The Research Of Interactive Relationship Between Non-Governmental Organizations And Industry And Commerce Administrative Authorities In China

Since the1980s, a new pattern has emerged in global political and economic life and has brought about profound changes in the world:non-governmental organizations (NOGs) such as non-government-sponsored civic groups, have been developing rapidly and have become a new and important force in social management. NGOs, along with established social management entities, i.e., governments and corporations, have been involved in a wide range of human activities, and are playing a crucial role in promoting economic development, realizing social and cultural advancement and facilitating the establishment and growth of democracy and the rule of law in many parts of the world.As an integral part of the internal community, China is also seeing an increasingly active role played by local NGOs in social and economic management, including industry and commerce regulation. The governmental branch in charge of industry and commerce, known as industry and commerce administration (ICA) in China, has been striving to keep abreast with the times since the late1970s, when China started to follow the policy of reform and open-up. During the30-odd years since then, ICA of China has been exploring approaches to regulation, including overall regulation and targeted regulation, serving economic development of the country through releasing innovative policies, adopting innovative regulatory means and promoting scientific regulation. In the process, ICA has formed its unique regulation culture and philosophy.With the development of the country in the three decades, the primary duties of ICA have evolved from regulation of tangible commodity markets, typically primary agricultural produce markets, to a range of more complex and diversified duties that effectively cover every sector of the national economy of China:identifying market entities, safeguarding market order, protecting the legal rights and interests of commodity producers and consumers; participating in the planning and cultivating of the market system; uniform registration and regulation of trademarks; macro regulation of the advertising industry; overseeing sole proprietorships and private-run enterprises and guiding the healthy development thereof, among others.In particular, with the initiatives of the central government of China to step up the reform of the administrative system of the country and build a service-orientated government, it has become a consensus in China that a new administrative pattern featuring "a small government and extensive civic involvement" is bound to emerge in China and hence it is necessary to facilitate the development of social organizations, promote the concept of limited government and advance social self-governance. In this context, ICA should fully appreciate the significance of NGOs in spite of the fact that NGOs are not administratively under the ICA:NGOs working in coordination with the ICA can play a highly positive role in helping the ICA to fulfill its duties and hence contribute to the reform of the governmental system, improving the administrative efficiency of public affairs, protecting the legal rights and interests of all parities concerned.On the basis of previous researches by domestic and overseas scholars, the present thesis adopts the consumers’volunteer group of Shaoxing City as its research object and explores the mode of interaction between the non-governmental organization and the ICA authorities.The present thesis consists of five parts.In Part One, the background and significance of the present study as well as relevant studies by scholars from home and abroad and concepts involved in the present study are introduced within the framework of NGOs for the purpose of defining and elaborating on the nature of consumers’ volunteer group as a civic organization.In Chapter Two, a brief review is made of the evolution of Consumers’ Volunteer Group of Shaoxing City, presenting the group from the perspectives of its historic background, social functions and development experiences.Chapter Three focuses on the interaction between the Consumers’ Volunteer Group of Shaoxing City and the local Industry and Commerce Administration, ways in which such interaction is achieved, and relevant problems and issues.In Part Four, solutions to the issues and problems are proposed, primarily from the perspectives of the reform of the industry and commerce administration and the self-strengthening of the volunteer group.And in Part Five is the conclusion of the present research.