Article 16 In case a crude oil enterprise newly builds, rebuilds or expands the storage facilities, it shall report to the Ministry of Commerce for record after implementing the acceptance procedures at the departments responsible for land and resources, planning and construction, safety and supervision, public security and fire-fighting, environmental protection, meteorology and quality inspection, etc.

Article 17 In case the establishment of a foreign-funded enterprise or changing its business scope, or the M&A of domestic enterprise by foreign enterprises involves in any crude oil business, it is necessary to send an application to the administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government, which shall accomplish the examination within one month since the date of receiving a complete set of application materials, and shall report the preliminary examination opinion and the application materials to the Ministry of Commerce, which shall make a decision concerning whether to approve it or not within three months since the date of receiving all the application documents.

Chapter IV Issuance and Change of the Approval Certificate for the Distribution or Storage of Crude Oil

Article 18 The Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil and the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil shall be uniformly printed and released by the Ministry of Commerce.

Article 19 In case a crude oil enterprise intends to change any item of the Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil, it shall send an application to the administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government, which shall implement a preliminary examination and report the preliminary examination opinions and the application materials to the Ministry of Commerce.

In case it meets the conditions to continue engaging in the crude oil business, the Ministry of Commerce shall release a new Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil.

Article 20 In case a crude oil enterprise intends to change any item of the Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil, it shall hand in the documents as follows:

(1) As regards the change of enterprise name, the Circular for Advance Approval of Enterprise Name produced by the administrative department for industry and commerce;

(2) As regards the change of legal representative, employment certificate and identity certificate of the new legal representative;

(3) As regards the change of business place that does not relate to the move of the warehousing and transportation facilities, certificate concerning legal right of using the business place; and

(4) As regards the change of investment subject of the business entity, the original business entity shall implement the related procedures for deregistering its business qualification, while the new business entity shall apply for the related qualification over again.

Chapter V Supervisionand Administration

Article 21 The administrative departments of commerce of the people's governments of each level shall enhance their supervision and inspection of the crude oil market within their respective jurisdictions and investigate and punish the disobediences committed by crude oil enterprises.

Article 22 The administrative departments of commerce of the provincial people's governments shall, subject to the present Measures, organize the inspection concerning the enterprises qualified to engage in the crude oil business every year and report the inspection results to the Ministry of Commerce.

In case a crude oil enterprise is found unqualified in the annual inspection, the Ministry of Commerce shall order it to rectify within a certain time limit; in case it is still unqualified after the rectification, its qualification for engaging in crude oil business shall be revoked.

Article 23 The major content of the annual inspection concerning an enterprise that distributes crude oil is as follows:

(1) The crude oil operation of the enterprise in the previous year;

(2) The conclusion and conduction of crude oil supply and distribution agreements;

(3) Whether the crude oil enterprise and its supporting facilities comply with the present Measures and the related technical specifications and requirements;

(4) The status quo of the enterprise concerning fire-fighting, security and environmental protection, etc.

Article 24 The major content of the annual inspection concerning an enterprise that stores crude oil is as follows:

(1) The storage of crude oil of the enterprise in the previous year;

(2) Whether the crude oil storage enterprise and its supporting facilities comply with the present Measures and the related technical specifications and requirements;

(3) The status quo of the enterprise regarding fire-fighting, security and environmental protection, etc.

Article 25 A crude oil enterprise that is to suspend or stop its business shall implement the suspension or cancellation procedures with the Ministry of Commerce. Suspension of business of a crude oil enterprise shall not exceed 18 months. In case an enterprise fails to implement the suspension or cancellation procedures without reason for 18 months or more, or its suspension of business exceeds 18 months, the Ministry of Commerce shall revoke its crude oil business license, cancel the Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil and notify the related departments.

Article 26 The administrative departments of commerce of each level shall supervise and manage the crude oil business license and crude oil market without collecting any fee.

Article 27 The Ministry of Commerce shall publicize the list of enterprises that have obtained a crude oil business license and the information concerning the change or cancellation of any enterprise.

Article 28 The Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil must not be forged, changed, traded, leased, lent or transferred in any other form. Any changed or cancelled Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or Certificate of Approval for the Storage of Crude Oil shall be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce, and any other entity or individual must not remain it privately.

