海南自贸区海上游试点项目——新冠阴霾下邮轮业的曙光（中英双语）

# 前 言
在突如其来的新冠疫情冲击下，全世界邮轮产业瞬间进入了冰冻期，且在未来相当长的时间内仍将持续停航。唯有中国在成功控制新冠在国内的传播后逐步恢复了国内邮轮航线。中国国内航运市场作为目前世界上成为为数不多大致可以正常经营的邮轮市场，引来了几乎所有外资邮轮企业的目光。但依据现行的中国法律规定，外资运营的邮轮航线必须经停境外母港，则按照当前的防疫政策，所有的出国人员在归国后均需要接受至少14天隔离。这给外资邮轮公司的在华的运营无疑形成了实质性障碍。
同时，如果是经营中国国内两港口之间的航线则涉及到沿海运输权（right of transportation between the domestic ports）问题，其指的是运输经营主体在一国国内沿海从事运输贸易的权利。目前，世界上许多国家包括中国都通过立法，禁止悬挂外国旗的船舶在本国从事沿海运输贸易，而将沿海运输权赋予本国船队独享。因为，沿海运输权不仅牵涉国家的经济利益，还关系到国家的主权和安全。
根据《中华人民共和国海商法》第4条的规定：“中华人民共和国港口之间的海上运输和拖航,由悬挂中华人民共和国国旗的船舶经营。但是，法律，行政法规另有规定的除外。非经国务院交通主管部门批准，外国籍船舶不得经营中华人民共和国港口之间的海上运输和拖航。”
根据《中华人民共和国海运条例》第二十二条的规定，“外国国际船舶运输经营者不得经营中国港口之间的船舶运输业务，也不得利用租用的中国籍船舶或者舱位，或者以互换舱位等方式变相经营中国港口之间的船舶运输业务。”
而外商投资在中国境内的外资企业经营国内航线，则需要满足《国内水路运输管理规定》第三十六条：“外商投资企业申请从事水路运输，除满足本规定第五条规定的经营资质条件外，还应当符合下列条件：（一）拟经营的范围内，国内水路运输经营者无法满足需求；”因此，目前实践中从保护本国企业的角度出发，仍缺乏相关外资企业获批先例。综上所述，外资在国内水运市场在实操上仍在投资准入之外。
除了一般法律规定外，在政策相对宽松的自贸区框架下依然维持了对外商的准入控制。根据《自由贸易试验区外商投资准入特别管理措施》，国内水上运输公司须由中方控股。（且不得经营或租用中国籍船舶或者舱位等方式变相经营国内水路运输业务及其辅助业务；水路运输经营者不得使用外国籍船舶经营国内水路运输业务，但经中国政府批准，在国内没有能够满足所申请运输要求的中国籍船舶，并且船舶停靠的港口或者水域为对外开放的港口或者水域的情况下，水路运输经营者可以在中国政府规定的期限或者航次内，临时使用外国籍船舶经营中国港口之间的海上运输和拖航。）该要求与海商法和海运条例的规定一致，在目前自贸区层面下外商企业经营国内水上运输依然没有突破。
然而，2020年9月23日，海南省交通厅根据海南自贸区的开创性政策，为某中外合资企业颁发了第一张海上游试点经营许可证。这无疑为众多外资邮轮公司复工点燃了希望。
一、海南省海上游试点项目简介与法规介绍
海上游又称为公海游，是指游客以邮轮为旅游目的地，乘坐邮轮从一国港口出发，离开该国领海，在公海进行短期巡游（航）后再回到同一港口的休闲度假旅游方式。公海游的概念在官方文件中首次出现于国务院2018年制定的《中共中央国务院关于支持海南全面深化改革开放的指导意见》中，该文件提出将海南建设成东亚地区新的旅游和经济中心，特别是第十二条提到“支持海南开通跨国邮轮旅游航线，支持三亚等邮轮港口开展公海游航线试点，加快三亚向邮轮母港方向发展。”此后，为落实文件精神，交通部于2019年5月出台了《交通运输部贯彻落实<中共中央国务院关于⽀持海南全⾯深化改⾰开放的指导意见>实施⽅案》（以下简称“交通部实施方案”），进一步细化了海上游申请的要求和细节。海南省于2019年7月《海南省人民政府办公厅关于印发海南邮轮港口海上游航线试点实施方案的通知》（以下简称“海南省通知”）作为目前申请海上游的详细操作性文件。
二、海上游项目申请的法律要求和实操难点
作为一项新兴的邮轮项目，虽然目前已经有了部级、省级两层指导性文件，但对具体申请企业来说，目前仍缺乏操作指导手册，因此本文作者在实操流程中详细咨询了主管该项业务的海南省交通厅主管官员，发现海上游从申请到实施包括两个层面的要求，海上游申请到实施实际包括主体资质申请和航线试点方案审批两项内容。海上游主体资质由海南省交通厅审批，流程较短。航线试点方案需经省交通厅上呈交通运输部会签外交、公安等中央部委审核，审批流程较长，需要耗时两月。因此截至目前，获得主体资格审批的企业并未实际运营海上游航线，其中一个重要原因可能在于在具体航线上未取得批准。
从申请主体的角度看，“交通部实施方案”和“海南省通知”均规定了“中资邮轮运输经营⼈是指中资（内地资本）出资⽐例不低于51%的国际邮轮运输业务的企业法⼈”。而企业在实际操作中面临的一个重要问题是公司架构搭建的问题。然而，两份文件均未正面回答，一个境外主体能否成为作为中资邮轮运输经营⼈这个重要而又敏感的问题。例如，如果将申请主体设在国内，则境内船舶公司将面临船只进口关税、方便旗船只挂旗、外籍船员雇佣等相关国内行业监管问题。因此，如申请主体能为境外的中资控股企业，这将在企业设立条件，成本，行业监管等方面为投资者带来巨大便利。“海南省通知”在第三条第五点规定，“船舶所有权关系证明材料，如非五星红旗邮轮为中资邮轮运输经营人通过境外独资投资企业间接拥有的，还需提供中资邮轮运输经营人投资该境外独资企业的证明文件、该境外独资投资企业全资或控股拥有非五星红旗邮轮的证明，以及中资邮轮运输经营人光租非五星红旗邮轮的证明文件。”该条款实际暗示了中资邮轮运输经营人可以通过境外独资投资企业间接拥有或者租赁船只。经查询首家获批的企业注册信息，其结果同样证明了该公司申请海上游的主体为境外企业。同时，笔者也向海南省交通厅官员求证了申请主体可否为境外企业这一问题，并获得了主管部门的明确答复：申请主体只需要中资占有51%控股权的企业，注册地在境外的主体也可以成为申请海上游的主体。
