Electronic Signature Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on August 28, 2004；Amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Electric Power Law of the People's Republic of China and Other Five Laws adopted at the 14th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on April 24, 2015; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Construction Law of the People's Republic of China and Other Seven Laws adopted at the 10th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on April 23, 2019)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Data Message
Chapter III Electronic Signature and Certification
Chapter IV Legal Responsibility
Chapter V Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in order to standardize acts of electronic signature, validate the legal effect of electronic signature, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned.
Article 2 For the purposes of this Law, electronic signature means the data in the electronic form contained in and attached to a data message to be used for identifying the identity of the signatory and for showing that the signatory recognizes what is in the message.
The data message as mentioned in this Law means the information generated, dispatched, received or stored by electronic, optical, magnetic or similar means.
Article 3 The parties concerned may agree to use or not to use electronic signature or data message in such documentations as contracts and other documents, receipts and vouchers in civil activities.
The legal effect of a document, with regard to which the parties concerned have agreed to use electronic signature or data message, shall not be denied only because the form of an electronic signature or data messages is adopted.
The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall not be applicable to the following documents:
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