Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information — Full English Translation (2007, Revised 2019)

Chapter I: General Provisions

Article 1 These Regulations are enacted for the purposes of safeguarding the right of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to obtain government information according to law, enhancing the transparency of government work, promoting the administration according to law, and giving full play to the role of government information in serving the production, living, and economic and social activities of the people.

Article 2 For the purposes of these Regulations, government information means information produced or obtained by administrative organs in the course of performing their administrative functions and recorded or preserved in certain forms.

Article 3 People’s governments at all levels shall strengthen their leadership in the work of open government information. The General Office of the State Council is the competent department for the work of open government information nationwide, responsible for promoting, guiding, coordinating, and supervising the work of open government information nationwide. The general offices of local people’s governments at the county level and above are the competent departments for the work of open government information in their respective administrative areas.

Article 4 People’s governments at all levels and the departments of people’s governments at the county level and above shall establish and improve the working mechanisms for open government information of their respective administrative organs and designate institutions to be responsible for the day-to-day work of open government information of their respective administrative organs.

Article 5 In disclosing government information, administrative organs shall adhere to the principle of disclosure as the norm and non-disclosure as the exception, and shall disclose government information in a fair, impartial, lawful, and comprehensive manner.

Article 6 Administrative organs shall disclose government information in a timely and accurate manner. Where administrative organs discover false or incomplete information that affects or may affect social stability or disrupt social and economic management order, they shall issue accurate government information to clarify the matter.

Article 7 People’s governments at all levels shall actively promote the standardization and normalization of open government information work. Administrative organs shall establish and improve mechanisms for the dynamic adjustment of government information disclosure lists to keep pace with economic and social development and the actual needs of the people.

Chapter II: Subjects and Scope of Disclosure

Article 8 Government information produced by an administrative organ shall be disclosed by the administrative organ that produced such government information. Government information originally obtained from citizens, legal persons, and other organizations by an administrative organ shall be disclosed by the administrative organ that preserves such government information. Where government information is obtained from other administrative organs, the administrative organ that produced or originally obtained such government information shall be responsible for disclosure. Where laws or regulations provide otherwise on the authority for the disclosure of government information, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 9 Government information shall be disclosed on the initiative of an administrative organ if it involves the adjustment of the functions, institutional setup, or contact information of the administrative organ; national economic and social development plans, special plans, regional plans, and related policies; statistical information; administrative licensing and other matters related to external administrative management; administrative penalties and compulsory measures; financial budgets and final accounts; administrative fees and their bases and standards; government procurement projects; major construction projects; poverty alleviation, education, health care, social security, and employment promotion policies and measures; contingency plans, early warning information, and response measures for public emergencies; supervision and inspection of environmental protection, public health, production safety, food and drug safety, and product quality; or other information that shall be voluntarily disclosed.

Article 10 Administrative organs shall disclose government information voluntarily in accordance with Articles 9, 10, 11, and 12 of these Regulations, and may also disclose other government information voluntarily.

Article 11 People’s governments at the city and county levels with districts and their departments shall also focus on disclosing government information on urban and rural construction and management, land and housing expropriation, public resource allocation, social assistance, and public welfare.

Article 12 People’s governments at the township level shall also focus on disclosing government information on rural land contracting and management rights transfer, the use and distribution of special funds such as those for homesteads, the collection and use of funds raised through fundraising, the construction and management of township enterprises and other collective economic entities, the implementation of family planning policies, and other similar matters.

Article 13 Except for the government information voluntarily disclosed by administrative organs in accordance with Articles 9 to 12 of these Regulations, citizens, legal persons, or other organizations may also apply to administrative organs for the disclosure of relevant government information based on their own special needs in production, living, scientific research, or other activities.

Article 14 Administrative organs shall establish and improve mechanisms for reviewing the confidentiality of government information to be disclosed. Administrative organs shall review, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets and other laws and regulations, the government information to be disclosed. Where administrative organs are unable to determine whether government information may be disclosed, they shall report the matter to the relevant competent department or the secrecy administrative department at the same level for determination.

Article 15 Government information shall not be disclosed if it involves State secrets. Government information shall not be disclosed if it involves commercial secrets or personal privacy and the disclosure thereof would harm the lawful rights and interests of third parties, unless the third party consents to the disclosure or the administrative organ deems that non-disclosure would have a major impact on public interest.

Article 16 Internal affairs information, process-based information, administrative law enforcement case files, and other information of administrative organs may not be disclosed. Where laws, regulations, or rules provide that the above information shall be disclosed, such provisions shall prevail.

Chapter III: Methods and Procedures for Voluntary Disclosure

Article 17 Administrative organs shall disclose government information voluntarily through government gazettes, government websites, press conferences, newspapers, radio, television, and other means that facilitate public access. Administrative organs shall strengthen the standardization and standardization of government information resources and the disclosure of government information on their government websites.

