CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: John Wang, Xu Jun, Song Jia and Zhao Yuxuan, Wang Jing & Co
and liability of the marine casualties will be analysed and determined. The MSA will release their investiga - tion reports to the public through their websites. The MSA’s above responsibilities also apply to seafarers’ casualties caused by marine casualties. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration For registration of vessels other than fishing vessels, the Regulations of the PRC Governing the Registra - tion of Ships shall apply. For registration of fishing vessels, the Measures of PRC on the Registration of Fishing Vessels shall apply. Competent Authority of Ship Registration The Ministry of Transport and the MSA handle the reg - istration of vessels other than fishing vessels. The Ministry of Agriculture and the affiliated fishery administration handle the fishing vessels’ registration. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels As a general rule, the vessels owned by domestic indi - viduals and/or enterprises can be registered at the ship registration authorities. If an enterprise possess - ing foreign capital is registering a vessel, it is required that the domestic capital be no less than 50% of the whole. As an exception, PRC authorities will accept regis - trations of international trading vessels filed by those China-invested enterprises or foreign-invested enter - prises that are established in the free trade zones or Shenzhen in accordance with PRC law, and those filed by the wholly foreign-owned enterprises and wholly Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan-owned enterprises that are established in accordance with the regime of free trade zones or Shenzhen specified by the State Coun - cil. The international trading vessels registered under this exceptional rule shall sail international routes and/ or Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan routes only. Furthermore, from 5 May 2022, if vessels registered in Hainan free trade port intend to carry out the service
only within the Hainan free trade zone, there is no requirement for the minimum limit of domestic capital. Domestic ownership is required for ownership regis - tration of fishing vessels, PRC law permits the registration of vessels that are still under construction. 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels PRC law permits the temporary registration of vessels. For vessels other than fishing vessels, temporary reg - istration can be granted, and a temporary certificate of a ship’s nationality can be obtained in the following circumstances: • for a ship newly built and to be sold overseas, the ship-owner may apply at the place of construction; • for a newly built ship purchased from overseas, the ship-owner may apply at the local embassy or consulate of the PRC; • for a ship built in a place within the PRC other than its intended port of registry, the ship-owner may apply at the place of ship-building; • for a ship built overseas, the ship-owner may apply at the local embassy or consulate of the PRC; • for a ship bareboat-chartered overseas, the bare - boat charterer may make the application; • for a second-hand ship bought from abroad, the ship-owner may apply at the place of its domicile or principal place of business; • for a change of port of registry due to the ship sale and purchase, the new ship-owner may apply at the new ship registration authority; • for a change of port of registry due to the change of the ship-owner’s domicile or the ship’s route, the ship-owner may apply at the original ship registra - tion authority; and • if a ship’s nationality certificate is lost or contami - nated overseas, temporary registration may also be granted. For fishing vessels, normally the temporary registra - tion of the ship’s nationality will be granted by the ship registration authority if the fishing vessel is bareboat- chartered from abroad. If the ship’s nationality certifi -
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