Based on the spirit of the “Notice on Further Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of Game and Amusement Venues for Promoting the Industry’s Healthy Development” (No. 16 (2015) of the Ministry of Culture), which was jointly issued by the Ministries of Culture and Public Security Bureau of China, and the spirit of the “Notice of the Provincial Departments of Culture and Public Security on Forwarding the ‘Notice of the Ministries of Culture and Public Security on Further Strengthening the Supervision and Administration of Game and Amusement Venues for Promoting the Industry’s Healthy Development’, Lanzhou City’s Examination and Approval Work for Amusement Venues are hereby announced as follows.

I. Requirements for setting up

1. Amusement-category entertainment venues should be mainly located in large-scale shopping malls, commercial buildings, integrated cultural, tourism and sports facilities.  Those that need to be independently established must abide by the provisions of Article 7 in the “Regulations for the Administration of Entertainment Venues” of the State Council for operation.

2. Amusement-category entertainment venues must not be established in the locations restricted by Article 7 of the “Regulations for the Administration of Entertainment Venues” or within a distance of 300 meters from elementary and middle schools.

3. Except for national statutory holidays, electronic game machines operated at amusement-category entertainment venues must not be offered to minors.  The venues should hang the warning signs restricting the entry of minors and arrange special persons and special positions to strengthen the management of this matter. 

4. The game facilities and equipment installed must be the machine models and categories listed in the guidance directory of machine models and categories approved by the Ministry of Culture to access the game and amusement machine market; the machine models and categories of electronic game machines used by amusement-category entertainment venues must be reported to culture departments for record filing, and the county (district) culture departments shall check the access directory to attach labels to game machines one by one.

5. All amusement-category entertainment venues are prohibited from installing electronic game machine models, categories and circuit boards that offer gambling functions such as credit betting, credit payout and metal ball payout; no cash or negotiable securities are allowed to be used as prizes and no prizes are allowed to be purchased back.  For conducting business activities that involve prizes, prizes should be healthy and instructive.  To change the quantity of game facilities and equipment or prize directory, amusement-category entertainment venues shall file records with the county (district) culture departments within the prescribed time period. 

6. When electronic game machine business venues and those amusement-category entertainment venues operating electronic game machines register their names, “dongmancheng (animation city)”, “dongmantiandi (animation universe)” and “dongmanshijie (animation world)” are not allowed to appear in the writings.

II. Amusement-category entertainment venues are not allowed to be established under any of the following conditions:

1. Inside a building whose uses include residences;

2. Inside museums, libraries or buildings verified as sites protected for historical and cultural protection value;

3. In residential areas;

4. Around elementary and middle schools as defined by the Education Law;

5. Around hospitals which have obtained the “Practicing License for Medical Institutions” in accordance with the “Regulations on the Administration of Medical Institutions” and the detailed implementation rules thereof;

6. Around the committees of the Communist Party of China at all levels and their departments, all levels of the people’s congresses, all levels of the people’s governments and their departments, all levels of political consultative conferences, all levels of the people’s courts and their procuratorates and all levels of democratic parties;

7. At stations, airports or other densely populated places;

8. At places on the first underground floor or below;

9. At areas adjacent to the warehouses of hazardous chemicals.  The distance between the venues and the warehouses of hazardous chemicals must conform to the relevant provisions of the “Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals”.

III. Business area:

The minimum usable area of an amusement-category entertainment venue shall not be less than 200 square meters, which does not include areas not for business operations such as office and warehouse spaces.  The area occupied by a single machine shall not be less than 2 square meters.

IV. Documents to be submitted:

1. An application report (including unit name, address and business items);

2. Organizational setup and the articles of incorporation;

3. Identity certificates of the legal representative and investors; 

4. Business site layout, certificate of title of business site, and the letter of intent to lease;

5. Other materials stipulated by the laws and regulations.

V. Examination and approval procedures:

1. Applicants should carry application materials (Materials 1 to 4) to the Market Division of the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism to conduct material examination and approval.  After the materials are reviewed and the sites are inspected and become qualified, the documents of approval for venue preparations shall be issued.

2. Applicants should carry the documents of approval for venue preparations to the county (district) culture departments to apply for the entertainment business license.

Inquiry Line: 0931-4818006 Reporting Line: 0931-8113158

It is hereby announced.

June 27, 2016

※The article is published in the GTI Magazine Issue No. 144 in July, 2016