Notice from Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration Regarding the Issuance of Measures for Managing the Special Financial Development Fund of Guangzhou Municipality

　　Sui Jin Rong Gui [2019] No. 1

To all parties concerned:

　　The Measures forManaging the Special Financial Development Fund of Guangzhou Municipalityhas been approved by the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government and is hereby issued for your due implementation. Any problems encountered during the course of implementation should be reported to the Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration.

　　Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration

　　May 9, 2019

　　Measures for Managing the Special Financial Development Fund of Guangzhou Municipality

　　Chapter I General Provisions

　　Article 1 Pursuant to the requirements put forward inNotice from Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government Regarding the Issuance of Several Provisions for Supporting the Development of a Regional Financial Center in Guangzhou(Sui Fu Gui [2019] No. 1), Measures for Managing Funds for Industrial Development in Guangzhou Municipality(Sui Fu Ban Gui [2018] No. 3), and Notice from the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government Regarding the Issuance of Measures for Managing Municipal Special Fiscal Funds of Guangzhou(Sui Fu Ban Han [2017] No. 306), the Special Financial Development Fund is set up to promote the accelerated development of the financial sector in Guangzhou and the construction of a regional financial center. These Measures are enacted to standardize the management of the Special Fund.

　　Article 2 In these Measures, theSpecial Financial Development Fund (hereinafter referred to as the “Special Fund”) refers to a municipal special fiscal fund for supporting the development of the financial sector pursuant to the guiding principles ofNotice from Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government Regarding the Issuance of Several Provisions for Supporting the Construction of a Regional Financial Center in Guangzhou(Sui Fu Gui [2019] No. 1), Notice from the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government Regarding the Issuance of Measures for Managing Standardized Development of the Venture Capital Market in Guangzhou(Sui Fu Ban Gui [2017] No. 17), and Notice of Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and AdministrationRegarding the Issuance of Measures for Implementing Support Programs for High-end Financial Talents in Guangzhou(Sui Jin Rong Gui [2018] No. 7), among other documents.

　　Article 3 The use and management of the Special Fund shall abide by the principles of establishment according to law, standardized management, rigorous approval process, clearly defined rights and duties, rational deliberation, attention to performance, openness and impartiality, and reinforced oversight.

　　Article 4 TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationand the Bureau of Finance of Guangzhou Municipality shall do a good job together in the management and oversight of the Special Fund according to their respective duties.

　　(1) TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall be responsible for such matters as applications for the establishment and adjustment of the Special Fund, submitting budgets for the Special Fund, drafting plans for the allocation and use of the Special Fund, leading the formulation of measures for managing the use of the Special Fund, and organizing the application, review, approval, information disclosure, and performance assessment of projects.

　　(2) The Bureau of Finance of Guangzhou Municipality shall be responsible for such matters as reviewing the establishment and adjustment of the Special Fund, organizing the drafting and implementation of budgets for the Special Fund, reviewing the compliance of arrangements for the Special Fund, handling the allocation of the Special Fund, organizing the implementation of financial oversight and management of the Special Fund, and fulfilling performance management duties.

　　Article 5 The performance goals of the Special Fund: achieving the stable growth of the financial sector to complete the objectives put forward by the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Government; accelerating the gathering of various financial institutions and talents and strengthening the capacity of the financial sector in serving the real economy to cultivate special financial industries; constructing an economic system featuring high-quality development and enhancing the capacity for allocating global financial resources to facilitate the construction of a regional financial center.

　　Chapter II Scope of Use

　　Article 6 The Special Fund shall be primarily used to:

　　(1) Reward legal person financial institutions and regional headquarters of financial institutions established in Guangzhou;

　　(2) Reward financial trading platforms established in Guangzhou;

　　(3) Subsidize enterprises utilizing financing from the capital market for their development;

　　(4) Reward newly established equity investment institutions;

　　(5) Subsidize inclusive finance projects;

　　(6) Reward financial technology projects;

　　(7) Subsidize financial research institutions and talents;

　　(8) Subsidize projects to foster the environment for financial development;

　　(9) Other expenses to facilitate the development of Guangzhou’s financial sector approved by the Municipal People’s Government.

　　Any adjustment to the scope of use or purpose of the Special Fund, increase or decrease in funds allocated, or establishment or adjustment of supported matters shall be applied by theGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationto the Bureau of Finance of Guangzhou Municipality and submitted to the Municipal People’s Government for approval.

　　Chapter III Project Management

　　Article 7 TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall release guidelines for application to the public to clearly define the scope of use, subjects, application conditions, and application procedures for the funds.

