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Regulation of Space Activities in the People’s Republic of China

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National Regulation of Space Activities

Part of the book series: Space Regulations Library Series ((SPRL,volume 5))

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Abstract

China’s current law-making process is a multi-leveled system. According to the Constitution and the law governing all legislation (hereafter the Legislation Law) of the People’s Republic of China, national legislation is divided into three categories:

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Legislation Law of the People’s Republic of China (Order of the President No. 31), Article 7.

  2. 2.

    Legislation Law, Articles 24–25.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., Article 26.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., Article 27.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., Article 40.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., Article 41.

  7. 7.

    China acceded to the Outer Space Treaty on December 30, 1983; the Rescue Agreement on December 14, 1988; the Liability Convention on December 12, 1988; the Registration Convention on December 12, 1988.

  8. 8.

    The Provisional Regulation on Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects has been placed on the agenda.

  9. 9.

    Legislation Law, Article 3.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., Article 4.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., Article 5.

  12. 12.

    Ibid., Article 6.

  13. 13.

    The State Council Information Office, China’s Space Activities in 2006 (White Paper), October 2006, Beijing, China.

  14. 14.

    Ibid.

  15. 15.

    The COSTIND was reorganized and renamed in 2008 during the 11th NPC as the Bureau of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. This Bureau is placed under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, a new ministry established in 2008. For easy reference, the abbreviation “COSTIND” is still used in this chapter.

  16. 16.

    China National Space Administration, online <http://www.cnsa.gov.cn>.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    Interim Measures, Article 2.

  19. 19.

    Ibid., Article 4.

  20. 20.

    Ibid., Articles 5–6.

  21. 21.

    Ibid., Article 7.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., Article 10.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., Articles 13–14.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., Article 19.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., Article 20.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., Articles 24–26.

  27. 27.

    Alexandra Witze, Here Comes the Space Competition, The Dallas Morning News, 7 September 2003, online <http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030907-space01.htm> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  28. 28.

    China to Export First Chinese Satellite, Xinhua General News Service, Xinhua News Agency, 12 April 2005; China to Launch Another Satellite for Hong Kong Firm: Space Firm, Xinhua General news Service, Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, 13 April 2005.

  29. 29.

    Stephen Clark, China Launches First Commercial Spacecraft in Six Years, Spaceflight Now, 13 April 2005, online <http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sfn_longmarch_apstar6_050413.html> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  30. 30.

    China Launches New Commercial Communications Satellite, Beijing, Agency France Press, 12 April 2005.

  31. 31.

    China Great Wall Industry Corporation: Company Profile, online <http://www.cgwic.com/About> (accessed: 7 July 2009).

  32. 32.

    Franceska O. Schroeder, Developments in Agreements on International Trade in Commercial Launch Services, ECSL News No. 16, May 1996, online <http://esapub.esrin.esa.it/ecsl/ecsl16/schr16.htm> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  33. 33.

    J. Barry Patterson, China’s Space Program and Its Implications for the United States, A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty in Fulfillment of the Curriculum Requirement, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 19 April 1995.

  34. 34.

    Satellite Launches in the PRC-Loral, The Robinson Rojas Archive: China’s Intelligence on US Nuclear Arsenal, online <http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/qde022.htm> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  35. 35.

    Telecommunications Regulations, Article 7(1).

  36. 36.

    Ibid., Article 9.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., Article 10.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., Article 11.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., Article 12.

  40. 40.

    Ibid., Article 13.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., Article 14.

  42. 42.

    M. O’Neill, Beijing May Scrap Unicom Foreign-Investment Formula, South China Morning Post-Business Post, September 23, 1998, at 4.

  43. 43.

    R. Janda, Benchmarking a Chinese Offer on Telecommunications: Context and Comparisons, 3 International Journal of Communications Law & Policy, 5 (Summer 1999).

  44. 44.

    For further discussion, see L.D. Chuang, Investing in China’s Telecommunications Market: Reflections on the Rule of Law and Foreign Investment in China, 20 Journal of International Law & Business 516–522 (Spring 2000); see also M. Forney and S. Webb, China Phone Firm Remains Ensnared by Bureaucracy, Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2000.

  45. 45.

    China: Telecoms Firm Told to Abandon Foreign-Funded Joint Ventures, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific-Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, February 4, 1999.

  46. 46.

    One set of rules, entitled Framework Regulations on Liberalizing Last Mile Broadband Access, targets the growing number of unlicensed broadband operators, who must reapply for a license. Another Regulation bans companies from extending their licenses to their joint-venture units without approval.

  47. 47.

    D. Bhattasali et al. (eds.), China and the WTO: Accession, Policy Reform, and Poverty Reduction Strategies 67–168 (Oxford University Press, 2004).

  48. 48.

    China’s Telecom Market, Legislation Undergoing Changes as Country Readies for Global Trade, online <http://pulse.tiaonline.org/pulse_archive/pulse.tiaonline.org/article-591--.html?id=591> (accessed: 2 July 2009).

  49. 49.

    As provided, the select group of foreign firms must have telecom revenues greater than $10 billion during the last two years prior to applying to operate in China; Chinese partner should be appointed as chairperson of the joint venture. See further Telecommunications Regulations of the People’s Republic of China (Guowuling No. 291), September 25, 2000; see also M. Forney, Chinese Investors Offer Static on Telecom Rules: Smaller Foreign Investors May Get Shut Out, Asian Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2000.

  50. 50.

    L.B. Sherman, China After the WTO, What You Need to Know Now: The Impact of China’s WTO Entry on the Telecommunications and IT Sectors, PLI Order No. A0-0095, at 230–231 (February 2001).

  51. 51.

