Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China

Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China

(No. 18)

The Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 7th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 29, 2023, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on March 1, 2024.

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China

December 29, 2023

Amendment (XII) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 7th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on December 29, 2023)

I. One paragraph is added in Article 165 of the Criminal Law as paragraph 2 and this article is amended to read: “Where a director, supervisor, or officer of a state-owned company or enterprise conducts a business which is similar to that of the company or enterprise where he or she holds a position by taking advantage of his or her position for his or her own account or for the account of any other person, if the amount of illicit benefits obtained by him or her is huge, the director, manager, or officer shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or limited incarceration and a fine or be sentenced to a fine only; or if the amount of such illicit benefits is especially huge, be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years nor more than seven years and a fine.

“Where any director, supervisor, or officer of any other company or enterprise commits any conduct set forth in the preceding paragraph in violation of any law or administrative regulation, causing any significant loss to the interests of the company or enterprise, he or she shall be punished in accordance with the provision of the preceding paragraph.”

II. One paragraph is added in Article 166 of the Criminal Law as paragraph 2 and this article is amended to read: “Where any employee of a state-owned company, enterprise, or public institution falls under any of the following circumstances by taking advantage of his or her position, the employee shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or limited incarceration and a fine or be sentenced to a fine only if any significant loss has been caused to the national interest; or be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years nor more than seven years and a fine if any especially significant loss has been caused to the national interest:

“(1) Turning the management of the profitable business of the entity employing him or her over to his or her relative or friend for operation.

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