Amendment III to the Criminal Law

Amendment III to the Criminal Law was adopted at the 25th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 29, 2001.

Aims:

To punish the crime of terrorism, to safeguard the security of the State and of people's lives and property, and maintain public order.

Highlights:

1. Whoever commits arson, breaches a dike, causes explosion, spreads poisonous or radioactive substances, infectious-disease pathogens or other substances, or uses other dangerous means, thereby endangering public security but causing no serious consequences, shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no less than 3 years but no more than 10 years. 2. Whoever inflicts serious injury or death on people or causes heavy losses of public or private property, shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death.

3. Whoever forms or leads a terrorist organization shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no less than 10 years or life imprisonment; whoever actively participates in a terrorist organization shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no less than 3 years but no more than 10 years.

4. Whoever provides funds to any terrorist organization or individual who engages in terrorism shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than 5 years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights, and shall also be fined.

5. Whoever possesses funds, while clearly knowing that the funds are proceeds illegally obtained from drug-related crimes or from crimes committed by organizations in the nature of a criminal syndicate, crimes of terrorism or crimes of smuggling and gains derived therefrom, commits any acts in order to cover up or conceal the source or nature of the funds shall, in addition to being deprived of the said funds, be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than 5 years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined no less than 5 percent but no more than 20 percent of the funds.

Amendment IV to the Criminal Law

Amendment IV to the Criminal Law was adopted at the 31st Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2002.

Aims:

To punish the crimes of disrupting the order of the socialist market economy, obstructing the administration of public order, and of dereliction of duty on any committee of functionaries of State organs, to guarantee smooth progress of socialist modernization and to ensure the citizens’ personal safety.

Highlights:

1. Whoever produces medical apparatus and instruments or medical hygiene materials that do not meet the national or trade standards for safeguarding human health or sells such apparatus, instruments, or materials while clearly knowing that they are harmful enough to seriously endanger human health shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than three years or criminal detention and shall, in addition, be fined no less than half, but no more than twice, the amount of earnings from sales if sales have occurred.

2. Whoever stealthily fells trees in forest or woods, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than 3 years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall in addition, or shall only, be fined.

3. Any judicial officer who, bending the law for selfish ends or twisting the law out of favoritism, subjects to investigation for criminal responsibility a person he knows to be innocent or intentionally protects from investigation for criminal responsibility a person he knows to be guilty or, intentionally running counter to the facts and law, or twists the law when rendering judgments or orders in criminal proceedings shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than five years or criminal detention.