Provisions on the Procedures for Making the Administrative Rules of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China
Order of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China
（No.185）
The Provisions on the Procedures for Making the Administrative Rules of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China were adopted at the utive meeting of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China on April 30, 2007, and are hereby issued, and shall be effective as of June 14, 2007.
Director-General: Yang Yuanyuan
May 14, 2007
Provisions on the Procedures for Making the Administrative Rules of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 In order to standardize the procedures for making the civil aviation administrative rules, ensure the quality of civil aviation administrative rules, promote the administration according to law, these Provisions have been made in accordance with the Law on Legislation of the People's Republic of China and Regulation on the Procedures for Making Administrative Rules, by taking into account the working reality of making the civil aviation administrative rules.
Article 2 The civil aviation administrative rules in these Provisions shall refer to the standard documents made by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China （the "GACAC"） in its own capacity or made jointly by the GACAC and the relevant departments of the State Council in their respective capacities and issued in the form of an order of the GACAC, in accordance with the laws and the administrative regulations, decisions and orders of the State Council.
The other standard documents with general binding force involving the rights and obligations of the opposite parties of the administrative management made and issued publicly by the GACAC, functionary departments of the GACAC or local civil aviation authorities shall not contravene the civil aviation administrative rules.
Article 3 The civil aviation administrative rules may only be made in the name of the GACAC, and a functionary department of the GACAC shall not make the civil aviation administrative rules in its own name.
Article 4 In the making of the civil aviation administrative rules, the following principles shall be observed:
（a） Principle of the unity of the national legal system;
（b） Principle of making the rules according to the statutory functions and procedures;
（c） Principle of consistency between functions and responsibilities;
（d） Principle of protecting the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations; and
（e） Principle of safeguarding the discharge of functions according to law by the administrative authorities.
Article 5 The law department of the GACAC （the "law department"） shall be responsible for the guidance and oversight of the making of the administrative rules, responsible for the summarization, review and oversight of the drafting plans on administrative rules, and responsible for the contact, coordination and filing of the administrative rules with the legislative affairs authority of the National People's Congress and legislative affairs authority of the State Council.
The functionary departments of the GACAC shall be responsible for applying for the project identification and drafting and organizing the drafting of the administrative rules.
The law divisions of the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the GACAC and the local civil aviation authorities shall be responsible for studying the measures and methods for implementing the civil aviation laws and administrative regulations and rules, reviewing the specific implementing systems and provisions drafted on their own pursuant to the civil aviation laws and administrative regulations and rules, and offering legislative suggestions, to the extent of their respective capacities.
Article 6 The civil aviation administrative rules shall be meticulous in structure, complete in content, clear in context, accurate in wording and concise in language.
Chapter II Project Identification
Article 7 The matters provided for in the civil aviation administrative rules shall be the matters for implementing the laws or the administrative regulations, decisions and orders of the State Council; the administrative rules shall be made, if any measures for the administrative licensing, qualifications, administrative charges, or administrative punishment need to be provided for.
If what the civil aviation administrative rules regulate have been provided for in the relevant laws or regulations, the civil aviation administrative rules may only detail the relevant provisions, or provide for the specific operating rules and implementing rules pursuant to the relevant provisions, in no way contravening the relevant laws or regulations; if not been provided for in the relevant laws or regulations, the civil aviation administrative rules may provide for the matters involved to the extent of the capacity of the GACAC.
Article 8 The GACAC shall adopt the system of legislative years, and a legislative year shall commence on January 1 and end on December 31 of the year. The GACAC shall draw the annual legislative plan as per the legislative year to fix the matters requiring the making or revision of the administrative rules.
Article 9 If a functionary department of the GACAC deems it necessary to make or revise certain administrative rules, it shall submit an application for project identification to the law department before the commencement of a new legislative year.
In the application for project identification, it shall explain the necessity and feasibility of the making of the administrative rules, the basic thoughts about the making of the administrative rules and the major issues to be addressed, the major systems to be established and the persons in charge of and/or handling the project, the proposed date of completion of the drafting, etc.
Article 10 The law department shall be responsible for the review of the project identification.
An application for project identification shall be rejected, if the necessity for the project identification is not sufficient, the project contravenes the relevant laws or administrative regulations or rules, or the project is not consistent with the requirements of the development of the socialist market economy and the transition of government functions.
Article 11 The law department shall summarize and coordinate the applications for project identification of the making and revising of the administrative rules, and make the legislative plan for the next year to be uted after approval by the leader of the GACAC.
The annual legislative plan shall include the names of the administrative rules, departments of drafting, persons in charge of the projects, proposed dates of completion, etc.
