27.        The Secretariat of the Council will be established based on the support from the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). Headed by its director appointed by SEPA, the Secretariat shall serve as the implementing organization for the regular operations of the Council. 

28.        Under the leadership of the Secretary General, the Secretariat is responsible for the coordination and management of the Council’s operation and undertakes tasks for daily operations. The main tasks and functions of the Secretariat are as follows:

1)        Providing support to, coordinating, and following up on the activities of the Council and its policy studies;

2)        Preparing the annual Work Plan, budgets and progress monitoring reports for consideration by the Secretary General Meeting in close collaboration with the Chief Advisors and Secretariat International Support Office.

3)        Taking charge of the Council’s daily work for the purpose of regular operations;

4)        Organizing and undertaking the Annual General Meeting and the Round Table Meeting, including managing logistics;

5)        Preparing and organizing other activities such as policy seminars or forums of the Council;

6)        Coordinating, managing and organizing policy studies programs;

7)        Contracting Chinese expert teams/units for policy study activities of the Council.

8)        Working in partnership with the Chief Advisors under the coordination of the Secretary General and providing necessary resources, administrative support to the Chief Advisors, and organizing the Secretariat-Chief Advisors Joint Working Meeting.

9)        Establishing and maintaining close ties with relevant departments of Chinese Government and playing a role on coordination when necessary;

10)    Ensuring the free dissemination of the Council’s recommendations/outputs;

11)    Organizing the publication of the annual work reports, policy research reports and other publications;

12)    Creating procedures for the management of the Council’s operations and policy study program;

13)    Being responsible for the budget planning and management, fund-raising, reception of donations and the mobilization of domestic resources including match funds;

14)    Working out strategies and publicity plans on public relations and conducting the implementation;

15)    Tracking the results achieved by the Council. Building up wide-ranging partnership and organizing the cooperation programs with other domestic or international institutions;

16)    Improving the Council’s website and promoting information exchanges;

17)    Undertaking other tasks assigned by the Secretary General.

29.        The Secretariat shall obtain support in the international aspects of the Council’s activities from the Secretariat International Support Office (SISO), which shall be established in the primary donor’s country. It shall operate according to the management plan agreed to by the Chinese government and the hosting country. Its main functions include:

1)        Functioning as an executing agency for the primary donor country’s project on CCICED.

2)        Providing support to the Secretariat regarding funding support and management on international contributions, based on principles agreed by concerned parties.

3)        Receiving and managing international donations based on donors’ willingness and regulations, playing the role as an international executing agency for relevant donors.

4)        Contracting the international experts who work for policy studies of the Council when necessary and managing the payments to international experts. Also contracting the International Chief Advisor and in international members of the support team.

5)        Providing assistance in preparing AGMs, including the international travel arrangements for international Council Members

6)        Assisting in preparing the annual Work Plan including the budget plan, as well as the other Council activities.

7)        Tracking the results achieved by the Council.

8)        Providing assistance to the Secretariat in preparing annual work reports and financial reports as required.

9)        Providing training programs and technical support to the Secretariat as appropriate.

30.        Detailed working procedures between the Secretariat and the SISO shall be established in agreed guidelines to cover specific activities such as the establishment of new task forces, special policy studies, roundtables, etc.

31.        The Secretariat welcomes donors to second their experts/staff to work in its office either for short or long assignments.

32.        The Secretariat shall organize a Donors Meeting at least once per year. The Secretariat will report on the progress of the Council’s activities and seek suggestions from all donors.

33.        The director of the Secretariat and the head of the SISO shall participate in the Council AGM as observers and attend the Secretary-General meeting as members.