Business and Human Rights
On October 10, 2012, the State Council issued its Decision on the Sixth Round of Items for Which Administrative Examination and Approval Will Be Abolished or Adjusted (2012 Decision). The 2012 Decision lists 171 administrative approvals that will no longer be required and 143 that will be adjusted. Of these 143, 117 will be devolved to a lower level government department (e.g., moved from the central level to the provincial level), the number of government departments required for an approval will be decreased for 9 items, and the approvals for 17 items will be combined with other approvals. The 2012 Decision also lists the original legal basis for such approvals, and the relevant implementing department.
Background of the Foreign Investment Guidance Catalogues
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China's tightening censorship amidst a boom in the popularity of social media and the Internet raises important questions regarding both the human dimension and the trade impact of these trends. Chinese citizens are increasingly criticizing the government and Party while accessing greater information online, but face imprisonment and harassment for their actions.
On April 20, 2011, the Ministry of Health (MOH) posted on its Web site a Letter Soliciting Opinions on Announcement Banning the Use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in Infant Food Containers. The letter asks for comments on an attached draft announcement by April 29, and is addressed to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), and the Food Safety Commission. The announcement, which in its final form would be issued jointly by MOH, MIIT, MOFCOM, SAIC, AQSIQ, and SFDA, states that BPA is widely used in production of chemical products and food-related products, such as food packaging and containers, and that the BPA can leach into the food itself, which may pose a risk to food safety.
According to Western news media, the Beijing High People's Court upheld the eight-year prison sentence of the American geologist Xue Feng on February 18, 2011, (Associated Press, 2/18/11; New York Times, 2/18/11; Wall Street Journal, 2/18/11). Chinese officials took Xue into custody in late 2007 and the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court handed down its sentence in July 2010.
Chinese officials reportedly released Zhao Lianhai, an advocate for victims of tainted milk, on medical parole on December 28, 2010, according to a January 1, 2011, South China Morning Post (SCMP) article (main Web site's link is here; subscription required to view past articles). A month earlier, authorities had sentenced Zhao to two-and-a-half years in prison for "provoking quarrels and making trouble," the report said. According to SCMP, on December 31 Zhao called his lawyers to tell them he had been released and was being treated at a hospital for an unspecified illness. A blog post purportedly written by Zhao also said he was on medical parole, had admitted guilt, and did not want anyone to contact him or bother his family, according to a December 29 SCMP article. "I hope my incident can be quietened [sic] down," the blog post read.
Case 1
On July 17, 2010, a riot took place in Fanhe village in Hengshan county, Yulin city, Shaanxi province, reportedly causing injuries to 87 people, after local officials failed to implement a court ruling on mining rights, according to a July 19 Economic Information article ( in Chinese). The dispute centered on the right to extract coal from a mine after an allegedly fraudulent change to a mining license affected legal ownership of that right. According to the article, in 1996, when the mine began operations, Fanhe residents held a collective mining license. However, when the license came up for renewal in 2000, an individual from Shandong province changed the license for his own benefit by "using a privately carved seal, alteration of the application form, and other means ..." The change prevented the local village collective from operating the mine.