第二个实际的问题是境内外法律架构和中外企业的占股比例要求。不同的企业在申请海上游业务过程中可能有着不同的考虑。从纯粹的申请和运营海上游项目的角度出发，首先需要决策的除了申请的主体需要中方控股，并考虑将申请主体设置在境外以外，还需要注意的是“海南省通知”中进一步要求申请主体在申请海上游主体时已经获得《国际班轮运输经营资格登记证》。除了申请主体的注册地问题外，投资方也需要考虑合资公司根据具体需要设置在境外的资产持有公司，境内的日常经营公司，并通过相关合同进行连接，搭建投资架构的过程。根据我们的研究，在现行法规框架下对架构中的除申请主体以外的其他公司主体，没有中方控股比例的要求，合作的中外双方可根据合作需求和谈判情况确定具体的控股比例和公司设立的法律架构。
第三个主要的问题是对船舶的要求。“交通部实施办法”和“海南省通知”都规定了申请主体可使用自有或者租赁的方便旗船只经营海上游航线，且船只船龄不得超过30年。根据“海南省通知”规定 ，“中资邮轮运输经营人拟开展邮轮海上游航线试点业务的非五星红旗邮轮的《国籍证书》《入级证书》《符合证明》《船舶安全管理证书》《客船安全证书》《国际船舶载重线证书》《国际船舶保安证书》《国际船舶防止油污证书》《国际船舶防止生活污水污染证书》《国际船舶防止空气污染证书》”，则海上游航线运营船只需符合船只一般的环保、安保和其他船只技术要求。
第四个重要的问题是“海上游”试点项目船上可具体经营的项目问题。截至目前，海南省交通厅并未就海上游的具体经营内容出具具体的实操性指南。因此，目前该问题并不存在公开渠道的可查询答案。笔者通过咨询海南省主管官员，其答复，海上游项目不可经营赌场等中国法律禁止的娱乐项目；同时，暂时不开放免税商品，免税店等消费税收优惠政策。
三、公海游项目总结与开放沿海航运权的政策展望
从目前海南省对海上游项目的实际操作情况看，我们可以确认的是，外资通过与中方合资企业经营海上游项目的中国法律层面障碍已经得到清除。相关的投资架构和法律实操已经取得审批部门的确认。但目前在航线审批上仍存在一定的问题，首先，以三亚为母港的海上游项目可能会经过一些较为敏感的海域，如何设计好具体的航线并与多个国家部委的解释和沟通是外资进入该领域应该关注的重要问题点。第二，航线审批需要通过海南省和中央部委至少两层，多个主管单位，其时效性不好控制。同时可能涉及各部门从主管事务方面的多重考虑，对此企业需要留出合理时间，同时针对不同部委提出的问题预先做出解释和准备工作。第三，海上游实操过程仍然缺乏统一的官方书面流程指导，这需要企业预先做好相关的法规和政策收集调研工作。
从另一个角度来看，海上游向外资的有条件开放是否可能成为中国开放沿海航运权的一个预兆，对此，笔者持谨慎乐观的态度。
综上，虽然法规明确禁止外资参与中国国内的航运市场，但是在海南自贸区框架下，特别是在旅游航运领域，国家为支持海南邮轮经济的发展，随着公海游之后，也可能会有相关的新政策出台。有关外资企业也可以对此保持关注，预做准备，以积极面对疫情带来的持续困难和加速变化的中国市场。
The dawn light of the cruise industry
the sea sightseeing pilot program
in Hainan Free Trade Zone
The world's cruise industry has undergone a period of economic stagnation due to COVID-19. This situation is likely to remain for the near future. China is the only country that has gradually resumed its domestic cruise routes after curbing the spread of the COVID-19. China's domestic shipping market, as one of the few cruise markets in the world that are capable of operating business normally at the moment, has attracted the attention of almost all foreign cruise companies. However, current laws in PRC regulate that cruise routes operated by foreign capital shall stop at their home ports abroad. Furthermore, based on the current anti-epidemic policy, all people going aboard need to be quarantined for at least 14 days after they return to China, thus bringing substantial obstacles to the operation of the foreign cruise companies in China.
