Editor’s Note
The following content, including both the introduction and the translation, were originally produced by ChinaFile. You can find the original here.
As detailed in a February 9 Ministry of Public Security WeChat post, the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) Foreign NGO Management Office held a special training session to explain to Beijing-based foreign NGOs how to correctly submit their 2017 annual reports. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Forestry Administration took part in the training, as did 78 individuals from foreign NGOs with offices in Beijing. The training included specialists speaking about the rules for foreign NGO account auditing and the process for uploading annual reports online, a representative of the Forestry Administration giving requirements and suggestions for annual reports related to forestry work, and PSB officials and other experts answering foreign NGOs’ questions.
The following includes details from the “Operational Guide for Foreign NGOs Filling Out Annual Reports Online,” as presented in the February 9 WeChat post. While this text, including screenshots of the process, is available in Chinese both in the WeChat post and on the Ministry of Public Security’s Foreign NGO website, The China NGO Project has not yet seen a formal copy of the Operational Guide. However, this can still be interpreted as official information. The following is a translation of that text.
Foreign NGOs can download information related to annual reporting from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) website. After obtaining its Professional Supervisory Unit’s stamp of approval on its annual report, a foreign NGO should upload the stamped report to the website, where it will undergo preliminary review. Following this review, the NGO should go online to make an appointment to turn in the paper copy of its annual report; this minimizes wait time when submitting the report in person.
To submit annual reports, Foreign NGOs should log into the “Foreign NGO Affairs Service Platform” to register. NGOs can set up their login in any of the following ways:
- Through a provincial-level Foreign NGO Management Office website.
- Through the MPS Foreign NGO Affairs Service Platform.
- By going to the MPS website and clicking on “Foreign NGO Affairs Service Platform” (“境外非政府组织办事服务平台”) in the “Service” (“办事服务”) section. [Note: The China NGO Project could not locate this link on the MPS website.]
As a prerequisite to filling in their annual report information, foreign NGOs must have already established a representative office in accordance with the Foreign NGO Law and other requirements, and must also have already completed their online filing work.
STEP 1: FILLING IN INFORMATION ONLINE
- Select the appropriate year for the report. After entering the organizational account, click the button for “Annual Inspection” (“年度检查”), read the related laws and regulations, and click “Next Step” (“下一步”). Select the appropriate year for the report and click “Next Step.” Tips: If your organization’s name does not display in the box after making the appropriate selection, the organization’s representative office registration process is not yet complete. Check to see if the organization has completed the “filing” (“备案”) segment.
2. Fill in the organization’s basic information. Fill in information according to the prompts; spaces marked with an asterisk are required. Tips: To add foreign currency account information, first click “Add” (“添加”), select currency type and verify bank account information, then click “Confirm” (“添加”). This information can also be added to, deleted, or changed.
3. Register any changes in NGO status. Ensure that any changes the organization has made this year, such as an alteration in name address, PSU, scope of work, permitted area of activity, or chief representative, are displayed. The system will show the reason for the change, the date completed, as well as information from before and after the change. If the organization has no such changes, then the system will display “The organization has made no changes to its information this year, please click Next Step” (“机构本年度无变更信息，请点击下一步”).
4. Representative office personnel information. The system will automatically display information about the organization’s chief representative, representatives, and other staff. Some of the chief representative’s and representatives’ information can be updated, and the staff members’ information can be added to, deleted, or changed. Information about accounting personnel should be entered according to the prompts; this is required. Tips: The information about the chief representative and other representatives that can be changed include telephone number, email, address, and whether or not they participate in China’s social insurance scheme.
5. Charitable activities information. For major programs: click on “Add Program” (“添加项目”) and fill in the appropriate information; each program can have multiple separate activity fields.
Tips: To facilitate filling out this section, the system will display information related to the organization’s annual plan that has already undergone review. This information can be added to, deleted, or changed.
Add income information as prompted; the system will automatically calculate and display the program and funding amounts.
Charitable expenses information. Fill in the appropriate information related to salary, benefits, and administrative expenses; the system will automatically calculate and display the organization’s overall income and expenses.
STEP 2: PREPARING AND SUBMITTING MATERIALS
- Prepare materials. After all information has been filled in, the system will automatically generate a completed version of Form 9, “Foreign NGO Representative Office Annual Work Report.” After printing, foreign NGOs should stamp and sign the form, and, along with its audited accounting report, upload it in PDF format to the system.
2. Online preliminary review. On the material preparation webpage, select “Preliminary Review” (“线上初审”). After uploading the materials and submitting them for preliminary review, wait for the result of this review. Please scan and upload all materials in advance; this will prevent extra trips to the PSB office to make changes to the materials.
Tips:
- Uploaded materials should be stamped and signed.
- Uploaded materials should be in PDF format and their file size cannot exceed 10 MB.
- If materials for one program include numerous sheets of paper, they should be scanned as one PDF file and uploaded.
- If the uploaded materials contain errors, a new version can be uploaded; this will replace the original version.
- Uploaded documents can be downloaded to be checked again.
3. Submitting offline, paper copies of materials. After preliminary review is completed, an organization can make an appointment to submit hard copies of its materials in person; if the preliminary review has not yet been completed, the system will indicate that materials must be amended and re-submitted.
Tips:
- Ensure that an appointment has been booked before any trip to submit materials.
- The portal for booking appointments is on the “Account Center—Handling Inquiries” (“账号中心 – 办理查询”) webpage, where appointment buttons will display based on where your organization is in the process.
- Choose an appointment time: Not including that day’s operating hours, appointments can be made for any time at least two working days after the time of booking.
- Re-booking: If you need to re-book an appointment, you must make the change at least two days before the original appointment time.
- Missed appointments: If for some reason you do not make your appointment, you must go back into the service portal and re-book another appointment time.
- Filling in information about the person making the appointment: The person who will be submitting the forms in person is considered to be the person making the appointment. Accurately fill in identification information for this person; s/he will need to bring identification to the appointment.
- After booking the appointment, take note of the appointment number; when lining up for the appointment, the ticket dispensers will assign a line number based on this appointment number.