    See further R. Abramson, Catching Flies with Chopsticks: China’s Strategic Leap into Wireless Telecommunications, 11 Minnesota Journal of Global Trade 31 (Winter 2002).

  52. 52.

    For example, China Unicom sold more than a twenty percent share on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges, raising 5.65 billion dollars. See P. Wonacott, China Maps IPO to Gird for Foreign Telecom Invasion, Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2000.

  53. 53.

    See for example China Unicom’s IPO Rings up $ 4.92 Billion, Asian Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2000, at 14; see also R. Lachica, China Unicom Gets Strong Welcome in First Session, Asian Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2000, at 2.

  54. 54.

    The Regulation on the Management of Foreign Investment in Telecommunications Enterprises was promulgated on December 11, 2001 and came into force on January 1, 2002.

  55. 55.

    Article 11 of the Regulation.

  56. 56.

    It is issued by the MII on December 26, 2001 and took effect on January 1, 2002.

  57. 57.

    See MII Order No. 19.

  58. 58.

    One exception is the Administrative Measures for International Gateway Facilities, which was issued on June 26, 2002 and took effect on October 1, 2002. This regulation restricts operation of gateway facilities to wholly state-owned telecommunications providers, thus was claimed not to be in accordance with the market access commitments.

  59. 59.

    See D.Z. Cass et al. (eds.), China and the World Trading System: Entering the New Millennium 282 (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

  60. 60.

    C.B. Chuan et al., Telecommunications and Information Technology, in J.J. Williams et al. (eds.), Business Opportunities in Northeastern China 244 (1999).

  61. 61.

    China to Open Up Its Basic Telecommunications Sector, 17 September 2002, online <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200209/17/archive.html> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  62. 62.

    L. Chang and M. Pottinger, China Telecom, Once Split, will Service Separate Regions; IPO may be Speeded, Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2001; H. Zhao, Telecom Needs Competition, China Daily June 10, 1999.

  63. 63.

    How to Greet the WTO Accession? A Tentative Analysis of Competitive Framework for Telecommunications, online <http://www.wtoinfo.net.cn/cgi-bin/search/read.php?id=782> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  64. 64.

    R.B. Chong and W. Chow, Financing Telecommunications Project in Asia: A Promising Regulatory Perspective, 52 Federal Communications Law Journal 14 (1999).

  65. 65.

    Reform of Telecommunications with the Accession of WTO, online <http://www.wtoinfo.net.cn/cgi-bin/search/read.php?id=890> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  66. 66.

    For discussion on number portability, see B. Petrazzini, Global Telecom Talks: A Trillion Dollar Deal, 64 (Washington D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 1996).

  67. 67.

    See Reference Paper to the Fourth Protocol to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, April 30, 1996, 36 I.L.M., at 2. Interconnection.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., at 2.2(a) (b); 2.3 and 2.4.

  69. 69.

    FCC Memo, Connecting the Globe: A Regulator’s Guide to Building a Global Information Community, Universal Service, Part VI, June 16, 1999, online <http://www.fcc.gov/connectglobe/> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  70. 70.

    J. Ure, China’s Telecommunications: Options and Opportunities, in P.S.N. Lee (ed.), Telecommunications and Development in China 248 (1997); L. Ladany, Law and Legality in China: The Testament of a China-Watcher 17 (University of Hawaii Press, 1992); Z. He, A history of Telecommunications in China, Development and Policy Implications, in P.S.N. Lee (ed.), Telecommunications and Development in China 84 (1997).

  71. 71.

    Telecommunications Regulations, Article 23.

  72. 72.

    Ibid., Article 24.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., Article 26(1).

  74. 74.

    Ibid., Article 57.

  75. 75.

    Ibid., Article 62.

  76. 76.

    Ibid., Article 58.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., Article 78.

  78. 78.

    Ibid., Article 66.

  79. 79.

    Patent Law, Article 22(1).

  80. 80.

    Ibid., Article 25.

  81. 81.

    Ibid., Article 30.

  82. 82.

    Ibid., Article 34.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., Article 35.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., Article 39.

  85. 85.

    Ibid., Article 11.

  86. 86.

    Ibid., Article 48.

  87. 87.

    Ibid., Article 49.

  88. 88.

    Ibid., Article 53.

  89. 89.

    Ibid., Article 57.

  90. 90.

    Space Law: China’s Regulations, World Security Institute, China-US Dialogue on Space, online <http://www.wsichina.org/space/subprogram.cfm?subprogramid=2&charid=1> (accessed: 3 July 2009).

  91. 91.

    Regulations on Control of Military Products Export, Article 1.

  92. 92.

    Ibid., Article 5.

  93. 93.

    Ibid., Article 2(2) provides that the military products export control list shall be formulated, adjusted, and promulgated by the state department in charge of military products export.

  94. 94.

    The Military Products Export Control List.

  95. 95.

    Regulations on Export Control of Missiles and Missile-related Items and Technologies, Article 3.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., Article 2.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., Article 10.

  98. 98.

    Ibid., Articles 15–22.

  99. 99.

    As identified by Xiaohong Liu and Xiaoqing Wang in the paper on “The First Administrative Regulation on Space Activities in China”, presented at the United Nations/International Institute of Air and Space law (IIASL) Workshop on Capacity Building in Space Law during November 18–21, 2002 in the Hague, the registration procedure include open end; possibility of being amended after certain period of implementation; and possibility of being upgraded into administrative law or regulation in the future.

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  1. University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Yun Zhao

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  1. Faculty Law, McGill University, Peel Street 3690, Montreal, H3A 1X1, Québec, Canada

    Ram S. Jakhu

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Zhao, Y. (2010). Regulation of Space Activities in the People’s Republic of China. In: Jakhu, R. (eds) National Regulation of Space Activities. Space Regulations Library Series, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9008-9_11

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