Meanwhile, when it comes to operation of routes between two domestic ports in China, the question should be in relation to the right of transportation between the domestic ports, which refers to the authority of transportation business entity to engage in transportation trade along the domestic coast of a country. Nowadays, many countries around the world, including China, have passed legislation to prohibit vessels flying foreign flags from engaging in coastal transportation trade in their own countries. Such legislation grants the right of coastal transportation to their own fleets exclusively, as the right of coastal transportation concerns the country’s economic interest ,sovereignty and security.
Article 4 of the Maritime Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred as Maritime Law) is as follows:
Except where otherwise stipulated in laws or statutory regulations, ocean-shipping and tugging operations between ports of the People's Republic of China shall be operated by vessels flying the national flag of the People's Republic of China.
Without the approval of the departments of the State Council in charge of communications, foreign vessels shall not be permitted to operate ocean-shipping or tugging business between the ports of the People's Republic of China.
The Article 22 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on International Maritime Transport (hereinafter as Regulations of Maritime Transport) is as follows:
Foreign international shipping operators shall not engage in shipping business activities between China ports, or utilise leased Chinese ships and cabin space or engage in shipping activities between China ports covertly by way of slot swap etc.
A foreign-invested enterprise founded in China should satisfy the requirement of Article 36 of the Regulations on Administration of Domestic Waterway Transport to operate domestic lines. The article stipulates besides the business qualification specified in Article 5, a foreign-invested company can applying for waterway transport only when domestic waterway transport operators fail to meet the demand within the scope that it plans to start operations. Therefore, there is still a lack of precedents of relevant foreign-invested enterprises receiving such approval. In conclusion, foreign fund does not have the access to domestic waterway transport market in practice.
