What are the main provisions of the regulations on the administration of entertainment venues?
There are two main obstacles which need to be overcome:
In a move to strengthen the administration and ensure the healthy development of entertainment venues, the State Council issued the Regulations on the Administration of Entertainment Venues ("Regulations") on 29 January 2006. The Regulations, effective from 1 March 2006, replace old regulations issued in 1999.
The Regulations prohibit state organs and their employees, as well as spouses, next of kin, blood and conjugal relatives within three generations of employees of cultural administration departments and public security departments from setting up entertainment venues and participation or disguised participation in the operation of entertainment venues. The Regulations also prohibit people convicted of certain crimes or those who have undergone compulsory drug rehabilitation or administrative detention due to prostitution, from opening entertainment venues or working in them.
The Regulations forbid entertainment venues to be established in: (i) residential buildings, museums, libraries and sites protected for their historical and cultural value; (ii) residential areas, and in the vicinity of schools, hospitals, government offices etc. (iii) crowded areas such as stations and airports; (iv) below the underground floor of buildings; and (v) near dangerous chemical warehouses.
The Regulations provide that to open entertainment venues applications shall be made to cultural administration departments of county governments, together with a written statement that their investors, legal representatives or other principals are free from conditions prohibited by the Regulations. Once approved, cultural administration departments shall issue entertainment business licences and appraise and decide the number of customers an entertainment venue can accommodate.
The Regulations allow domestic and foreign investors to set up joint venture or cooperative entertainment venues, but forbid wholly foreign-invested entertainment venues. To set up joint venture or cooperative entertainment venues applications shall be made to local cultural administration departments in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government.
According to the Regulations, services and commodities provided by entertainment venues shall be clearly priced and their price lists displayed to customers; entertainment venues shall not force or deceive customers to accept services or purchase products. Song-dance venues shall not admit minors. Apart from during public holidays, electronic game machines in game arcades shall not be made available to minors. Entertainment venues shall not employ minors. The Regulations also contain detailed provisions on business hours: entertainment venues shall not be open between 2:00 am and 8:00 am.
Regarding supervision and administration of entertainment venues, the Regulations provide that cultural administration departments, public security departments and other related departments shall record the circumstances of supervision and inspection and the outcome. The records shall be signed and archived by inspectors. The public has the right to review the records. Cultural administration departments, public security departments and other related departments shall set up violation recording systems for entertainment venues; an entertainment venue's entry into such violation records shall be promptly announced to the public and its supervision and inspection strengthened.
Back
