On 30 June 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Transport published the updated Measures for the Administration of Railway Radio, which will be effective starting from 1 October 2021 and will replace the former Measures implemented since 1996.

The Measures stipulate a series of actions and responsibilities that railway transport enterprises in China should take, for instance: application for the radio frequency use permit, payment of radio frequency use fees, application to the radio regulatory authority for the radio station license, etc. Note: in China, railway transport enterprises are defined as enterprises whose products involve railway transportation, and also include Chinese railway administrations.

For railway radio transmission equipment manufacturers and importers, the Measures stipulate provisions similar to those of the Radio Regulation of the People’s Republic of China:

  • Radio frequencies used by railway radio transmission equipment under research shall comply with the relevant provisions for radio frequency allocation;
  • The production or import of railway radio transmission equipment for domestic sale and use shall comply with the laws and regulations on product quality, national standards, and shall be certified with radio type approval;
  • The sale of railway radio transmission equipmentwith type approval shall be filed with local radio regulatory authorities.

It is noteworthy that, according to the updated Measures, in order for radio stations to be installed and used on foreign trains passing through the territory of China, an agreement must first be signed between MIIT Radio Administration Bureau and the corresponding overseas radio authority. According to SESEC’s research, China has already signed cooperation MOUs on radio frequency management with Vietnam and Russia, but not yet with any other European country – in spite of the fact that 2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the China-Europe Railway Express, which every day sees an increasing number of trains shuttling between Europe and China. Although more agreements on radio management between China and foreign countries can be expected in the future, with the updated Measures, at current stage all radio stations on foreign trains must be first approved by MIIT Radio Administration Bureau before they can be used.