the tourism administration department that originally approved it, and after that, gothrough the registration formalities for the change with the industrial and commercial administration
department.
The travel agency that intends to make a change to such item as its name, business premises or legal
representative, or to terminate or suspend its bus iness, shall go through the relevant registration
formalities for the change or cancellation with the industrial and commercial administration
department, and report it to the tourism administration department that originally approved it for the
record.
Article 14 The tourism administration departments shall practice the system of announcement
with regard to travel agencies, which shall include the announcement of business commencement,
change of name or business scope, termination of business or revocation of permit.
Article 15 The travel agency that has an annual reception of more than 100,000 person time
tourists may set up branch agency which has no status of legal person (hereinafter referred to as thebranch).
The international travel agency shall make an increase of RMB 750,000 yuan to its registered capital
and RMB 300,000 yuan to its quality guaranty bond when a branch is set up. The domestic travel
agency shall make an increase of RMB 150,000 yuan to its registered capital and RMB 50,000 yuan
to its quality guaranty bond when a branch is set up.
Travel agencies and their branches shall be under unified management, financial control, market
promotion and receiving.
The branches set up by travel agencies shall accept the supervision and administration from the
departments for tourism administration of local people’s governments at and above the county levelwhere they are located.
Article 16 Foreign travel agencies that intend to establish resident offices within the territory of
the People’s Republic of China must obtain approval from the competent tourism administration
department of the State Council.
Resident offices of foreign travel agencies may engage only in tourism consultation, liaison and
publicity, and may not engage in the tourism business.
Chapter III Operation of Travel Agencies
Article 17 Travel agencies shall carry out their business activities within the approved business
scope. Travel agencies shall, in their business activities, adhere to the principles of voluntariness,
equality, fairness, honesty and credibility and observe commercial ethics.S/C/N/217
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Article 18 No travel agency may, by using the follow ing illegal methods, engage in the tourism
business so as to harm its competitor:
(1) to counterfeit the registered trademark of another travel agency;
(2) to use the name of another travel agency without authorization;(3) to defame another travel agency;
(4) to authorize a unit which is not a travel agency or an individual to engage in the
tourism business on its behalf; or
(5) to commit other acts to disturb the order of tourism market.
Article 19 Travel agencies shall conclude written contracts with the business personnel they
employed in order to establish the rights and obligations of both the parties.
No business personnel may without the consent of the travel agency, disclose, use or allow another
person to use the travel agency’s business secrets coming to his knowledge.
Article 20 Travel agencies shall protect the lawful rights and interests of tourists.
The tourism service information provided by travel agencies to tourists must be true and reliable, and
no false promotion may be permitted.
Article 21 Travel agencies shall, when organizing tours, buy the tour accident insurance for their
tourists and guarantee that the services they provide comply with the requirements for the tourists ’
personal and property safety; and in case of potential danger to the tourists personal and property
safety, they shall make true disclosure and explicit warnings to the tourists and take measures to avoidthe occurrence of any danger.
Article 22 Travel agencies are entitled to collect fees for services they provide to their tourists
according to the provisions of the State, and if extr a charges are charged for additional services in the
course of a tour, they shall obtain the consent from tourists in advance.
Travel agencies shall, when providing paid services, issue service documents to the tourists according
to the provisions of the State.
Article 23 Tourists shall have the right to lodge complaints with the tourism administration
department for any losses caused to them under any of the following  circumstances:
(1) The travel agency fails to meet, due to its own fault, the service quality standard set
forth in the contract;
(2) The service provided by the travel agency fails to meet the national or trade standard;
or
(3) Bankruptcy of the travel agency causes losses to the tour fee prepaid by tourists.
The tourism administration department shall handle the complaints lodged by tourists according to the
provisions of these Regulations.
Article 24 The tour guides receiving tourists and the tour leaders for outbound tour employed by
travel agencies shall have the qualification certificate issued by tourism administration departments ofpeople’s governments at or above the level of province, autonomous region or municipality directly
under the Central Government.
