Measures for the Administration of Names of Social Organizations

Measures for the Administration of Names of Social Organizations

(Order No. 69 of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the executive meeting of the Ministry of Civil Affairs on January 4, 2024, issued on January 8, and will come into force on May 1, 2024)

Article 1 For the purposes of strengthening and improving the administration of names of social organizations and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of social organizations, these Measures are developed in accordance with the relevant laws, administrative regulations and relevant rules of the state on the registration administration of social organizations.

Article 2 These Measures shall apply to social organizations registered in accordance with the law.

For the purposes of these Measures, the term “social organizations” includes social organizations, foundations and private non-enterprise entities.

Article 3 The civil affairs department of the State Council shall be responsible for the administration of the names of social organizations throughout the country, and the civil affairs departments of the people's governments at or above the county level (hereinafter referred to as the “registration administrative department”) shall be responsible for the administration of names of social organizations registered with them.

Article 4 The civil affairs department of the State Council shall establish a national credit information publicity platform for social organizations to provide support for the inquiry of social organizations' name information.

Article 5 A social organization may only register one name, and the names of social organizations shall be protected by law.

Article 6 The name of a social organization shall comply with laws, administrative regulations, rules and relevant rules of the state, accurately reflect its characteristics, and have significant identification.

The name of a social organization shall be consistent with its business scope, membership distribution and activity area. The names of foundations and private non-enterprise entities shall be consistent with their business scope and public welfare purposes.

Article 7 The naming of social organizations shall follow the principle of clear and healthy meaning and standard and concise text.

The names of social organizations in the national autonomous areas may concurrently use the ethnic characters commonly used in the national autonomous areas.

Where the name of a social organization needs to be translated into a foreign language, it shall be translated and used under the principle of text translation.

Article 8 The name of a social organization shall consist of the name of the administrative division, the field of industry (business) or the composition of members and the form of organization in turn. The name of a chamber of commerce at different places shall consist of the name of the administrative division, the name of the administrative division of the place of origin and the words “chamber of commerce” in turn.

The name of a foundation and a private non-enterprise entity shall consist of the name of the administrative division, the trade name, the field of industry (business) and the organizational form in turn.

The name of a social organization registered with the civil affairs department of the State Council generally shall not have the name of the administrative division; and with approval in accordance with the relevant rules of the state, the words “China,” “National,” “Chinese,” etc., may be used.

Article 9 The name of the administrative division in a name of a social organization shall be the name of the local administrative division at or above the county level where the social organization is located. When the name of a municipal district is used in the name of a social organization, it shall be accompanied by the name of the administrative division of the districted city to which it belongs. When the name of a development zone or another area is used in the name of a social organization, it shall be used with the name of an administrative division and shall not be used separately.

The name of a social organization in an urban or rural community may be used after the name of the county administrative division with the name of the town (street) or village (community) where it is located.

Article 10 The name of a foundation or a private non-enterprise entity shall consist of two or more Chinese characters, shall not use sentences or sentence groups, and shall be significantly distinguished from the field of industry (business).

The name (proper name or abbreviation) of a local administrative division at or above the county level and the field of ind......