REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR THE ADMINISTRA-TION OF THE AIRWORTHINESS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT

REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR THE ADMINISTRA-TION OF THE AIRWORTHINESS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT This English document is coming from the "LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GOVERNING FOREIGN-RELATED MATTERS" (1991.7) which is compiled by the Brueau of Legislative Affairs of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, and is published by the China Legal System Publishing House.

In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese shall prevail.

Whole Document REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR THE ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE AIRWORTHINESS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT (Promulgated by the State Council on May 4, 1987) Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purpose of ensuring safety in civil aviation, protecting public interests and promoting the development of civil aviation undertakings.

Article 2 All units or individuals that are engaged in the designing, manufacturing, use and maintenance of civil aircraft (including aircraft engines and propellers, and the same hereinafter) within the People's Republic of China, all units or individuals that export civil aircraft to the People's Republic of China, and all units or individuals that perform outside the People's Republic of China maintenance services to aircraft registered in the People's Republic of China shall abide by these Regulations.

Article 3 The administration of the airworthiness of civil aircraft denotes the technical appraisal and supervision exercised in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the State over the designing, manufacturing, use and maintenance of civil aircraft for the purpose of ensuring safety in flight.

Article 4 The Civil Aviation Administration of China (hereinafter referred to as the "CAAC") shall be responsible for the administration of the airworthiness of civil aircraft.

Article 5 The administration of the airworthiness of civil aircraft shall be exercised in accordance with the prescribed airworthiness criteria and procedures.

Article 6 Any units or individuals that intend to design civil aircraft shall, on the strength of the document issued by the Ministry of Aeronautic Industry for the examination and approval of the design project, apply to the CAAC for a Certificate of Up-to-Standard Model. The CAAC shall, after receipt of the application therefor, conduct the examination and appraisal, in accordance with the relevant provisions, as to whether the model to be designed is up to standard and, if the model is proved to be up to standard, a Certificate of Up-to-Standard Model shall be issued.

Article 7 Any units or individuals that intend to manufacture civil aircraft shall have the necessary manufacturing capacity and shall, on the strength of the Certificate of Up-to-Standard Model as prescribed in Article 6 of these Regulations and with the consent of the Ministry of Aeronautic Industry, apply to the CAAC for a Manufacturing Permit. The CAAC shall, after receipt of the application therefor, conduct examination and appraisal, in accordance with the relevant provisions, as to whether the applicants are qualified to obtain a Manufacturing Permit, if they are proved to be qualified, a Manufacturing Permit shall be issued to them, together with an Airworthiness Certificate to be issued in accordance with the relevant provisions.

No units or individuals that have not obtained a Manufacturing Permit in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph may manufacture civil aircraft, except as otherwise prescribed in the provisions of Article 8 of these Regulations.

Article 8 Any units or individuals that have not obtained a Manufacturing Permit but intend to manufacture civil aircraft as a result of special needs shall apply to the CAAC for approval. Civil aircraft manufactured in accordance with the provision in the preceding paragraph shall be examined one by one and only after each of them is proved to be up to standard shall an Airworthiness Certificate be issued.

Article 9 Civil aircraft may engage in flight operations only when they have possessed an Airworthiness Certificate issued by the CAAC.

The Airworthiness Certificate issued by the CAAC shall specify the type(s) of activities the aircraft is (are) good for, the period of validity of the Certificate, and other conditions and restrictions required for ensuring safety.

Article 10 If civil aircraft manufactured by units possessing a Civil Aircraft Manufacturing Permit are to be exported as approved by the competent authorities under the State Council, the Airworthiness Certificate for Export shall be issued by the CAAC.

Article 11 Civil aircraft that are to fly within the People's Republic of China must possess Nationality Registration Certificates. Civil aircraft that have been registered in the People's Republic of China shall bear the nationality of the People's Republic of China and shall be issued Nationality Registration Certificate by the CAAC. Civil aircraft shall, after obtaining a Nationality Registration Certificate, stencil on their outer surface the identification marks of nationality registration in accordance with the relevant provisions.

Article 12 Where any units or individuals of the People's Republic of China intend to import any model of civil aircraft manufactured in foreign countries, and if it is imported for the first time and to be used for civil aviation activities, the units or individuals exporting that civil aircraft shall apply to the CAAC for examination of the model. The CAAC shall, upon receipt of the application, conduct the examination of the model of the civil aircraft in accordance with the relevant provisions. If the model is proved to be up to standard, a Certificate for Model Approval shall be issued to permit the import.