Article 25 Travel agencies shall, when organizing outbound tour for tourists, select counterpart
travel agencies in the countries or regions concerned, which are established according to law and haveS/C/N/217
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good reputation, and can entrust them with the reception only after a writing agreement with them has
been concluded.
In case of infringement upon the tourists’ rights or interests due to breach of agreement by the travel
agency abroad, the home travel agency that organizes the outbound tour shall be liable forcompensation, and then it may demand reimbursement from the travel agency abroad.
Article 26 Travel agencies shall keep complete records of soliciting and receiving tourists, and
preserve the relevant documents and materials for inspection by the tourism administration
department.
Chapter IV Special Provisions on Foreign-Invested Travel Agencies
Article 27 The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to  foreign-invested travel  agencies; where
this Chapter remains silent, other relevant provisions of these Regulations shall apply thereto.
Foreign-invested travel agencies mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall include Chinese Foreign
equity joint venture travel agencies and Chinese Foreign contractual joint venture travel agencies
established according to law jointly by foreign tourism operators and Chinese investors.
Article 28 The minimum registered capital of a Chinese  Foreign equity joint venture travel
agency shall be RMB 4 million yuan. The minimum registered capital of a Chinese Foreigncontractual joint venture travel agency may be adjusted. The competent tourism administration
department of the State Council shall, together with the competent foreign trade and economic
cooperation department of the State Council, determine the time limit for adjustment.
The competent tourism administration department of the State Council shall, together with the
competent foreign trade and economic cooperation department of the State Council, determine the
proportion of capital to be contributed by the investors in Chinese Foreign equity joint venture travel
agencies according to the relevant provisions.
The provisions of Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the minimum
registered capital and the proportion of capital to be contributed by the parties in Chinese Foreign
contractual joint venture travel agencies.
Article 29 The Chinese investor in a foreign-invested travel agency shall satisfy the following
conditions:
(1) being a company established according to law;
(2) having no record of law breaking or serious regulation breaking in the past three
years; and
(3) meeting the prudence requirement and the requirements for special industry specified
by the competent tourism administration department of the State Council
Article 30 The foreign investor in a foreign-invested travel agency shall satisfy the following
conditions:
(1) being a travel agency or an enterprise mainly engaging in tourism business;
(2) having the annual business volume of more than USD$ 40 million; and
(3) being a member of the tourism association of its own country.
Article 31 When applying to establish a foreign-invested travel agency, the Chinese investor
shall make the application to the competent tourism administration department of the State Council
and submit the documents as specified in Article 10 of these Regulations and the certificates inconformity with the provisions of Article 30 of these Regulations. The competent tourismS/C/N/217
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administration department of the State Council shall finish the examination on the application and
make the decision of approval or disapproval within 60 days from the date of receipt of the
application. If the approval is granted, it shall issue the Letter of Examination Opinion on Business
Operation Licensing for Foreign-Invested Travel Agency; if no approval is granted, it shall inform the
applicant and give reasons in writing.
The applicant shall, by presenting the Letter of Examination Opinion on Business Operation
Licensing for Foreign-Invested Travel Agency, the contract and articles of association signed by all
investors, apply to the competent foreign trade and economic cooperation department of the State
Council for the establishment of the foreign-invested enterprise. The competent foreign trade and
economic cooperation department of the State Council shall finish the examination on the contract
and articles of association of the proposed foreign-invested travel agency and make the decision ofapproval or disapproval within the time limit as specified by the relevant laws and administrative
regulations. If the approval is granted, it shall issue the Approval Certificate for Foreign-Invested
Enterprise and inform the applicant to obtain the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency from
the competent tourism administration department of the State Council. If no approval is granted, it
shall inform the applicant and give reasons in writing.
The applicant shall, on the strength of the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency and the
Approval Certificate for Foreign Invested Enterprise, go through the formalities for registration of
foreign-invested travel agency with the industrial and commercial administration department.
Article 32 Foreign-Invested travel agencies may engage in the inbound tourism business and
domestic tourism business.
No foreign-invested travel agency may set up any branch.Article 33 No foreign-invested travel agency may engage in the tourism business of Chinese
citizens travelling abroad and of citizens from other Chinese territories travelling to Hong KongSpecial Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan region.