The drafting department shall complete the drafting as scheduled in line with the working plan on the making of the administrative rules; and if the drafting cannot be completed as scheduled, the drafting department shall report it and the causes for it to the leader of the GACAC.
Article 12 The annual legislative plan shall be uted strictly. The law department shall be responsible for inspecting, overseeing and prompting the ution of the annual legislative plan, and bulletining the progress of the ution of the plan.
Article 13 The working plan on the making of administrative rules may be adjusted as the case may be. The proposed addition of matters beyond the plan may be incorporated in the working plan on the making of administrative rules of the year after being approved by the leader of the GACAC.
Chapter III Drafting
Article 14 The administrative rules shall be drafted by the department that submits the application for project identification.
For the administrative rules with complicated content and involving several functionary departments, the GACAC may specify one of the departments or the law department to draft or organize the drafting of the administrative rules.
The relevant experts or organizations may be invited to participate in the drafting of the administrative rules, and the relevant experts or organizations may also be engaged to draft the administrative rules.
The relevant provisions of the GACAC shall apply to the funds necessary for the drafting of the administrative rules.
Article 15 In the drafting of the administrative rules, the following basic requirements shall be satisfied:
（a） Tangibly protecting the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, while providing for their duties, the administrative rules shall also provide for their rights enjoyed and the channels safeguarding the realization of their rights;
（b） Satisfying the objective requirements of the development of the socialist market economy and the requirements of the transition of government functions, the administrative rules shall not have clauses that set industrial protectionism, impede market circulation or impair fair competition;
（c） While conferring the necessary powers on the relevant administrative authorities, the administrative rules shall also provide for the conditions, procedures and liabilities for their exercise of powers; and the management measures and formalities in the administrative rules shall facilitate the improvement of working efficiency and shall be convenient for the opposite parties of the administrative management; and
（d） Starting from the reality of the industry concerned, the administrative rules shall be concrete, clear, detailed and operative.
Article 16 In the drafting of the administrative rules, the legislative investigation and research shall be conducted as the case may be, to learn the existing problems in practice and study the advanced experience home and abroad, and the comprehensive opinions may be solicited from the relevant authorities, organizations and individuals in a written form or by such means as holding a seminar, demonstration workshop or hearing.
Article 17 Where the administrative rules involve any general issues, the drafting department shall organize the holding of a seminar to hear the opinions of the relevant authorities, organizations and opposite parties of the administrative management; where the administrative rules involve any major legal issues or special technical issues, a demonstration workshop shall be held to hear the opinions of experts in the relevant field or other specialists; where the drafted administrative rules directly involve the direct interests of citizens, legal person and other organizations and the relevant authorities, organizations or citizens have materially different opinions on the administrative rules, such administrative rules shall be available to the general public, or a public hearing shall be held for such administrative rules.
Article 18 Where the provisions of the drafted administrative rules involve the functions of any other department of the State Council or have a close relationship therewith, or involve the work of any other functionary department of the GACAC, the drafting department shall seriously hear opinions and actively conduct coordination; and if the coordination fails, shall submit the relevant opinions along with the review version of the administrative rules.
Where the drafted administrative rules involve any of such major issues as the relevant administrative system and functionary adjustment subject to the policymaking by the GACAC, the drafting department shall first submit the same to the GACAC for a decision.
Article 19 The review version of the administrative rules shall be determined after the collective discussion by the persons in charge of the drafting department, and after being signed by the persons in charge of the drafting department, shall be submitted to the law department for review. The review version of the administrative rules drafted jointly by two or more departments shall be submitted to the law department for review after being signed jointly by the persons in charge of the drafting departments.
Article 20 In submitting the review version of the administrative rules, the drafting department shall submit the following documents and materials:
（a） Report on submission for review;
（b） Text of the review version of the administrative rules and the electronic text thereof;
（c） Introduction to the review version of the administrative rules and the electronic text thereof;
（d） Minutes of the public hearing attached, where the relevant authorities, organizations or individuals have different opinions and a public hearing is held;
（e） Relevant legal basis; and
（f） Other relevant materials.
Article 21 The introduction to the review version of the administrative rules shall include the followings:
（a） Status quo of and major issues on the matters to be regulated;
（b） Guidelines and objectives for drafting the administrative rules;
（c） Major measures provided for and the legal basis thereof;
（d） Feasibility and anticipated effects of implementation;
（e） Treatment of the different opinions; and
（f） Other issues needing explanation.
Article 22 The review version of the administrative rules shall normally include the followings:
（a） Purposes and basis for making the administrative rules;
（b） Applicable scope;
（c） Competent authority or department;
（d） Management principles;
（e） Specific management measures and formalities;
（f） Rights and obligations of the civil aviation administrative authority and the opposite parties of the administrative management;
（g） Legal liabilities;
（h） Date of implementation; and
（i） Other provisions needed.
