Yes, China has a criminal code.
China’s Criminal Law is a criminal code. China’s Criminal Law is enacted to punish crimes and protect the people.
The Criminal Law of China was promulgated in 1979 and amended in 1997. The latest revision entered into force on 1 Oct. 1997.
Since then the National People’s Congress has formulated ten Amendments to amend and implement the Criminal Law. For a better reading experience, we compiled all those amendments into the latest Criminal Law of China and posted it on China Laws Portal.
There are 452 articles in total. The Law aims to explicitly define crimes and punishments. The offenders shall be convicted and punished in accordance with law; otherwise, they shall not be convicted or punished.
The Criminal Law is divided into two parts: General Provisions and Specific Provisions.
There are five chapters in General Provisions, including the Aim, Basic Principles, Scope of Application; Crimes; Punishments; the Concrete Application of Punishments, and Other Provisions.
The Specific Provisions stipulate all the specific crimes, including the elements of crimes and applicable punishments.
These crimes are classified into ten categories.
With one chapter for each category, there are ten chapters in total, including:
- Crimes of Endangering National Security;
- Crimes of Endangering Public Security;
- Crimes of Disrupting the Order of the Socialist Market Economy；
- Crimes of Infringing upon Citizens’ Right of the Person and Democratic Rights;
- Crimes of Property Violation;
- Crimes of Obstructing the Administration of Public Order;
- Crimes of Impairing the Interests of National Defence;
- Crimes of Embezzlement and Bribery;
- Crimes of Dereliction of Duty; and
- Crimes of Servicemen’s Transgression of Duties.
Cover Photo by Vincent Tint on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
