Chapter I. General Rules

Article 1. The name of this organization is ALL-CHINA ENVIRONMENT FEDERATION in English with the acronym of ACEF.

Article 2. ACEF is a non-profit, non-governmental national organization composed of individuals, enterprises and institutions that are enthusiastic about environmental protection undertaking on voluntary basis.

Article 3. ACEF observes the Constitution, national Laws and Regulations as well as relevant national policies of the People’s Republic of China, abides by social ethics and conventions. The goal of ACEF is to serve as a bridge between the government and the society and to promote the progress and development of environmental protection undertaking both in China and in the world based on the sustainable development strategy of our nation, the realization of national goals on environment and development as well as the task of safeguarding the environmental rights and interests of the general public and the society.

Article 4. ACEF shall be under the operational guidance and supervision of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Article 5. The location of ACEF office is in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

Chapter II. Business Scope

Article 6. The main tasks of ACEF is to organize and utilize the resources from all social forces to jointly participate in the undertaking of environmental protection, intensify social supervision, safeguard environmental rights and interests of the general public, coordinate and facilitate the government to fulfill the national goals on environmental protection so as to enhance the development of environmental protection in China. It also aims to organize and participate in international non-governmental exchange and cooperation related to environment, safeguard the sound international environment image of China, establish the proper international position of Chinese environmental protection organizations and promote the development of the environment undertaking of human kind. The specific business scope of All-China Environment Federation is as follows:

i) To fully exert our role of acting as a bridge between the government and the society and to offer recommendations on decision-making to governments at all levels and relevant administrative competent departments of environmental protection in the light of the targets and tasks set for national environment and development.

ii) To actively promote the legislation on the protection of environmental rights and interests, establish and improve the security system on environmental rights and interests, organize relevant activities and legal aid in the area of safeguarding environmental rights and interests and safeguard the legitimate environmental rights and interests of the general public.

iii) To develop and create favorable conditions for public participation and social supervision in the field of environment through diversified channels and perspectives and to set up a new platform for public participation and social supervision in this area.

iv) To offer consultation services on environmental policies, laws and regulations and technologies.

v) To unite all social forces and organizations in a bid to jointly promote the development of environmental protection undertaking in China.

vi) To launch relevant publicity and education activities on environmental protection (with special focus on protecting environmental rights and interests), to popularize the knowledge of environmental protection and safeguarding of environmental rights and interests and to raise the environmental awareness of the entire society.

vii) To organize and participate in international non-governmental exchange and cooperation related to environment, to seek more international support for the environmental protection undertaking of China and to enhance the development of the environment undertaking of human kind.

viii) To carry out various activities for the benefits of the public and conducive to the environment and to undertake other works assigned by the government and other relevant institutions.

Chapter III. Membership

Article 7. The membership of All-China Environment Federation is of two types with enterprise and institutions applying for the group membership and individuals from all social sectors who are enthusiastic about environmental undertaking applying for the individual membership.

Article 8. Eligible members must meet the following requirements:

i)    Eligible members must uphold the Rules and Regulations of All-China Environment Federation;

ii)   Eligible members should have the will to join in All-China Environment Federation;

iii)   Eligible members must actively participate in one or several activities within the business scope of All-China Environment Federation on a voluntary basis;

iv)   Eligible individual members must have certain level of reputation in the field of environment;

v)    Eligible group members must be reputable enterprise or institutions with a good environmental image.

Article 9. The procedures of applying for membership are as follows:

i)    The applicant submits the application form;

ii)    The Governing Council or the Standing Council of ACEF discusses and approves the application;

iii)  The Governing Council or its authorized organization grants a membership certificate to the applicant.

Article 10. ACEF members are entitled to the following rights:

i)    The rights to vote and to stand for election;

ii)    The rights to participate in activities held by ACEF;

iii)    Priority in enjoying the services provided by ACEF;

iv)    The rights to monitor the work of ACEF and offer comments and suggestions to ACEF;

v )   The rights to join in ACEF voluntarily or to resign freely.

