USSEC China was granted non-governmental organization (NGO) licenses on April 1 by the Chinese NGO authority overseeing foreign nongovernmental organizations operating in mainland China, placing USSEC’s Beijing and Shanghai representative offices among the first group of foreign NGO offices to be recognized by the Chinese government for their long-term contribution to the nation’s wellbeing and compliance with the recently-enacted law on foreign NGOs.
Two foreign NGO license handover ceremonies took place in Beijing and Shanghai simultaneously. Licenses were presented to foreign-NGO representatives by senior officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the municipal NGO offices in recognition for their dedication to bilateral trade, charity, science, education, and health care and compliance with the registration requirement stipulated in China’s Foreign NGOs Management Law, which was enacted in 2016 and came into effect in 2017.
Paul Burke, USSEC Regional Director - North Asia, was greeted by Hao Yunhong, head of the NGO office of the Ministry of Public Security, who handed him the NGO license for USSEC’s Beijing representative office during the ceremony. Mr. Hao said that USSEC had been highly cooperative throughout the registration process, making the work of the NGO office much easier. Mr. Burke said USSEC would like to do what it can to make sure that it operates in China in compliance with the Chinese law.

During an interview after the ceremony, Mr. Burke told Phoenix TV that USSEC, under the new foreign NGO law, would continue to operate in China as normal, and its activities would not be negatively affected.
Under the foreign NGO law of China, foreign NGOs are required to register with the police for their existing representative offices to be officially recognized as legal entities conducting activities in mainland China.