Article 29 A crude oil enterprise shall operate subject to law, and any of the following acts is forbidden:

(1) Doing business without a certificate or license or with a certificate or license which is not coincident with each other or beyond its authorized business scope;

(2) Mixing impurities or imitations, passing a fake product off as a genuine one or passing a defective product off as a high-quality one;

(3) Distributing or storing the crude oil obtained through illegal channels;

(4) Distributing crude oil to the refining enterprises or distributing enterprises that have not been approved by the state or supplying them with storage service ;

(5) Driving up oil prices or dumping oil at low prices by breaking the laws and regulations concerning price;

(6) Other business activities as forbidden by any law or regulation of the state.

Article 30 In case it is under any of the following circumstances, the Ministry of Commerce shall revoke the crude oil business license:

(1) Granting any license to an applicant that is unqualified or fails to satisfy the statutory requirements;

(2) Granting any license by exceeding the legal authority;

(3) Granting any license by breaking the statutory procedure;

(4) A crude oil distributing enterprise failing to meet the conditions stipulated in Article 6 of the present Measures any more;

(5) A crude oil storing enterprise failing to meet the conditions stipulated in Article 7 of the present Measures any more;

(6) Failing to take part in or pass the annual inspection;

(7) The licensee having obtained the business license by such illegal ways as fraud or bribery;

(8) Hiding the related information, supplying false materials or refusing to supply the real materials that reflect its business activities;

(9) Other circumstances under which the administrative license shall be revoked under law.

Chapter VI Legal Liabilities

Article 31 In case any administrative department of commerce or any of its staff commits any of the following acts by breaking the present Measures, the administrative department at a higher level or the supervisory department shall order it/him to correct; as for serious situation, the person in charge who is held directly responsible and other personnel directly responsible shall be given an administrative punishment:

(1) Failing to accept an application that satisfies the statutory requirements;

(2) Failing to explain to an applicant the reasons of refusing to accept its application or grant a license;

(3) Granting a license to an applicant not satisfying the statutory requirements or by exceeding the legal authority;

(4) Refusing to make an approval decision or failing to make, without justifiable reasons, such a decision within the statutory time limit for an applicant satisfying the statutory requirements; and

(5) Failing to perform or effectively perform its supervision duty, which has resulted in serious consequences.

Article 32 In case any administrative department of commerce unlawfully charges fees in the process of granting crude oil business license, it shall be ordered to refund the fees illegally charged and impose administrative punishment on the personnel in charge and the personnel held directly responsible by the administrative department at a higher level or the supervisory department.

Article 33 Where any crude oil enterprise commits any of the following acts, if there are specific provisions in any law or regulation, they shall be followed; where there is no provision in the laws and regulations, the Ministry of Commerce shall, under law subject to the specific situation, give it a warning, order it to correct within a certain time limit, and impose a fine of at most three times the illegal gains or 30,000 yuan:

(1) Altering, reselling, leasing, lending or illegally transferring its approval certificate for crude oil business in any other form;

(2) Newly building, rebuilding or expanding any crude oil depot without authorization by breaking the conditions and procedures stipulated in the present Measures;

(3) Selling crude oil by mixing impurities or imitations, using a fake product as a genuine one, using a defective product as a high-quality one or passing an inferior product off as a standard one;

(4) Distributing or storing the crude oil obtained through illegal channels;

(5) Distributing crude oil to the refining enterprises or distributing enterprises that have not been approved by the state or supplying them with storage service;

(6) Distributing crude oil in violation of the laws and regulations concerning price of the state; or

(7) Other illegal acts as stipulated in any law or regulation.

Article 34 In case any of the following acts are committed by an enterprise applying for the qualification of engaging in the crude oil business, the Ministry of Commerce shall make a decision of rejecting its application or not granting a license and shall give it a warning; and the applicant may not apply for a crude oil business license again within one year.

(1) Hiding the real situation;

(2) Supplying any false materials; or

(3) Breaking the related policies and application procedures, and the situation being serious.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 35 The foreign contractors that engage in Chinese-foreign cooperative exploitation of continental or offshore oil resources within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall comply with the related provisions in the Regulations of the People's Republic of China Concerning Sino-Foreign Cooperation in the Continental Oil Resources Exploitation and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Offshore Oil Resources Exploitation in Cooperation with Foreign Enterprises.

Before the present Measures are released, the crude oil producing enterprises that have already been approved subject to law and conform to the state policies shall apply for and obtain an Approval Certificate for Crude Oil Business under the present Measures.

Article 36 The Ministry of Commerce is the authoritative interpreter of the present Measures.

Article 37 The present Measures shall enter into force as of January 1, 2007.

Source: www.fdi.gov.cn, not the official translation