Article 13 A foreign civil aircraft leased by any unit or individual of the People's Republic of China may engage in flight operations only after the CAAC has examined and approved the airworthiness certificate issued by the country of registry of the said aircraft or only after the CAAC has issued a new Airworthiness Certificate to the aircraft.

Article 14 Any units or individuals that have obtained Airworthiness Certificates for their civil aircraft shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the CAAC and its mandates of airworthiness, use and maintain the said civil aircraft and ensure that they are in a state of permanent airworthiness.

Article 15 The addition or modification of a civil aircraft for which an Airworthiness Certificate has been obtained shall be subject to the approval of the CAAC and the essential components and accessories involved shall be subject to the examination and approval of the CAAC.

Article 16 Any maintenance units or individuals inside or outside the People's Republic of China that intend to undertake maintenance services for civil aircraft registered in the People's Republic of China shall apply to the CAAC for a Maintenance Permit. Only after the CAAC has examined their maintenance facilities, technical personnel and quality control system, found them up to standard and issued a Maintenance Permit may they engage in the maintenance business activities within the scope approved.

Article 17 Maintenance technical personnel in charge of maintaining and releasing civil aircraft registered in the People's Republic of China shall apply to the CAAC and only after the CAAC or a unit authorized by the CAAC has examined them and found them qualified and they have thus obtained a Maintenance Personnel Licence or a similar certificate may they engage in the maintenance and release of civil aircraft.

Article 18 Fees shall be charged for the examination of the airworthiness of a civil aircraft. The amounts to be charged and relevant procedures for charging shall be set by the CAAC in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.

Article 19 The CAAC shall have the right to examine regularly or selectively the units or individuals that manufacture, use or maintain civil aircraft, as well as the civil aircraft for which Airworthiness Certificates have been obtained. If they fail to pass the examination or selective examination, the CAAC shall impose penalties on them in accordance with the relevant provisions of these Regulations and may, in addition to that, revoke their relevant documents.

Article 20 If any units or individuals that use civil aircraft for flight activities are found in any one of the following circumstances, the CAAC shall have the right to order them to suspend flight and impose a fine on them in accordance with the seriousness of the case: 1. no Airworthiness Certificate has been obtained for the civil aircraft; 2. the Airworthiness Certificate of the civil aircraft has expired; or 3. the civil aircraft has been used beyond the scope prescribed in the Airworthiness Certificate.

Article 21 If any units or individuals that maintain civil aircraft are found in any of the following circumstances, the CAAC shall have the right to order them to suspend the maintenance business or revoke their Maintenance Permit and impose a fine on them in accordance with the seriousness of case: 1. no Maintenance Permit has been obtained and yet maintenance business has been procured without authorization; 2. maintenance business has been undertaken beyond the business scope prescribed in the Maintenance Permit; or 3. personnel who have not obtained a Maintenance Personnel Licence have been put in charge of the maintenance and release of civil aircraft.

Article 22 If any units or individuals, in violation of the provisions in Article 7 of these Regulations, manufacture civil aircraft without authorization, the CAAC shall have the right to order them to suspend the manufacturing and impose a fine on them in accordance with the seriousness of the case.

Article 23 The superior competent authorities in charge of the penalized units in accordance with these Regulations shall, based on the proposal of the CAAC, subject the principal persons in charge of the penalized units or other persons directly responsible to administrative sanctions. If the case is so serious as to constitute a crime, criminal liabilities shall be investigated by the judicial organs in accordance with the law.

Article 24 If accidental death or bodily injury or heavy losses in property have occurred as a result of negligence in the work of airworthiness administration, the CAAC shall assume the liability for damages and subject the persons directly responsible to administrative sanctions. If the act of the persons directly responsible constitutes a crime, the judicial organs shall investigate their criminal liabilities in accordance with the law.

Article 25 The CAAC personnel engaged in airworthiness administration who take advantage of their positions and powers to seek personal gains and graft and corruption shall be subjected to administrative sanctions. If the case is so serious as to constitute a crime, criminal liabilities shall be investigated by the judicial organs in accordance with the law.

Article 26 Any units or individuals that do not accept the decision of the CAAC concerning the imposition of a fine may, within 15 days of receipt of the notice of the fine, apply to the CAAC for reconsideration or directly file a suit with a people's court. If no application for reconsideration is submitted or no suit is filed and yet the decision has not been executed at the expiry of the prescribed period of time, the CAAC may apply to the people's court for the enforcement of the decision.

Article 27 The CAAC shall, on the basis of the opinions widely solicited from the Ministry of Aeronautic Industry and the various departments concerned, formulate the rules for the implementation of these Regulations and the relevant technical standards.

Article 28 The CAAC shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations.

Article 29 These Regulations shall become effective as of June 1, 1987.