Apart from the general legal provisions, the access control towards foreign funder is still maintained under the framework of the free trade zone with relatively loose policies. In the light of Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access in Pilot Free Trade Zone, domestic transport companies must be controlled by the Chinese Party. In addition, the companies must not operate or rent any vessels or shipping spaces of Chinese nationality to operate, in a disguised form, the domestic waterway transportation business and its auxiliary businesses; Water transport operators shall not use any ship of foreign nationality to operate the domestic water transport business, but under the circumstance that, upon the approval of the Chinese government, there is no ship of Chinese nationality in China that can meet the requirements for the applied transportation, and the port or the water area where the ship is located is a port or water area opened up, the water transportation operator may, within the time limit or voyage provided for by the Chinese government, temporarily use the ship of foreign nationality to undertake the maritime transportation and towing between Chinese ports. The requirement is consistent with the provisions of the Maritime Law and the Regulations of Maritime Transport, which indicates that there is no breakthrough for foreign enterprises in operating domestic waterway transport.
On September 23rd, 2020, the Transport Department of Hainan Province issued the first license for the pilot program of sea sightseeing tour for a Sino-foreign joint venture. This policy has ignited hope for many foreign cruise companies to resume work.
Brief introduction to Hainan Province’s pilot program of sea sightseeing tour and relevant regulations
Sea sightseeing tour is also known as tour on high seas. It refers to a leisurely tour mode where the tourists take cruise ships as their tourist destination, departing from the port of certain country, leaving the country’s territorial sea, and returning to the same port after a short-term cruise on the high sea. The motion was first mentioned in the official document Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Hainan in Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening Up issued by the State Council in 2018. This document proposes to build Hainan into a new tourism and economic center in East Asia region. In particular, Article 12 states that “Hainan shall be supported in opening international cruise routes, Sanya and other cruise ports shall be supported in conducting a pilot program of cruise routes in international waters, and the development of Sanya to the home port of cruise ships shall be accelerated.” In May 2019, the Ministry of Transportation issued Implementing Plan for Guiding Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting Hainan in Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening Up (Hereinafter referred to as the Implementing Plan), which modified the requirements and details of the application for sea sightseeing license. In July 2019, the Notice of Hainan province administrative office issuing the implementing plan for Hainan cruise Pilot Program of Sea Sightseeing Routes (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Notice of Hainan province’) was issued. It serves as a detailed operational document for the current application for sea-sightseeing license.
legal requirements and practical difficulties of the application for sea sightseeing license.
Despite current guidance documents at the ministerial and provincial levels, there is still a lack of operational guidance manuals for specific applicant companies, as the sea sightseeing tour is an emerging business. The author consulted the desk officer of Transport Department of Hainan Province in charge of this business in the course of practical operation and found that there are two-level preconditions for acquiring sea-sightseeing license from application to implement, including the application of entity qualification and the approval of pilot shipping line plan. In the first place, the company to be set up for the application must get a certificate issued by the Transport Department of Hainan Province to be recognized as an appropriate entity to run the line, and the process is relatively short. The second precondition is that the plan of shipping line should be submitted for countersignature through the Provincial Transport Department to the Ministry of Transport and reviewed by central ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security. The procedure usually take two months can indeed be can be relatively long. Therefore, one reason why enterprises with an appropriate entity certificate have not carried out sea-sightseeing tours so far is that certain shipping lines are not approved.
From the applicant’s perspective, both the Implementing plan and the Notice of Hainan province stipulate that ‘A Chinese-funded cruise transport operator means an enterprise legal person that engages in international cruise transport business and whose Chinese capital (mainland capital) accounts for not less than 51%’. Enterprises face difficulty in the establishment of corporate structure during operation; however, neither of the two documents responds directly to the crucial issue whether an overseas entity can become the operator of a Chinese-funded cruise. For example, if the application entity is located in China, the domestic cruise company will be confronted with domestic industry regulatory issues, such as ship import tariff, flags on flag-of-convenience cruises, employment of foreign ship’s crew. Therefore, investors will benefit greatly in enterprise establishment condition, costs, industry supervision if the application entity is a Chinese holding entity registered overseas. In Article 3, Point 5, The Notice of Hainan Province stipulates that ‘the ownership of the cruise ship is the proof material. If the cruise ship with non-five-star red flag is owned indirectly by a Chinese-funded cruise operator through a wholly foreign-owned investment enterprise, the certificate that the Chinese-funded cruise transport operator invested the wholly foreign-owned enterprise, the certificate that the wholly foreign-funded enterprise wholly owned or controlled the cruise ship with non-five-star red flag, and the certificate that Chinese-funded cruise transport operator leases the cruise ship with non-five-star red flag should be provided.” This clause implies that Chinese-funded cruise transport operator can indirectly own or lease cruise ships through wholly foreign-owned investment enterprises. After inquiring about the registration information of the first approved enterprise, it turns out that the entity of this company which applies for sea sightseeing license is an overseas company. The author also consulted the officials of the Transport Department of Hainan Province to verify whether the applicant entity can be overseas enterprises. received the explicit answer that the enterprise whose Chinese capital accounts for at least 51 percent can be the applicant entity of sea sightseeing license, even if its registered place is located overseas.
