According to our website, following the issuance in 2014 by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Land and Resources of the "Work Plan for Building a Credit System for Geological and Mineral Resources in Zhejiang Province" (Zhe Tu Zi Ban [2014] No. 96) and the "Interim Measures for the Credit Supervision and Management of Mining Right Holders in Zhejiang Province" (Zhe Tu Zi Ban [2014] No. 95), the department recently issued the "Notice from the Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Land and Resources on Fully Implementing Credit Supervision of Mining Right Holders" (Zhe Tu Zi Ban [2015] No. 24). Building on the experience gained from pilot programs conducted in Huzhou City, Zhoushan City, and Lanxi City, the department has now fully launched the credit supervision of mining right holders.

Credit supervision of mining right holders encompasses five aspects:

(1) Establish a credit information management system for mining right holders.

(2) The system collects credit information on mining right holders. The starting date for collecting information on dishonesty and honors is January 1, 2012; the starting date for collecting regulatory information is January 1, 2014. Information on mining right holders whose licenses have been revoked will no longer be collected.

(3) Improve the credit information system for mining right holders.

(4) Conduct credit rating evaluations for mining right holders. Building on the pilot program, the Provincial Department will issue the “Zhejiang Province Mining Right Holder Credit Rating Standards (2015 Edition)” by the end of March. Credit ratings will be dynamically assessed through the credit information system, with evaluation results reported once per quarter via the credit information system and publicly disclosed to the public once a year.

(5) Implement credit-rating-based regulatory oversight for mining right holders.

Job Requirements: The Land and Resources Bureaus of each county (city, district) shall establish a coordination mechanism led by bureau leaders and composed of departments (offices) such as geology and mining, law enforcement supervision, and land and resources offices. They must strengthen organizational leadership, assign specific personnel to take charge, establish working systems, and ensure the full and effective implementation of credit-based regulatory measures. The Provincial Department will incorporate the establishment and improvement of a geology and mining credit system as a key component of this year’s annual performance assessment under the responsibility system for each city’s Land and Resources Bureau. Each city’s Land and Resources Bureau shall intensify guidance to counties (cities, districts), establish a reporting system for advancing credit regulation of mining right holders, and publicly criticize—according to relevant regulations—any counties (cities, districts) that show slow progress or fail to carry out information-based regulatory work as required.