Article 11. ACEF members should perform the following duties:

i)     To implement resolutions adopted by ACEF;

ii)     To safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of ACEF;

iii)    To fulfill the tasks assigned by ACEF;

iv)    To pay the membership fee according to relevant regulations;

v)     To provide necessary information and materials to ACEF.

Article 12. ACEF members must inform ACEF in written form and return the membership certificate to ACEF for resignation. A member who hasn’t paid the membership fee or is absent from ACEF activities for one consecutive year is forfeited his/her/its membership automatically.

Article 13. Should any member make such conducts in severe violation of the Rules and Regulations of ACEF, it would be expelled from ACEF after the Governing Council or the Standing Council of ACEF votes such a decision.

Chapter IV. The Organization and Election and Removing

Article 14. The Conference of Member Representatives (CMR), the top decision-making body of ACEF, performs the following duties:

  i)    To stipulate and modify the Rules of procedure of ACEF;

 ii)    To elect members of Board of Directors or remove members from the Board;

iii)   To review the work, report and financial statement of the Board of Directors;

iv)    To determine the termination of ACEF;

v)    To determine other important issues.

Article 15.  The CMR can only be held with the presence of over two thirds of the total representatives, and any decision of the Conference can go into effect only by vote with over half of the representatives present at the Conference in favor.

Article 16. The term of service of Member Representatives is five years. Should there be any special occasion requiring early or postponed retirement of the member of the Board of Directors must take the decision. The postponement of the retirement date of member representatives cannot be longer than one year.

Article 17. The Board of Directors is the executive body of the CMR and responsible for the CMR, and exerts the leading role in carrying out routine work when the CMR is not in session.

Article 18. Terms of Reference of the Board of Directors are as follows:

i)   To implement the decisions of the CMR;

ii)  To elect the Chair, Vice-Chairs and Secretary General of the Board of Directors，or remove them from office;

iii)  To prepare for the CMR;

iv)  To present work report and financial statement to the CMR;

v)  To make decisions on the approval of membership applications or cancellation of membership of existing members;

vi)  To make decisions on the establishment of the working organ, branches, representative bodies or entities under ACEF;

vii)  To make decisions on the appointment of Deputy Secretary Generals of ACEF and heads of the departments of ACEF’s working organ;

viii)  To provide leadership to all the bodies under ACEF in carrying out regular work;

ix)  To develop the internal managerial system;

x)   To make decisions on other important issues.

Article 19. The Meeting of the Board of Directors must be held with the presence of over two thirds of the members, and a decision can only be adopted by vote with over two thirds of the members of the Board present in favor.

Article 20. The Meeting of the Board of Directors should be held at least once a year. The meeting can also be held in teleconference if there is such a special need.

Article 21. An Executive Board of Directors is established in ACEF. Its members are elected by the Board of Directors, and are composed of Chair, Vice-Chairs and Executive Directors. In principle, the number of the members of the Executive Board of Directors shall not exceed one third of that of the Board of Directors. The Executive Board of Directors shall perform its duties when the Board of Directors is not in session.

Article 22. The Meeting of the Executive Board of Directors shall be held with the presence of over two thirds of its members, and a resolution can only be adopted by vote with over two thirds of its members present in favor.

Article 23. The Meeting of the Executive Board of Directors should be held at least once every six months. The meeting can also be held in teleconference if there’s such a special need.

Article 24. The candidates for the posts of The Chair, Vice-Chairs, Secretary General of ACEF shall meet the following requirements:

i)   The person shall have rather high level of professional reputation within the field of ACEF;

ii)  The person shall be under the age of 70,and the post of Secretary General is on a full time basis;

iii)  The person shall be healthy and can handle daily work;

iv)  The person had not be deprived of political rights for criminal punishment;

v)  The person shall have completely civil capacity.

Article 25. Should the candidate for the posts of Chair, Vice-Chairs and Secretary General of ACEF is over 70 years old; the appointment can only be made by vote of the Board of Directors as well as the approval of Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Article 26. Normally the term of service of the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary General is five years with a maximum of two terms in principle. Should there be any special need for extension of the term, such appointments must be made by vote with over two thirds of the members of the Board of Directors present.