Chapter V Supervision and Inspection
Article 34 Tourism administration departments shall, according to law, strengthen the
supervision and administration of travel agencies and resident offices of foreign travel agencies, and
maintain the order of tourism market.
Article 35 Travel agencies shall accept the supervision and inspection from tourism
administration departments on their service quality, safety, price, financial accounts, payment offoreign exchange and other business operations.
The staff members of tourism administration departments shall show their certificates when they
perform their duties of supervision and inspection.
Article 36 Tourism administration departments shall carry out the annual inspection on travel
agencies every year. Travel agencies shall subm it the annual inspection report, assets statement,
financial statement and other relevant documents and materials in accordance with the provisions of
tourism administration departments.
Article 37 Tourism administration departments shall strengthen the financial management of
quality guaranty bonds, and use them for compensation to the economic losses of tourists according tothe relevant provisions of the State. No unit or individual may use the quality guaranty bonds for any
other purpose.S/C/N/217
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Chapter VI Penalty Provisions
Article 38 Where anyone violates the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 12 or Paragraph 2 of
Article 16 of these Regulations, the tourism administration department shall order him to stop theillegal operation, confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan
but not more than RMB 50,000 yuan concurrently.
Article 39 Where anyone violates the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 17, Article 21,
Paragraph 1 of Article 22, Article 24, Paragraph 1 of Article 25, Article 32 or Article 33 of these
Regulations, the tourism administration department shall order him to make corrections within a
prescribed time limit, confiscate the illegal income, if  any; if he fails to make corrections within the
prescribed time limit, order him to suspend business for 15 to 30 days for rectification and may
concurrently impose a fine of not less than RMB 5,000 yuan but not more than RMB 20,000 yuan; if
the circumstances are serious, may revoke the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency.
Article 40 Where anyone violates the provisions of Article 18 or Paragraph 2 of Article 20 of
these Regulations, penalties shall be given in accordance with the relevant provisions of the
Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Law of the People’s Republic of China
Against Unfair Competition.
Article 41 Where anyone violates the provisions of Article 26 or Paragraph 1 of Article 35 of
these Regulations, the tourism administration departme nt shall order him to make corrections within a
prescribed time limit and give a warning; if he fa ils to make corrections within the prescribed time
limit, shall order him to suspend business for 3 to 15 days for rectification and may impose a fine of
not less than RMB 3,000 yuan but not more than RMB 10,000 yuan concurrently.
Article 42 Where a travel agency is revoked its Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency, it
shall be revoked its business license by the industrial and commercial administration department
accordingly.
Article 43 The tourism administration department that accepts the complaint as specified in
Article 23 of these Regulations shall, if the case is proved true after investigation, order the travel
agency concerned to make compensation on the basis of actual losses of tourists; if the travel agencyrefuses or is unable to bear the responsibility for compensation, the tourism administration department
may make the payment from the quality guaranty bond of the travel agency concerned.
Article 44 Where the tourism administration department or the competent foreign trade and
economic co-operation department,  in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, commits anyof the following acts, administrative sanctions shall be given to the persons in charge who have
responsibility and other persons directly responsible for the violations according to law:
(1) failing to issue the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency or the Approval
Certificate for Foreign-Invested Enterpri se to the applicant who satisfies the
conditions; or
(2) issuing the Business Operation Permit for Travel Agency or the Approval Certificate
for Foreign-Invested Enterprise to the applicant who does not satisfy the conditions.
Article 45 Any staff members of the tourism administration department who neglect their duties
or abuse their powers shall be investigated for crimin al liability according to law if the criminal law is
violated; or be given administrative sanctions according to law if the offense is not serious enough for
criminal penalty.S/C/N/217
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Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 46 These Regulations shall apply mutatis mutandis to the establishment of travel
agencies on the mainland with the investment by tourism operators from the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan region.
Article 47 These Regulations shall be effective as of the date of promulgation. The Interim
Regulations on Administration of Travel Agencies promulgated by the State Council on May 11, 1985
shall be repealed simultaneously.
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