Head of the Central Social Work Department answers questions from reporters on the 'Opinions on Promoting Deep Reform of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce'

  Q: Please introduce the background and significance of the issuance of the "Opinions".

  A: Industry associations and chambers of commerce are an important force in China's economic construction and social development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, making a series of major decisions and deployments. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee emphasized achieving the real decoupling of industry associations and chambers of commerce from administrative organs within a specified time limit; the 20th National Congress emphasized improving the management system for party building work in industry associations, learned societies, and chambers of commerce; the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized deepening the reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce; and the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized promoting the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. These major decisions and deployments have driven new achievements and a new leap forward in the reform and development of China's industry associations and chambers of commerce, and their functional role in serving economic and social development has become increasingly prominent. At the same time, China's industry associations and chambers of commerce are still in the period of transformation and adjustment following the decoupling reform. Facing new development situations and tasks, there are still many old problems and new challenges in areas such as party building leadership, comprehensive supervision, internal governance, structural layout, and role performance, which urgently need to be resolved through further deepening of reforms.

  The "Opinions" make a comprehensive plan and systematic design for promoting the deepening of reforms in industry associations and chambers of commerce under the new situation, fully reflecting the Party Central Committee's high regard for the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. It is of great significance for upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership, stimulating and enhancing social vitality, and advancing the modernization of social governance.

  Q: Please introduce the main framework and content of the "Opinion".

  A: The "Opinion" consists of 7 parts and 18 measures. Part I covers general requirements, clarifying the guiding ideology and overall goals for promoting deep reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce. Parts II to VI constitute the main body, focusing on five aspects: upholding and strengthening comprehensive Party leadership, improving management systems and operating mechanisms, adjusting and optimizing structural layout, actively fulfilling functional roles, and optimizing the development environment. These sections clarify key tasks and specific measures for promoting deep reform. Part VII sets out requirements for strengthening organization and implementation.

  Q: In terms of upholding and strengthening comprehensive Party leadership, what deployments has the "Opinion" made?

  Answer: The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and also the fundamental principle that must be followed in the deepening reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce. The "Opinions" make four deployments on adhering to and strengthening the Party's comprehensive leadership and reinforcing Party building guidance. First, focusing on rationalizing the management system for Party building work, it requires accelerating the construction of a Party building pattern combining vertical and horizontal coordination, linking upper and lower levels, and achieving effective synergy; establishing and improving a working mechanism where "managing an industry also means managing Party building"; implementing shared responsibility among departments for joint management; further clarifying the affiliation relationships of Party organizations within industry associations and chambers of commerce; and establishing and improving a Party organization system that achieves full coverage and smooth operation. Second, focusing on enhancing the political and organizational functions of Party organizations, it requires improving the quality of Party organization and Party work coverage, promoting standardized and normalized construction of Party branches,健全 mechanisms for Party organizations to play their roles, encouraging Party organizations in industry associations and chambers of commerce to effectively participate in major decision-making matters such as important personnel arrangements, and strengthening the political responsibility of leading development. Third, focusing on strengthening norms for elections and the construction of leadership teams, it requires establishing and improving systems for the nomination, review, public notice, supervision, exit, regular reporting by main responsible persons, accountability, and handover procedures for leaders of industry associations and chambers of commerce; conducting thorough reviews of candidate selections for leadership positions; strengthening supervision and management of leaders; rectifying chaos during election periods; strictly regulating the setting of honorary titles for leaders; and building a leadership team that supports the Party's leadership, possesses professional expertise, manages the association effectively, and remains clean and honest. Fourth, focusing on intensifying supervision and disciplinary enforcement, it requires improving the disciplinary inspection work mechanism, strengthening the standardization, rule-of-law orientation, and formalization of disciplinary inspection work, establishing and perfecting systems for handling clues regarding suspected disciplinary violations by Party organizations and members within industry associations and chambers of commerce, improving anti-corruption systems within these organizations, deepening the rectification of unhealthy trends and corruption issues, and advancing the integrated implementation of deterrence, prevention, and education against corruption.

  Question: What requirements does the "Opinions" put forward regarding consolidating and expanding the results of the decoupling reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce?

  Answer: The "Opinions" adhere to the reform direction of "de-administrativization" for industry associations and chambers of commerce and propose three requirements for consolidating and expanding the results of the decoupling reform. First, establish and improve a management system under the unified leadership of the Party committee, coordinated planning by the Party committee's social work department, and respective responsibilities of registration authorities, industry management departments, competent units, and relevant functional departments, ensuring collaborative cooperation and comprehensive supervision. Second, conduct comprehensive inspections and supervision on the separation of institutions, functions, assets and finances, personnel management, Party building, foreign exchange and cooperation, etc., for decoupled industry associations and chambers of commerce, and the implementation of relevant policies; further clarify the asset attributes and ownership relationships of relevant industry associations and chambers of commerce; and accelerate the improvement of asset management systems for decoupled industry associations and chambers of commerce. Third, gradually promote the institutional separation, functional division, financial independence, and personnel autonomy of industry associations and chambers of commerce with competent units; strengthen daily guidance and management supervision; and achieve independent, lawful, standardized operation and healthy, orderly development.

  Q: What arrangements has the "Opinion" made regarding the improvement of the management system and operating mechanisms of industry associations and chambers of commerce?

