On July 18, Dongguan hosted the seminar on deepening the reform of the business system and building a top-notch business environment in the Greater Bay Area and the special session of the reform of the business system under the strategic forum on market regulation and development. The seminar was cohosted by the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and the People's Government of Dongguan Municipality. The seminar has seen the signing of the "Dongguan-Hong Kong Cooperation Framework Agreement on Commercial Registration" by the People's Government of Dongguan Municipality, China Legal Service (H.K.) LTD. and the Association of China-Appointed Attesting Office Limited, which prompted Dongguan to be the first prefecture-level city in China that has signed a cooperation framework agreement on commercial registration. The event was attended by Fu Wenbiao, Director-General of the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Xiao Yafei, Deputy Secretary of Dongguan CPC Municipal Committee and Mayor, Zhang Wenxian, Deputy Director-General of Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, Li Junxiao, Deputy Director-General of the Reform Commission of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Zhang Guanzi, Member of the Standing Committee of Dongguan Municipal Committee of the CPC and Deputy Mayor.

Dongguan and Hong Kong deepening cooperation on commercial registration

The "cooperation framework agreement" encompasses the following four aspects: First, establish a simplified information database of attesting documents; Second, advance sharing of electronic information of attesting documents; Third, explore offshore application of commercial registration for Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Dongguan; Fourth, facilitate exchanges between Dongguan and Hong Kong in commercial registration.  

It is learned that for investors from Hong Kong who want to invest in the Chinese mainland, they have to prepare very complicated legal documents, which hinders application process and scrutiny of relevant departments. With the approval of Guangdong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation in 2018, Dongguan Municipal Administration for Market Regulation has been working actively with China Legal Service (H.K.) LTD. and the Association of China-Appointed Attesting Office Limited. They had discussion about the simplification of legal documents required by Hong Kong investors to invest in Dongguan and developed a plan for legal documents simplification. The plan was approved and filed by the Lawyers' Work Bureau of the Ministry of Justice on October 29, 2018. The simplified Hong Kong attesting documents were officially put into use in Dongguan and Hong Kong.

This marks a breakthrough for Dongguan's piloting tasks and provides a replicable sample for the whole province with regard to registration of Hong Kong-invested enterprises. Additionally, this has also laid a foundation for electronic cross-border commercial registration. Currently, provinces or cities such as Chongqing and cities in Guangdong province are conducting simplification reform with Dongguan serving as an example.

Advancing alignment with market and operation access rules for Hong Kong and Macau

Dongguan Municipal Administration for Market Regulation relied on the cooperation of "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bank Securities Link" and replicated its piloting experience of simplifying Hong Kong attesting documents. Dongguan is now conducting simplified reform for Macau attesting documents in an effort to simplify documents required by investors from Macau to invest in Dongguan.

In addition, Dongguan is exploring e-registration for Hong Kong-invested enterprises and trying to replace traditional paper documents serving as core proof for the change of Hong Kong-invested enterprises with information data. Hong Kong investors are encouraged to complete offshore commercial registration in an electronic way, which will boost trade and investment liberation and convenience in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

The journalist learned that the major difficulty of electronic cross-border commercial registration is that the electronic signature of overseas entities and that of entities in the Chinese mainland fail to realize identification. To resolve this difficulty, Dongguan Municipal Administration for Market Regulation adjusted the process and asked the Association of China-Appointed Attesting Office to attest the signatures of Hong Kong investors and other parties involved. Electronic signature will also be put on relevant documents. This solution shall be supported by the Ministry of Justice or by its designated legal service institutes in Hong Kong such as China Legal Service (H.K.) LTD.

The signing of the "Cooperation Framework Agreement" will reinforce the achievements of e-registration and simplified attesting documents and accelerate electronic cross-border commercial registration. Ultimately, Dongguan will have more convenient commercial registration and better business environment, which in turn will boost exchanges between Dongguan and Hong Kong in legal services and trade cooperation.

(Dongguan Foreign Investment Promotion Center)