Criminal Law of China was promulgated in 1979 and amended in 1997. The latest revision entered into force on 1 Oct. 1997. After that, the National People’s Congress has formulated 10 Amendments to amend and implement the Criminal Law. For a better reading experience, the Criminal Law of China issued by China Laws Portal has already included all those amendments.

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 in 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 Endangering Public Security; 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; Embezzlement and Bribery; Crimes of Dereliction of Duty and Crimes of Servicemen’s Transgression of Duties.