  答：脱钩改革期间建立起来的综合监管体制已运行近10年，亟需结合新形势新任务加以健全完善。《意见》着眼于健全完善行业协会商会综合治理体系，作出3方面部署。一是加强政府监管，明确直接登记和脱钩行业协会商会的行业管理部门，并要求其按职能落实业务指导、行业监管、党建工作等责任；部署各地各有关部门梳理涉及行业协会商会的管理服务事项，重点排查脱钩后出现的问题，研究提出改进举措；探索建立分类管理制度，建立健全重大事项请示报告制度，加强重点事项监管；深化登记制度改革，研究制定行业协会商会直接登记办法，探索行业协会商会简易注销程序，完善退出制度。二是建立完善社会监督机制，制定行业协会商会信息公开制度，鼓励支持新闻媒体、人民群众、会员对行业协会商会进行监督，畅通投诉举报渠道，探索建立专业化、社会化的第三方监督机制。三是提升行业协会商会依法自治能力，加强联合性、综合性行业协会商会建设，建立健全行业协会商会内部管理制度，规范设立和严格管理办事机构、分支（代表）机构，规范收费行为以及涉外交流与合作，全面加强资产财务管理，从严管理设立企业。

  Q: What arrangements has the "Opinion" made regarding the adjustment and optimization of the structural layout of industry associations and chambers of commerce?

  Answer: Compared with the needs of economic and social development, the structural layout of industry associations and chambers of commerce in our country still has problems such as being unreasonable and unbalanced. The "Opinions" make three aspects of deployment around adjusting and optimizing the structural layout. First, clarify four reform paths: optimize and integrate industry associations and chambers of commerce with overlapping business functions, excessively small institutional scale, overly fine field division, or weak functional roles; accelerate the exit of those that are operationally dysfunctional, disrupt order, face industry shrinkage, or have completed their purposes and tasks; focus on cultivating and prioritizing the development of industry associations and chambers of commerce that align with major national strategies and regional development positioning, adapt to the needs of industrial transformation and upgrading, and serve the development of new quality productive forces; actively support the establishment of industry associations and chambers of commerce in emerging strategic industries, future industries, green low-carbon industries, etc., in accordance with the law. Second, reasonably control the scale: for national industry associations and chambers of commerce, increase integration efforts; for local industry associations and chambers of commerce, strengthen macro-control and guidance based on changes in local economic and social development and industrial structure; for municipal and county-level industry associations and chambers of commerce, simplify exit procedures according to law and control the overall scale through orderly competition. Third, avoid a "one-size-fits-all" approach in work, discard impatience and rashness, follow the principle of piloting first and advancing steadily, conduct pilot tests in fields where national industry associations and chambers of commerce are relatively concentrated and in some local areas, and gradually expand after accumulating experience.

  Question: What requirements does the "Opinions" put forward regarding playing a role in the function of industry associations and chambers of commerce?

  Answer: Fully leveraging the positive role of industry associations and chambers of commerce in serving economic and social development is the ultimate goal of deepening reforms. The "Opinions" clarify the functional positioning and key points for exerting influence of industry associations and chambers of commerce from three aspects. First, standardize industry development. Industry associations and chambers of commerce should establish and improve industry self-discipline management systems and self-discipline constraint mechanisms, formulate and implement industry professional ethics codes, carry out industry credit evaluation work in accordance with the law, consciously resist "involutionary" competition, punish members who violate self-discipline rules, play a role in resolving petition contradictions, and better maintain industry development order. Second, expand service functions. Industry associations and chambers of commerce should promote the implementation of party theories, lines, policies and principles, as well as national development strategies and relevant industry-specific plans within the industry, provide services and reflect demands in accordance with the law, conduct surveys and research and industry statistics, promote the construction of advanced industry standard systems, facilitate the promotion and application of new technologies and products, assist in the development of advanced industrial clusters, and actively participate in comprehensive rural revitalization, social governance, volunteer services, public welfare and charity, food safety, emergency rescue, and other work. Third, participate in international exchange and cooperation. Industry associations and chambers of commerce, especially national ones, should actively participate in work such as formulating international standards and international rules, participate in or promote the establishment of international economic and trade dialogue mechanisms, serve in building international supply and demand docking platforms, participate in international economic and trade negotiations, responses to trade friction, trade relief and anti-discrimination-related work, and guide and promote industry enterprises to actively participate in jointly building the "Belt and Road" initiative and global industrial division of labor and cooperation.

  Q: What arrangements has the "Opinion" made to optimize the development environment for industry associations and chambers of commerce?

  A: A favorable development environment is an important guarantee for the standardized and healthy development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. The "Opinion" makes three main arrangements for strengthening cultivation and support, and optimizing the development environment. First, strengthen policy support. Encourage localities and relevant departments to formulate and implement policy measures supporting the transformation and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce in light of actual conditions, transfer or entrust functions and matters suitable for industry associations and chambers of commerce to bear to those with the necessary qualifications in accordance with laws and procedures, and implement policy measures such as tax incentives and financial support. Second, reinforce talent support. Increase efforts in training personnel for industry associations and chambers of commerce, establish and improve systems for cultivating and evaluating practitioners, smooth career development channels, and standardize salary management for industry associations and chambers of commerce. Third, ensure smooth communication and contact. Establish institutionalized channels for soliciting public suggestions from industry associations and chambers of commerce, and legally share relevant information and data with those that meet the qualification requirements.

  Q: What are the requirements for promoting the implementation of the "Opinion"?

  Answer: The vitality of the system lies in its implementation. To effectively implement the "Opinions", all regions and relevant departments must work together. In accordance with the requirements of the "Opinions", party committees and governments at all levels must strengthen organizational leadership, promptly study and resolve major issues. Party committee social work departments at all levels must strengthen overall coordination and supervision to ensure that relevant policies and measures are implemented effectively. Publicity and guidance efforts should be strengthened to create a favorable atmosphere supporting the development of industry associations and chambers of commerce.