　　Article 8 The applicant shall meet the following basic conditions:

　　(1) The applicant is an enterprise, direct subsidiary of an enterprise, civil society organization, or any other relevant organization with independent legal person qualifications registered according to law, or natural persons meeting relevant requirements.

　　(2) The applicant has been certified by or put in the records of relevant state departments according to relevant provisions, or has obtained the qualifications to engage in relevant services.

　　(3) The applicant has a good credit record with no severe violation of laws and regulations.

　　(4) The applicant meets other conditions stipulated by relevant provisions.

　　Article 9 The project submitted by the applicant shall meet the following basic conditions:

　　(1) In principle, only one special fund shall be applied for one project; the applicant shall not submit repeated applications or submit applications at different departments for the same project.

　　(2) In principle, the same matter shall not be submitted by the same enterprise or itself and its parent firm or subsidiary.

　　(3) The application materials for the project shall be truthful, accurate, and complete; the applicant shall not obtain special fiscal funds using fraudulent means.

　　Article 10 The submitted projects shall be reviewed according to the following procedures:

　　(1) Submission. The applicant shall submit application materials (both soft and hard copies) in accordance with measures for the management of funds and application guidelines.

　　(2) Review. TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall receive the submitted projects for preliminary review, organize expert review or entrust third-party institutions to conduct investigations on the specific projects, and decide on projects meeting application conditions upon group discussions; projects beyond its investigation authority shall be reported to the Municipal People’s Government for confirmation.

　　Article 11 Except matters that must be kept confidential, approved projects intended for allocation of funds shall be made public on the web portal of theGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationfor seven working days. Projects objecting to the publicity process shall be subject to the opinions of the Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration.

　　Article 12 TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall organize project submissions and draft the budget for its development in the next year according to provisions on drafting department budgets and annual performance targets. The Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall formulate fund allocation plans for funds without clearly defined project content, the organization utilizing the fund and allocated line of credit within 60 days after the budget is approved by the finance department and put them in the records of the municipal finance departments. The Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall specify the allocation of the above-mentioned funds to institutions utilizing the funds.

　　Article 13 TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall timely complete the procedures for allocating funds to the implementation subjects of the projects in accordance with relevant provisions on centralized payment by the national treasury.

　　Chapter IV Oversight, Management, and Accountability

　　Article 14 TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall conduct self-assessment of performance according to regulations by organizing internal audits on the use of the Special Fund within the department.

　　Article 15 The use of the Special Fund shall be subject to oversight inspections by auditing and disciplinary inspection departments. The staff members and inspection personnel in the competent department for the Special Fund in violation of the law or discipline during project review and allocation of funds shall be subject to penalties according to relevant laws and regulations.

　　Article 16 The applicant shall bear the following responsibilities:

　　(1) The applicant shall truthfully fill in application materials. For applicants who obtain funds using fraudulent means, the allocated funds shall be recovered, and the applicantsdisqualified for applying for the Special Fund in the next five years with the dishonest behavior made public.

　　(2) The applicant shall standardize the management and use of funds. Upon receiving the special funds, the applicant shall complete accounting procedures according to the existing regulations on accounting, use the funds solely for the purpose submitted in the application, and use a dedicated ledger for accounting. The applicant shall conduct internal audits on the use of the funds and the effects annually and report the results of internal audits to theGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationbefore the end of January in the next year. The Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationis entitled to refuse subsequent applications for funds submitted by applicants who fail to conduct internal audits according to requirements. Applicants with behaviors in violation of financial discipline, such as fraud, holding back, embezzlement, and misappropriation of project funds, shall be subject to penalties according to relevant stipulations of Regulations on the Punishment of Behaviors in Violation of Financial Laws (Decree ofthe State Council of the People’s Republic of China No. 427); suspected criminals shall be handed over to judicial authorities.

　　(3) The applicant shall accept oversight and inspection. The applicant shall willingly accept the oversight and inspection by departments in charge of accounting, finance, auditing, and others. TheGuangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administrationshall conduct oversighton the use of special funds in conjunction with municipal finance departments and deal with problems identified.

　　Chapter V Information Disclosure

　　Article 17 Except matters to be kept confidential as per relevant requirements, relevant information on theSpecial Financial Development Fund shall be made public to accept publicoversight. The disclosed information shall include:

　　(1) Measures for the management of the Special Fund;

　　(2) Guidelines for applying the Special Fund;

　　(3) Information on the application, allocation, distribution outcome and performance evaluation of the Special Fund;

　　(4) The complaints received and results of investigations into such complaints;

　　(5) Other matters that should be made public according to regulations.

　　Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

　　Article 18 These Measures shall come into force from the date of issuance for a period of 5 years.