Article 23 Where the review version of the administrative rules is not consistent with any of the requirements of Articles 20, 21 and 22 of these Provisions, the law department may require the drafting department to provide relevant supplemental materials within 15 days.
Where the drafting department fails to provide the relevant supplemental material as required or the drafting work is not consistent with any of the requirements of Articles 18 and 19 of these Provisions, the law department may return the review version of the administrative rules to the drafting department.
Chapter IV Review
Article 24 The law department shall be responsible for the exclusive review of the review version of the administrative rules, and shall review the following:
（a） Whether the principles set forth in Article 4 of these Provisions are observed;
（b） Whether the statutory powers and procedures are complied with;
（c） Whether the differences in the opinions on the review version of the administrative rules of the relevant authorities, organizations and individuals have been properly dealt with;
（d） Whether the technical requirements in legislation are satisfied; and
（e） Other matters needing the review.
Article 25 The law department may solicit in writing the opinions on the review version of the administrative rules from the relevant authorities, and may also, as needed, send the review version of the administrative rules to the relevant organizations and experts to solicit their opinions.
Where the review version of the administrative rules involves any major issues, the law department may hold a seminar or demonstration workshop attended by the relevant organizations and experts for discussion and demonstration.
Where the review version of the administrative rules directly involves the direct interests of citizens, legal persons or other organizations, on which there are materially different opinions, and the drafting department in the drafting has neither solicited the public opinions nor held any public hearing, the law department with the approval of the GACAC may solicit the public opinions and may also hold a public hearing.
The relevant provisions of the GACAC shall apply to the funds needed for the review of the administrative rules
Article 26 The law department in the review shall treat various different opinions in an objective, just and practical way.
Where the relevant entities or departments have different opinions on the major measures, management system, division of powers, etc. involved in the review version of the administrative rules, the law department shall endeavor to make coordination, so that an agreement may be reached; and where an agreement cannot be reached, shall submit the same to the GACAC for a decision.
Article 27 The law department may postpone the review of or return the review version of the administrative rules to the drafting department, under any of the following circumstances:
（a） The basic principles for the drafting of administrative rules are not observed;
（b） The conditions for the making of administrative rules are immature;
（c） The major systems set forth lack practical basis, and therefore, require new investigation and research;
（d） The provisions of administrative rules involve relevant departments, with which the drafting department has not conducted a consultation;
（e） The relevant authority has raised great dispute over the provisions of the review version, with relatively sufficient grounds;
（f） The materials attached to the review version are incomplete;
（g） The prescribed procedures are not complied with; or
（h） Any other circumstances under which it is not proper to submit the review version of the administrative rules to the utive meeting of the GACAC （the "utive meeting"） for deliberation.
The postponed or returned review version of the administrative rules, after being amended by the drafting department and meeting the conditions for submission for review, may be submitted again to the law department for review according to the prescribed procedures.
Article 28 The law department shall revise the review version of the administrative rules based on the comprehensively solicited opinions, and in conjunction with the drafting department, form the draft version of the administrative rules and introduction thereto based on the review opinions. The introduction shall include the issues to be addressed by the making of the administrative rules, the major measures determined, the coordination with the relevant departments, etc.
The draft version of the administrative rules and introduction thereto shall be submitted to the utive meeting for deliberation, after being co-signed by the persons in charge of the law department and those of the relevant functionary departments.
Chapter V Decision, Enactment and Archives
Article 29 The administrative rules shall be deliberated and decided at the utive meeting.
In the deliberation of the draft version of the administrative rules, the persons in charge of the law department shall make an introduction to the review, and the persons in charge of the drafting department shall make an introduction to the drafting of the draft version of the administrative rules.
Article 30 After the deliberation at the utive meeting, the drafting department in conjunction with the law department shall amend the draft version of the administrative rules according to the amendment opinions advanced during the deliberation, and form the amended draft version of the administrative rules to be submitted to the chief utive of the GACAC for signing an order on the enactment of the administrative rules.
Where the draft version of the administrative rules is not adopted due to the existence of materially different opinions during the deliberation, according to the requirements of the utive meeting, the drafting department in conjunction with the law department, relevant functionary departments and dissenting departments shall, again, conduct coordination and discussion and propose the draft version as amended to be submitted to the utive meeting for deliberation again.
Article 31 After the draft version of the administrative rules is adopted at the utive meeting and signed by the chief utive of the GACAC for enactment, the administrative rules that shall be enacted jointly by the GACAC and any other department of the State Council shall be delivered to the joint enactment departments for enactment.
