Strengthening the supervision of enterprise-related fees is an important measure to reduce business operating costs and optimize the business environment. At the State Council executive meeting held on March 21st, measures were discussed to establish and improve the long-term regulatory mechanism for enterprise-related fees.
“Reducing the burden on enterprises and lowering operating costs are crucial for enterprise development. The governance of enterprise-related fees is vital for business growth. Improving the long-term regulatory mechanism for enterprise-related fees will help create an open and transparent policy environment and a free and convenient market environment, further stabilizing the expectations of various business entities and boosting development confidence,” said Professor Xue Jun from the Law School of Peking University.
The recent State Council executive meeting proposed measures to enhance the directory list system for enterprise-related fees. All fee items must be included in the list and made public, with clear specifications of service content, service standards, and fee amounts. Charges outside the list are strictly prohibited. Additionally, existing enterprise-related fee policies will be reviewed and streamlined in compliance with laws and regulations.
“List-based management provides clarity, enabling enterprises to understand which fees they should pay and which they should not, thereby preventing arbitrary charges under various pretexts,” said Xue Jun. The meeting proposed that all unauthorized enterprise-related fee items established without legal, regulatory, or policy basis would be abolished, while practices involving unauthorized fee increases or expanded collection scopes would be resolutely corrected. This comprehensive approach integrates supervision and accountability mechanisms, aiming to eliminate irregular enterprise charges at their source and achieve a holistic effect that tackles both symptoms and root causes.
According to statistics from the State Administration for Market Regulation, authorities investigated and handled 3,042 cases of enterprise-related fee violations across various entities last year, ordering the fee-collecting parties to refund 1.36 billion yuan to affected enterprises.
It is reported that some localities are adopting concrete measures to address irregular enterprise-related charges. For instance, implementing a “sentinel monitoring model” for fee collection to enhance transparency in enterprise-related charging practices; focusing on key entities and sectors such as government departments and affiliated institutions, industry associations, chambers of commerce, intermediaries, financial institutions, and utilities (water, electricity, gas, and heating) to thoroughly assess compliance with fee policies; and distributing surveys to enterprises to gather leads on unauthorized charges, thereby expanding channels for reporting irregular fee collection.
Experts suggest that improving the long-term regulatory mechanism for enterprise-related fees requires two key efforts: First, strengthening penalties for irregular fee collection by leveraging market supervision, industry oversight, and credit-based supervision to rigorously combat non-compliant practices. Second, advancing source governance to address issues such as unjustified fee obligations and excessive financial burdens on enterprises. Additionally, establishing a regularized mechanism for collecting leads on issues, setting up enterprise fee monitoring points, and amplifying the “sentinel role” of these channels will help ensure sustained oversight.
