ISSUING AUTHORITY:

Department of WTO, Ministry of Commerce

DATE OF ISSUANCE:

December 3, 2025

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 2, 2026.

On December 3, 2025, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) promulgated the Measures for the Implementation of Trade Policy Compliance Work (the "Measures"). The Measures shall take effect 30 days after the date of its announcement. Meanwhile, MOFCOM Announcement No. 86 of 2014 (the Interim Measures for the Implementation of Trade Policy Compliance Work) is repealed.

The Measures apply to three areas: 1) ensuring the compliance of trade policies (which affect trade in goods, trade in services, trade-related intellectual property (IP), and foreign investment) formulated by State Council departments and county-level and higher local governments; 2) handling concerns raised by WTO members regarding China’s trade policies; 3) raising China’s concerns about the trade policies of other WTO members.

The Measures mandate the "who formulates, who evaluates" principle, and specify that compliance assessment (based on WTO rules and China’s Protocol of Accession to the WTO) shall serve as a prerequisite for the issuance of draft policies. Policy-formulating authorities must submit written assessment opinions together with the draft policy. State Council departments may consult MOFCOM, which shall provide written responses within 7 to 15 working days; for cases requiring scientific, technical, or economic analysis, the timeline may be extended appropriately. Local governments shall independently organize and conduct compliance work in light of local realities.

Additionally, the Measures allow local governments to engage third-party entities (such as universities and research institutions) to provide technical support for compliance assessment or to conduct training. They also mandate MOFCOM to take the lead in organizing national-level training on trade policy compliance, require the inclusion of compliance work in the rule-of-law assessment system, and stipulate that local governments shall submit annual reports on their compliance work to MOFCOM.

Reference:

商务部公告2025年第60号 公布《贸易政策合规工作实施办法》