After being reviewed by the law department, the administrative rules that shall be made by any other department of the State Council as the leading department and enacted jointly with the GACAC shall be co-signed by the chief utive of the GACAC and the chief utive of the joint making department for enactment, using the order sequence number of the leading department.
Article 32 The administrative rules shall be effective after 30 days as of the date of enactment, but may be effective on the date of enactment provided that the national security is involved or the enforcement of the administrative rules may be hindered if they are not effective immediately after the enactment.
Article 33 After being signed, the administrative rules shall be published on the web site of the GACAC （www.caac.gov.cn）, Bulletin of the General Administrative of Civil Aviation of China or CAAC Journal, or shall be published in time by other channels readily available to the general public.
The text of the administrative rules published on the Bulletin of the General Administrative of Civil Aviation of China shall be the standard text.
Article 34 Within 30 days after the enactment of the administrative rules, the law department shall conduct the formalities for archiving the administrative rules with the legislative affairs authority of the State Council, according to the procedures and requirements set forth in the Regulation on Archiving Administrative Regulations and Rules.
Chapter VI Interpretation, Assessment, Amendment and Abolition
Article 35 The administrative rules shall be interpreted by the GACAC, and the functionary departments of the GACAC and the local civil aviation authorities shall not have the authority to interpret the administrative rules.
The administrative rules shall be interpreted by the GACAC, if:
（a） The provisions of the administrative rules require to be further defined; or
（b） The new situations arising after the enactment of the administrative rules require the clarification of the basis for the application of the administrative rules.
The local civil aviation authorities may apply for the interpretation of the administrative rules to the GACAC; when deeming it necessary for the civil aviation administrative rules to be interpreted, citizens, legal persons and other organization may offer suggestions on the interpretation of the administrative rules to the GACAC.
The interpretation of the administrative rules may be drafted by the original drafting department of the administrative rules, or may be drafted by the law department. After the completion of the drafting of the interpretation of the administrative rules, the drafted interpretation of the administrative rules along with the introduction thereto shall be submitted to the law department according to the procedures by analogy to the review procedures for the review version of the administrative rules for opinions, and the law department shall submit all to the GACAC for approval and enactment.
The interpretation of the administrative rules and the administrative rules shall be equally effective.
Article 36 For the administrative rules causing intense repercussions in the civil aviation industry or from the general public, after the enactment and enforcement, the local civil aviation authorities shall report on the enforcement of the administrative rules within their respective jurisdictions to the GACAC.
The report shall mainly include:
（a） Study and publicity, after the enactment of the administrative rules;
（b） Results from the enforcement of the administrative rules;
（c） Related documents made or main measure taken for the enforcement of the administrative rules; and
（d） Problems existing in the enforcement and suggestions.
Where there exist relatively obvious problems in the enforcement of the administrative rules as reported by the local civil aviation authorities, the GACAC may organize the conduct of legislative assessment.
Article 37 The administrative rules shall be amended, if:
（a） It is necessary to add or delete some provisions based on the policy or practical needs;
（b） Relevant amendment shall be made as a result of the amendment of the relevant laws and administrative regulations;
（c） The competent authority or enforcement authority provided for has changed;
（d） There are inconsistent provisions on the same matter in two or more sets of administrative rules; or
（e） Under other circumstances requiring the amendment.
Article 38 The administrative rules shall be abolished, if:
（a） The enforcement of the matters provided for has come to an end, or has become unnecessary for the change of situations;
（b） The administrative rules have lost the legislative basis, as a result of the abolition or amendment of the relevant laws and administrative regulations;
（c） The new administrative rules providing for the same matter have been enacted and enforced; or
（d） The prescribed period of effectiveness of the administrative rules has expired.
Article 39 The amendment or abolition of the administrative rules may be proposed by the drafting department of the administrative rules, or may be proposed by the law department. The drafting department and the law department after consultation shall submit the opinions from the consultation and deal with it by analogy to the relevant provisions on the making of administrative rules.
After the amendment of the administrative rules, the new text of the administrative rules shall be published in time.
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 40 The relevant provisions of these Provisions shall apply, by analogy, to the procedures for the GACAC, on behalf of the State Council, to draft the proposal versions of the laws and administrative regulations, and the law department shall be responsible for organizing the drafting and coordination.
Article 41 On the basis of a clear-up of the existing civil aviation administrative rules, the law department may compile and publish the collections of civil aviation administrative rules.
Article 42 These Provisions shall be effective after 30 days as of the date of enactment. The Provisions on the Procedures for Making the Administrative Rules of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China （Order No.45 of the GACAC） made in 1990 and amended in 1995 shall be abolished as of the effective date of these Provisions.