Article 27. The Secretary General is the legal representative exclusive for ACEF. Its appointment can only be made by going through the approval of Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The legal representative is exclusive for ACEF and cannot act as legal representative of other organizations and institutions.

Article 28. The Chair of ACEF performs the following duties:

i)  To organize and chair meetings of the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Directors;

ii)  To supervise progress of the implementation of the decisions adopted at the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Directors;

iii)  To sign important documents on behalf of ACEF.

Article 29. The Secretary General of ACEF performs the following duties:

i)   To be in charge of day-to-day work of the working organ of ACEF and responsible for the implementation of the ACEF’s annual work plan;

ii)   To coordinate the work progress of various branches, representative bodies and industrial bodies;

iii)  To nominate candidates of Deputy Secretary Generals and heads of various departments of the working organ, representative bodies and industrial bodies to the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Directors for deliberation and approval;

iv)  To make appointments of full-time employees of departments of the working organ, representative bodies and industrial bodies of ACEF;

v)   To be responsible for other daily activities.

Chapter V. Assets Management and Principle of Usage

Article 30. The funds of ACEF are mainly from the following channels:

i)   Membership fee;

ii)   Donations;

iii)  Governmental subsidy;

iv)   Income from activities or services within the business scope of ACEF;

v)   Interest income;

vi)  Other legitimate income.

Article 31. ACEF collects the membership fee according to the standard stipulated in relevant national regulations.

Article 32. The funds of ACEF can only be used on business activities within its business scope and organizational development stipulated in this Rules and Regulations of ACEF. Any allocation of the funds among its members is strictly forbidden.

Article 33. ACEF lays down a stringent financial management system to ensure the legitimacy, authenticity, accuracy and integrity of the accounting materials.

Article 34. ACEF has professional accountants and posts of accountant and cashier cannot be occupied by the same person. Business accounting and the supervision of accountants must be performed. Accountants shall properly hand over work to their successor due to job transfer or resignation.

Article 35. The assets management of ACEF shall accord with relevant national financial management regulations and receive the supervision of CMR and relevant financial departments. Such funds obtained from governmental appropriation or non-governmental donation and sponsorship shall be under the supervision of the auditing departments, and the financial statement of such fund must be published to the general public through suitable channels.

Article 36. Financial auditing shall be made by Ministry of Civil Affairs before the re-election of ACEF management or the legal representative in time when the term of one office expires.

Article 37. The assets of ACEF shall by no means be misappropriated, secretly allocated or embezzled by any organization, institution or individual.

Article 38. The setting of standard of salary, insurance and fringe benefit for full-time employees of ACEF should refer to pertinent national regulations for public institutions on such issues.

Chapter VI. Procedures of Modification to the Rules and Regulations of ACEF

Article 39. Any modification to the Rules and Regulations of ACEF shall be made by vote of the Board of Directors or the Executive Board of Directors and approved by CMR.

Article 40. Any modification of the Rules and Regulations of ACEF shall go into effect by getting the approval from Ministry of Civil Affairs within 15 days after the its adoption at the CMR.

Chapter VII. Termination Procedure and the Follow-up Disposal of the Property

Article 41. In case ACEF nullifies the registration after having fulfilled its set objective or due to division or merger of the organization, such proposal shall be made by the Board of Directors or the Executive Board of Directors.

Article 42. The proposal of termination of ACEF can only go into effect by vote of CMR.

Article 43. A liquidation group under the guidance of relevant institutions and departments shall be set up to clear all the liabilities of ACEF and to handle remaining issues. During the period of liquidation, any irrelevant activities are prohibited.

Article 44. The termination of ACEF formally goes into effect once the nullification of registration procedures goes through at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Article 45. The remaining assets of ACEF after termination shall be used on the development of relevant undertakings according to relevant national regulations under the supervision of Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Chapter VIII. Others

Article 46. This Rules and Regulations of ACEF have been adopted by CMR after examination on April 22, 2005.      .

Article 47. The interpretation right of this Rules and Regulations of ACEF shall be vested in the Board of Directors.