Recently, multiple departments in Nanjing jointly issued the Implementation Plan for the Pilot Program of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) System in Nanjing’s Industrial Sector, the first AEO system of its kind in Jiangsu Province. The plan adopts an “automatic eligibility + informed commitment” approach to improve the efficiency of administrative inspections involving enterprises.

The Plan introduces a joint, cross-departmental and cross-level mechanism for graded and categorized inspections. Pilot departments include municipal-level administrative enforcement agencies such as the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Public Security Bureau, Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and Market Supervision Administration. The pilot program focuses on administrative inspections related to industrial enterprises. After launching the enterprise recognition process, the Nanjing Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, together with the Municipal Bureau of Statistics, will propose a list of candidate enterprises. Recognizing departments will review each company’s administrative inspection history and related records, serving as the basis for a quantitative “risk + credit” rating. Enterprises will be rated as either “Compliant” or “Non-Compliant”. Those deemed compliant will be notified to sign a letter of commitment via the Nanjing Emergency Management Integrated Application Platform (also known as the “Ning Jie Cha” system). The system will designate these enterprises as “AEO Enterprises in the Industrial Sector” and include them in an official list. The Nanjing Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, in coordination with the recognizing departments, will update the list biannually based on dynamic assessments.

The Plan also outlines streamlined regulatory measures for pilot enterprises. These include exemption from on-site inspections for low-risk matters, with a general principle of waiving routine inspections for a period of three years. For medium-risk matters, the frequency of inspections will be reduced, in principle limited to no more than once per year. High-risk routine administrative inspections, as well as case-specific inspections involving suspected violations, will be excluded from the pilot program. The Plan will remain in effect until December 31, 2028.