Chapter I General Provisions

Article1 The Regulation is formulated for the purposes of enhancing the administration of commercial performances, promoting the development of cultural industry, boosting the socialist art cause, catering to the cultural needs of the people and advancing the socialist spiritual civilization.

Article 2 The commercial performances mentioned in the Regulation refers to the onsite art performances for the general public for profit making purposes.

Article 3 The commercial performances shall adhere to the orientation of serving the people and the socialism, give priority to the social benefits, balancing the social and economic benefits and enrich the cultural life of the people.

Article 4 The government encourages artistic performance organizations and performers to create and perform programs with high ideological and artistic level, which reflect excellent national cultural traditions and are popular among the people, and encourages them to give gratuitous or preferential performances in rural areas and industrial and mining enterprises and for children.

Article 5 The competent department of culture under the State Council shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the commercial performances across the country. The public security department and the administration for industry and commerce under the State Council shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of commercial performance according to their respective function.

The competent departments of culture under local people's governments at or above county level shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the commercial performances in places under their jurisdiction. The public security departments and administrations for industry and commerce under local people's governments at or above county level shall, according to their respective functions, be responsible for the supervision and administration of commercial performances in the places under their jurisdiction.

Chapter II Establishment of Business Entities Engaging in Commercial Performances

Article 6 To establish an artistic performance organization, the applicant shall have full-time performers and equipment that can meet the requirements of its performance business.

To establish a performance brokerage institution, the applicant shall have three or more full-time performance brokers and funds that can meet the needs of its business.

Article 7 To establish an artistic performance organization, the applicant shall apply to the competent department of culture under the people's government at county level. To establish a performance brokerage institution, the applicant shall apply to the competent department of culture under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government. The competent departments of culture shall make a decision within 20 days upon its acceptance of the application. They shall issue the commercial performance license for those approved, and notify the applicants in written form and make an explanation for those disapproved.

An applicant shall take the license to go through registration formalities in the industrial and commercial administration department and obtain a business license after obtaining the commercial performance license.

Article 8 To establish a business entity providing performance places, the applicant shall go through registration formalities in the administration for industry and commerce, get a business license and handle approval formalities in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations on fire fighting and sanitation, etc.

A business entity providing performance places shall, within 20 days upon its obtaining of its business license, report to the competent department of culture under the people's government at the county level in the place where it is located.

Article 9 Where an artistic performance organization or a performance brokerage institution intends to change its name, location, legal representative or persons in charge or business items of commercial performances, it shall apply to the original license issuing agency for changing its commercial performance license and go through the alteration formalities in the industrial and commercial administration department by law.

Where a business entity of performance places intends to change its name, location, legal representative or persons in charge, it shall go through alteration formalities in the industrial and commercial administration department and re-filing formalities in the original filing agency.

Article 10 Self-employed performers engaging in commercial performances (hereafter referred as the self-employed performers) and self-employed performance brokers engaging in activities including intermediary and agency for commercial performances (hereafter referred as the self-employed performance brokers), shall go through registration formalities in the industrial and commercial administration department and obtain business license according to law.

A self-employed performer or self-employed performance broker shall, within 20 days upon obtaining business license, report to the competent cultural department under the people's government at county level at the place where he/she registers.

Article 11 Foreign investors and Chinese investors are allowed to set up by law China-foreign joint venture or cooperative enterprises engaging in performance brokerage or providing performance places, but shall not establish any China-foreign joint venture or cooperative or solely foreign-funded artistic performance organizations, or any solely foreign-funded performance brokerage institution or business entity providing performance places.

For establishing a China-foreign joint venture performance brokerage institution or business entity providing performance places, the investment proportion of the Chinese party shall not be less than 51 percent; for establishing a China-foreign cooperative performance brokerage institution or business entity providing performance places, the Chinese party shall in the dominant business position.

For establishing a China-foreign joint venture or cooperative performance brokerage institution or business entity providing performance places, the applicant shall apply to the competent department of culture under the State Council via the competent departments of culture under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government. The competent departments of culture under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government shall give inspection opinions and submit them to the competent department of culture under the State Council for approval within 20 days upon accepting the applications. The competent department of culture under the State Council shall make decisions within 20 days upon accepting the opinions from the competent departments of culture under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government. For those approved, commercial performance license shall be issued; and for those rejected, written notifications shall be sent to applicants and explanations shall be made. Applicants shall go through approval formalities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations on foreign investment after obtaining commercial performance licenses.

Article 12 Investors from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR) and Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) may establish joint venture or cooperative or solely-foreign-funded performance brokerage institutions and business entities providing performance places in China's Mainland. The performance brokerage institutions of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR may set up branches in China's Mainland.

Investors from Taiwan may establish joint venture or cooperative performance brokerage institutions and business entities providing performance places on China's Mainland, where the investment proportion of the mainland party shall not be less than 51 percent or the mainland party shall have the dominant business position. Investors from Taiwan are not permitted to establish any joint venture or cooperative or solely funded artistic performance organization, or solely foreign-funded performance brokerage institution or business entity providing performance places.

The approval formalities shall accord with Paragraph 3 of Article 11 hereof.

Chapter III Norms on Commercial Performances

Article 13 Artistic performance organizations or self-employed performers may hold commercial performances independently, and participate in any cooperative commercial performances.

The cooperative commercial performances shall be arranged by a performance brokerage institution, but a business entity providing performance places may hold cooperative commercial performances in its own places.

A performance brokerage institution may engage in activities including intermediary, agency and brokerage of commercial performances; a self-employed performance broker may only conduct activities of intermediary and agency of commercial performances.

Article 14 To host commercial performances, the applicant shall apply to the competent department of culture under the people's government at county level in the place where the performances are hosted. The latter shall make a decision within three days upon accepting the application. If the application meets the requirements provided in Article 26 hereof, the approval document shall be issued; if the application does not meet the requirements provided in Article 26 hereof, the application shall not be approved and the applicant shall be informed in writing and explanations shall be made.

Article 15 No entities or individuals other than performance brokerage institutions are permitted to hold commercial performances joined by artistic performance organizations or individuals from foreign countries, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan, but where an artistic performance organization holds commercial performances by itself, it may invite artistic performance organizations and individuals from foreign countries, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan.

For the holding of commercial performances joined by artistic performance organizations and individuals from foreign countries, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan, the following conditions shall be satisfied:

(1) Having fund that can meet the relevant needs of the commercial performances to be held;

(2) Having two year or more experiences in holding commercial performances; and

(3) Having no record of violating the provisions hereof in the two years prior to the commercial performances to be held.