The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has recently issued the Regulations on Ensuring Payments to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Draft Revision for Comment) (the "Draft") to solicit public opinions by May 18, 2024.
The Draft, consisting of 38 articles, adds nine more articles (of which six are newly added and three are formed by division of previous articles) to the existing regulations and proposes revisions to 16 articles therein. Upon adjustment, five chapters are formed, including general provisions, relevant provisions on payments, supervision, administration and remedies, legal liability, and supplementary provisions. The revisions mainly involve: (1) clarifying the basic principles for timely payments to small and medium-sized enterprises; (2) clarifying the work duties of various departments and the responsibilities of local governments; (3) strengthening the supervision and management of organs and public institutions; (4) imposing stricter information disclosure requirements for large enterprises; (5) improving the complaint handling mechanism and enhancing administrative remedies; (6) imposing heavier penalties on violations of relevant regulations; and (7) further revising and improving relevant regulations based on work practice.