Labour

1. < Measures of Jiangsu Province on Implementing the Regulation of Occupational Injury Insurance > (2015-06-01)

The amended Measures of Jiangsu Province on Implementing the Regulation of Occupational Injury Insurance (hereinafter referred to as Measures) was passed and gazetted by the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province on 1st April, 2015 and it will come into force on 1st June, 2015. The main changes of the Measures are as follows,

• Clarified the calculation base for the employer’s contribution to the occupational injury insurance to be the calculation base of the basic medical insurance.
• The dealer under social security bureau in a coordinated region is authorized to enact floating measures of insurance premium, and determine the premium rate paid by employer based on the situation, such as the compensation by the occupational injury insurance premium and incidence rate of occupational injury of an employer, and relevant rate-level in the applicable industry.
• If the employer does not apply for certification of occupational injury, the employee suffering from injury or occupational disease or his/her close relatives may apply for occupational injury certification within one year.
• The payment for the One-off Medical Subsidy for Occupational Injury by employer is changed to be paid by insurance fund.
• The baseline of the One-off Medical Subsidy for Occupational Injury and One-off Employment Subsidy for Permanent Disability (Disability Grades V to X) are adjusted (in the below table). The local governments may vary within 20% of the baseline according to the actual situation.

Unit：10K RMB

2. < Notice on Issues about Unemployment Insurance for Employees with Rural Household Registration > of Shanghai (2015-04-07)

Notice on Issues about Unemployment Insurance for Employees with Rural Household Registration in Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as Notice) provided that employers in the Shanghai Administrative Region hiring employees with rural household registration of Shanghai shall pay unemployment insurance according to the same level as required for employees with urban household registration, and so do the employees. Upon unemployed and registered, such employees are entitled to identical protection of unemployment insurance.

This Notice has come into force since 7th April, 2015 and remains valid until 31th December, 2019.

Health and Safety

1. < Schedule of Hazardous Chemicals > (Version 2015) (2015-05-01)

The Schedule of Hazardous Chemicals (hereinafter referred to as Schedule) is a fundamental document to the enforcement of the Regulation on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals. It is an important source of authority for levying enterprises’ primary liability on safety management of hazardous chemicals, and for relevant bureaus’ enforcement and administration. The Schedule (Version 2015) has come into force on 1st May, 2015. Compared with the previous Schedule (Version 2002), new Schedule has the following features and changes:

• The new Schedule is an amendment on the basis of Schedule of Hazardous Chemicals (Version 2002) and is a merger with the Schedule of Highly Toxic Chemicals (Version 2002).
• The definition of highly toxic chemicals, and judgment criteria of acute toxicity of highly toxic chemicals were amended in the new Schedule. One column was added on the new Schedule as special remark to highly toxic chemicals.
• The number of classes was changed from eight (8) to twenty eight (28). It is composed of 16 classes of physical hazards, 10 classes of health hazards and 2 environmental hazards.
• The new Schedule includes 148 items of highly toxic chemicals (a reduction of 187 items) and 2828 items of hazardous chemicals (a reduction of 1134 items).

2. < Supervisory and Administrative Measures on ‘Simultaneous-3’ for Safety Facilities of Construction Project > (2015-05-01)

To accommodate the enforcement of the amended Law of the PRC on Work Safety, the State Administration of Work Safety revised the Supervisory and Administrative Measures on ’Simultaneous-3’ for Safety Facilities of Construction Project (hereinafter referred to as Measures). It has come into force since 1st May, 2015. The main changes and impacts are as follows:

1) The term “Interim” was removed from the heading of the Measures. It implies that the Measures will become a norm.

2) Safety pre-evaluation stage of construction projects

During feasibility study of a construction project, among the construction projects defined for manufacturers and business enterprises to carry out safety pre-evaluation, the scope of application was changed by removing national and provincial key construction projects, and it will depend on the industries or risk of the hazardous chemicals.

For those industries that not need safety pre-evaluation for the construction project, manufacturers and business enterprises shall carry out comprehensive analysis to the conditions and facilities for safety production, and then compile a written report for future inspection. The procedure of registration has been abolished.

3) Design review stage for the safety facilities of construction projects

For the construction projects other than “Construction project of non- colliery mines”, “Construction project of manufacturing or storage of hazardous chemicals”, “Construction project of manufacturing or storage of fireworks and crackers” and “Construction projects in metal smelting”, the design review of the safety facilities shall be organized by the manufacturers and business enterprises, and a report shall be compiled for future inspection. The procedure of registration has been abolished.

4) Final inspection stage for the safety facilities of completed construction projects

For construction projects requiring final inspection for safety facilities, the scope is expanded from limiting to “Construction project of non- colliery mines”, “Construction project of manufacturing or storage of hazardous chemicals” and “Construction project of manufacturing or storage of fireworks and crackers” to all construction projects of all industries.

The manufacturers/business enterprises’ application to supervisory and administrative department of work safety for final inspection for safety facilities is now changed to manufacturers/business enterprises’ organization of qualified safety evaluation agency for the final inspection for safety facilities.  A report has to be compiled for future inspection by the supervisory and administrative department of work safety on a sampling basis.

Environment

1. < Measures on Emergency Management of Emergent Environmental Incidents > (2015-06-05)

The Measures on Emergency Management of Emergent Environmental Incidents (hereinafter referred to as Measure) was approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China on 19th March 2015, and it will come into force on 5th June 2015. The Measures establishes emergency management system for emergent environmental incidents through four links dimensions including namely risk control, emergency preparedness, emergency settlement handling and recovery after the incident.  It sets up a special chapter for information disclosure to give effect to publicity and media watch according to the features and requirements of emergency management of emergent incidents.

The enterprises and public institutions shall fulfil the following obligations as per requirements of relevant laws, regulations and standard specification.

• Implement risk assessment for emergent environmental incidents.
• Improve risk prevention and control for emergent environmental incidents.
• Identify and eliminate potential environmental safety hazards.
• Establish emergency plan for emergent environmental incidents, register with authority, and conduct drills.
• Strengthen the capability to respond to environmental emergency.
  When an emergent environmental incident happens or might happen, the enterprises and public institutions shall handle the incident according to law and be responsible for the damage caused.

2. < Catalogue for Classified Administration of Environmental Impact Assessments for Construction Projects > (2015-06-01)

The new revision of Catalogue for Classified Administration of Environmental Impact Assessments for Construction Projects (hereinafter referred to as Catalogue) has been issued by Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China on 9th April, 2015, and it will come into force on 1st June, 2015. Major amendments and improvements are as follows,

• Adjusted the priority and classification of project category for practicality, simplicity and operability, and by reference to National Economic Industrial Classification Code and the needs of classified administration of environmental impact assessments for construction projects. The revised Catalogue consists of 23 categories and 198 subcategories.
• Assignment of regional and river zone developments to Planning Environmental Impact Assessment management.  Exclusion from the new revision of the Catalogue.
• Escalation in classification for construction projects having serious pollution, greater ecological impact or complex features of environmental impact. Lowering in classification for construction projects having less severe pollution, slighter ecological impact or simple features of environmental impact.

China Minimum Wage Standard Update– May 2015

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