The second practical issue concerns the domestic and overseas legal framework and the requirements for the shareholding ratio of Chinese and foreign enterprise. Different enterprises may have different considerations when applying for sea sightseeing license. From the perspective of purely applying for and operating the sea sightseeing tour program, Chinese investor should hold at least 51% share under present government regulation. It should also be noted that the applicant entity should be granted a Registration of International Liner Services Qualification when it applies for the sea sightseeing license under the Notice of Hainan Province.
In addition to the issue of the registered place of the applicant entity, the investor should also consider the procedure of setting up an overseas asset company and a domestic daily operating company based on the specific needs of the joint venture, connecting the two company through relevant contracts to build an investment structure. According to our study, under the current legal framework, there is no such requirement for the Chinese party’s shareholding ratio for other corporate entity in the structure except for the applicant entity. The Chinese and foreign parties in cooperation can determine the specific shareholding ratio and the corporate legal structure based on cooperation needs and negotiation conditions.
The third main issue concerns the requirements for cruise ships. Both the Implementing Plan and the Notice of Hainan Province indicate that applicant entity can use the self-owned or leased flag-of-convenience cruise ship to operate sea sightseeing route, and the ship must be under 30 years old. Besides, in accordance with the Notice of Hainan Province, the Chinese-funded cruise transport operators should provide the certificate of nationality, classification of certificate, statement of compliance, safety management certificate, safety certificate for passenger ship, international load line certificate, international ship security certificate, international oil pollution prevention certificate, international sewage pollution prevention certificate and international air pollution prevention certificate of their cruise ships with non-five-star red flag when they plan to launch pilot business of sea sightseeing tour. It means that the cruise ships operating on the sea-sightseeing route only need to meet the general environmental protection requirement, security requirement and other ship technique requirement.
The fourth important issue is that of the specific business that can be operated on board of the cruise ships in sea sightseeing tour pilot program. So far, Transport Department of Hainan Province hasn’t issued any guidance on this specific issue. Therefore, there is currently no publicly available answer to this question. The author inquired the desk officer from Marine Affairs Department of Transport Department of Hainan province, who suggested that casinos cannot be managed in the lines and that tax-free shopping and tax-free goods are temporarily unavailable for the passengers.
Summary of see sightseeing tour program and policy prospects for opening up right of coastal transportation
Judging from the current situation of Hainan Province’s practical operation of the sea sightseeing program, it seems certain that the obstacles in Chinese legal aspect for foreign capital to operate sea sightseeing tour program through Chinese-funded enterprises have been removed. The relevant investment structure and legal practice have been confirmed by the approval department. However, there are still certain problems in the aspect of route approval. First, the sea sightseeing tour program with Sanya as the home port may cover some sensitive sea areas. Therefore, it’s important for foreign investors to consider the design and interpretation of certain routes. Second, the routes need to be approved by at least two levels of department, including the level of Hainan Province and the level of central ministries, involving multiple relevant units, which leaves the timeliness hard to control. However, various departments may give much consideration to these affairs from multiple aspects which they are in charge of. This means that enterprises should set aside reasonable time to make preparations in advance to give explanatory answer towards the questions put forward by different departments. In the third place, there is still a lack of unified official guidance in written in the course of practical operation of the sea sightseeing tour, which requires the enterprise to do a good job of collecting and researching relevant regulations and policies in advance.
On the other hand, the author is cautiously optimistic about whether the conditional opening of the sea sightseeing tour to foreign investment can be a sign of China’s opening up right of costal transportation.
In conclusion, despite regulations prohibiting foreign funds from engaging in China’s domestic shipping market, China supports Hainan’s economy of cruise tourism under Hainan Free Trade Zone and might introduce new policies. Related foreign-funded enterprise can also keep an eye on it and make preparations in advance to face the continuing difficulties brought about by the epidemic and accelerating changes in the Chinese market.