Article 18 Government information that falls within the scope of voluntary disclosure shall be disclosed within 20 working days of the date on which such information is produced or changed. Where laws or regulations provide otherwise on the time limit for voluntary disclosure of government information, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 19 Administrative organs shall prepare, publish, and update their government information disclosure guides and government information disclosure catalogues in a timely manner. Government information disclosure guides shall include the classification and arrangement system of government information, the means of obtaining government information, the name, office address, office hours, contact telephone number, fax number, and internet contact information of the institution handling the work of open government information. Government information disclosure catalogues shall include the index, title, content summary, date of production, and other content of the government information.

Article 20 Where citizens, legal persons, or other organizations have evidence to prove that the government information related to them as recorded by an administrative organ is inaccurate, they shall have the right to request the administrative organ to make corrections. Where the administrative organ has no power to make corrections, it shall refer the matter to the administrative organ that has the power to make corrections and inform the applicant.

Chapter IV: Disclosure Upon Application

Article 21 Except for the government information voluntarily disclosed by administrative organs in accordance with these Regulations, citizens, legal persons, or other organizations may apply to the administrative organs for the disclosure of relevant government information. Applications for the disclosure of government information shall be made in writing or by means such as data messages. Where the applicant provides his or her identity certification, the administrative organ shall accept the application.

Article 22 An application for the disclosure of government information shall include the name and contact information of the applicant; a description of the content of the government information for which disclosure is applied; and the form in which the government information is required to be provided.

Article 23 Where an administrative organ receives an application for the disclosure of government information and is able to respond immediately, it shall respond immediately. Where it is unable to respond immediately, it shall respond within 20 working days of the date of receipt of the application; where an extension is necessary, the extension shall be approved by the person in charge of the institution handling the government information disclosure work and the applicant shall be notified, with the maximum extended period not exceeding 20 working days.

Article 24 Where the government information for which disclosure is applied involves the lawful rights and interests of a third party, the administrative organ shall solicit the opinions of the third party in writing. Where the third party fails to provide its opinions within 15 working days of the date of receipt of the written request for opinions, the administrative organ shall decide whether to disclose the information in accordance with these Regulations.

Article 25 Where an administrative organ receives an application for the disclosure of government information, it shall respond in the following manners according to the circumstances: (1) where the information applied for is within the scope of voluntary disclosure, inform the applicant of the means and channels for obtaining such government information; (2) where the information applied for may be disclosed, provide the applicant with such government information or inform the applicant of the means and channels for obtaining such government information and the time within which it may be obtained; (3) where the information applied for shall not be disclosed in accordance with these Regulations, inform the applicant and state the reasons; (4) where the information applied for does not fall under the government information of the administrative organ, inform the applicant and, where the administrative organ responsible for the disclosure can be determined, inform the applicant of the name and contact information of such administrative organ; (5) where the government information applied for does not exist, inform the applicant; (6) where the application is unclear, inform the applicant to make amendments or supplements.

Article 26 Where an administrative organ provides government information in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, it shall not charge any fees, unless otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations. Where an applicant applies for the disclosure of government information in an excessively frequent or repetitive manner, the administrative organ may charge fees for information processing.

Chapter V: Supervision and Safeguards

Article 27 People’s governments at all levels shall establish and improve the assessment system, social evaluation system, and accountability system for the work of open government information, and conduct regular assessments and evaluations of the work of open government information.

Article 28 The competent departments for the work of open government information shall inspect the implementation of the work of open government information by administrative organs and require the inspected administrative organs to make corrections of any problems discovered during inspection.

Article 29 Administrative organs shall, by March 31 of each year, publish an annual report on the work of open government information of their respective administrative organs for the previous year. The annual reports shall include the situation of voluntary disclosure of government information; the situation of disclosure of government information upon application and non-disclosure thereof; the situation of administrative reconsideration and administrative lawsuits arising from the disclosure of government information; the main problems existing in the work of open government information and the improvement measures; and other matters required to be reported.

Article 30 Where citizens, legal persons, or other organizations consider that an administrative organ has failed to fulfill its obligations in the disclosure of government information as required, they may report the matter to the competent department at a higher level, the supervisory organ, or the competent department for the work of government information disclosure. Citizens, legal persons, or other organizations may also apply for administrative reconsideration or bring an administrative lawsuit according to law.

Article 31 Where an administrative organ, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, fails to establish and improve the mechanisms for reviewing the confidentiality of government information, or fails to establish and improve the mechanisms for the coordination and release of government information, the supervisory organ or the competent department at a higher level shall order it to make corrections; where the circumstances are serious, the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be sanctioned according to law.

Article 32 Where an administrative organ, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, commits any of the following acts, the supervisory organ or the competent department at a higher level shall order it to make corrections; where the circumstances are serious, the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be sanctioned according to law; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued according to law: (1) failing to perform the obligations of voluntary disclosure of government information according to law; (2) failing to update the content of the voluntarily disclosed government information, the government information disclosure guides, and the government information disclosure catalogues in a timely manner; (3) charging fees in violation of the provisions; (4) illegally disclosing government information that shall not be disclosed through other means; (5) other acts violating the provisions of these Regulations.

Chapter VI: Supplementary Provisions

Article 33 Organizations authorized by laws or regulations to have the functions of administering public affairs shall carry out the work of open government information and be governed by these Regulations.

Article 34 These Regulations shall enter into force as of May 1, 2008.