Published by ChinaMNC · Linshui

Accessing Sichuan Provincial Government Information: A Practical Guide for Foreign Founders

A practical overview of how foreign founders operating in Sichuan can obtain government information, including proactive disclosure channels, filing requests, processing timelines, and available remedies.

Why Government Information Access Matters for Foreign Founders

Foreign founders setting up or running a business in Sichuan often need official documents—regulations, administrative approvals, project records, or policy notices—to plan investments, meet compliance obligations, or resolve disputes. Sichuan's provincial government publishes a formal guide explaining how the public, including companies and other organizations, can obtain information held by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and its General Office.

The guide is issued under China's national Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information (State Council Order No. 711). Its stated aims are to improve transparency, support a rule-of-law government, and let government information serve the public's productive, living, and economic activities. For foreign founders, the guide is useful as a map of what is published automatically and how to request what is not.

Information the Provincial Government Publishes Proactively

Under the principle of fairness, legality, and convenience, the province proactively discloses information that affects public interests, that the public needs to know broadly, or that requires public participation in decision-making. The main categories include:

• Leadership and structure: provincial government leaders and their portfolios, the setup and main duties of government bodies, and the government's working rules.
• Rules and normative documents: provincial government rules and normative documents issued by the provincial government and its General Office.
• Work reports and meetings: the government work report, important government meetings, and leaders' attendance at major official events.
• Planning and statistics: provincial economic and social development plans, special and regional plans, related policies, and economic and social statistics.
• Administrative matters: administrative licensing, penalties, compulsory measures, and other external management and service items.
• Finance and procurement: budgets and final accounts, centralized government procurement, and administrative fees.
• Major projects: approval and implementation status of significant construction projects.
• Major livelihood issues: policies and implementation in poverty alleviation, education, healthcare, social security, and employment promotion; emergency plans, early warnings, and responses for public incidents; and supervision and inspection of environmental protection, public health, work safety, food and drug safety, and product quality.
• Personnel matters: provincial government appointments and removals, and civil service recruitment.
• Other information that laws, regulations, rules, and national provisions require to be disclosed.

Where Proactive Information Appears

The province publishes through several channels: the Sichuan Provincial People's Government Gazette; the provincial government portal website; social media accounts including the "Sichuan Release" Sina Weibo and WeChat accounts and the government website's Toutiao account; provincial government press conferences; and other media such as radio, television, and newspapers. Information is also made available at the Sichuan Provincial Government Government Services and Public Resource Trading Service Center, the Sichuan Provincial Archives, and the Sichuan Provincial Library, which serve as venues for accepting and consulting disclosures.

Timing of Proactive Disclosure

Information within the proactive disclosure scope is published within 20 working days of its formation or change, unless other laws or regulations provide otherwise.

Requesting Information That Is Not Proactively Published

Beyond proactively disclosed material, citizens, legal persons, and other organizations—referred to as applicants—may request government information from the provincial government and its General Office. The General Office accepts and handles these requests, with its government information disclosure office performing the day-to-day work.

Identify the Right Agency First

To obtain information accurately and quickly, founders should first determine which agency holds it. The provincial government portal website includes an organizational functions section describing provincial agencies' main duties and structure. Applicants should then use the application channel opened by the relevant agency and follow its specific instructions. Examples given in the guide:

• Information on project approval and feasibility study reports for major construction projects should be requested from development and reform departments.
• Information on collective land expropriation should be requested from natural resources departments.
• Information on expropriation and compensation of housing on state-owned land, and on shantytown redevelopment, may be requested from the municipal or county-level government where the applicant is located and its housing and urban-rural development department.

How to Submit a Request

The General Office accepts requests submitted in person, by letter, and online, and processes them according to the application procedure.

• In person: an acceptance point is set up at the provincial government services center, where applicants can collect the Government Information Disclosure Application Form, complete it, and submit it on the spot.
• By letter: the form must be accompanied by a copy of a valid identity document.
• Online: applicants register on the Sichuan Government Services Network, complete identity verification, log in, select the application type, enter details such as name and identification number, and can then check progress online.

In-person applicants must show a valid identity document. The application form can be collected at the acceptance point or downloaded from the provincial government portal, and photocopies are valid.

Describing the Information You Need

The request should clearly identify the information sought. The guide recommends providing the document's name, reference number, or other characteristics that help the agency locate it. If a request is unclear, the agency will provide guidance and, within seven working days of receipt, tell the applicant once what needs to be supplemented and a reasonable deadline. If the supplemented request still does not identify specific information, the agency will notify the applicant in writing that it cannot be processed. If the applicant fails to supplement without justification, the request is treated as abandoned.

Checking Proactive Sources Before Applying

Because handling a request takes time, the guide suggests applicants first search the proactive disclosure channels described above and submit a request only if the information cannot be found. Matters involving petitions, complaints, reports, consultations, or suggestions should go through dedicated channels such as the Governor's Mailbox, the 12345 online message service, and disciplinary reporting channels.

How Requests Are Answered

Where the requested information may be disclosed, the agency provides it or explains how, where, and when to obtain it. If the information is not the agency's responsibility to disclose, the agency tells the applicant and explains why; if it can identify the responsible agency, it provides that agency's name and contact details. If the applicant repeats a request already answered, the agency will not process it again. For information such as business registration or real estate registration records governed by special legal rules, the applicant is directed to follow those rules.

Except where an answer can be given on the spot, the agency replies within 20 working days of receiving the request. An extension may be granted with the approval of the head of the agency's disclosure office and written notice to the applicant, for no more than a further 20 working days. Time spent consulting third parties or other agencies does not count toward the deadline, and where supplementation is needed, the reply period runs from receipt of the supplemented request.

If the number or frequency of requests clearly exceeds a reasonable range, the agency may ask for justification. Unreasonable requests will not be processed; reasonable ones that cannot be answered within the statutory period will receive a notified, reasonable delayed deadline. The agency provides information as it is held and is not obliged to process or analyze existing information. It determines the format based on the applicant's request and its actual holdings; if the requested format would endanger the information carrier or cost too much, it may provide electronic data or another suitable form, or arrange for inspection or copying.

Fees and Remedies

Under the national regulation, agencies charge information processing fees in accordance with the State Council General Office's measures on fees for government information disclosure (Guobanhan [2020] No. 109) and provincial rules. If an applicant believes an agency has infringed its lawful rights in handling a disclosure request, it may complain or report to the higher-level agency or the competent disclosure authority, or apply for administrative reconsideration or bring an administrative lawsuit.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.