Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China (2024 Revision)

Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China (2024 Revision)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
(No. 36)

The Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China, revised and adopted at the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 8, 2024, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on July 1, 2025.

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
November 8, 2024

Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 15th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on March 19, 1986; issued by Order No. 36 of the President of the People's Republic of China on March 19, 1986; and amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 21st Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on August 29, 1996; amended for the second time according to the Decision on Amending Some Laws adopted at the tenth session of the 11th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on August 27, 2009; revised at the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on November 8, 2024)

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Mineral Rights
Chapter III Exploration and Mining of Mineral Resources
Chapter IV Ecological Restoration of Mining Areas
Chapter V Mineral Resource Reserves and Emergency Response
Chapter VI Supervision and Administration
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Chapter VIII Supplemental Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution for the purposes of promoting the reasonable development and utilization of mineral resources, strengthening the protection of mineral resources and the environment, safeguarding the rights and interests of state owners of mineral resources and the lawful rights and interests of mineral right holders, promoting high-quality development of the mining industry, ensuring the safety of national mineral resources, and suiting the need to fully build a modern socialist country.
Article 2 This Law applies to exploration for and mining mineral resources, ecological restoration of mining areas, and other activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China and other marine areas under its jurisdiction.
For the purposes of this Law, "mineral resources" means natural resources existing in solid, liquid, or gaseous states, formed through geologic function, and of utilization value. The list of mineral resources shall be determined and adjusted by the State Council.
Article 3 The development, utilization, and protection of mineral resources shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement the overall national security concept, coordinate development and security, consider both domestic and international laws, emphasize the importance of development, utilization, and protection, and follow the principles of security, conservation, intensiveness, scientific and technological support, and green development.
Article 4 Mineral resources are under the ownership of the state. The State Council exercises the ownership of mineral resources on behalf of the state. State ownership of mineral resources on or below the ground shall not change with the varying ownership or right to the use of the lands which the mineral resources are attached to.
People's governments at all levels shall strengthen the protection of mineral resources. Any entity or individual shall be prohibited from encroaching on or damaging mineral resources by any means.
Article 5 Subject to this Law, exploration and mining rights shall be respectively acquired in accordance with the law to explore for and mine mineral resources.
The state protects exploration and mining rights acquired in accordance with the law from violation and maintains production and work order in exploration and mining areas for mineral resources.
Article 6 To explore for and mine mineral resources, a fee shall be paid in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state. The State Council may waive all or part of the fee according to circumstances.
Mining mineral resources is subject to resource tax in accordance with the law.
Article 7 The state establishes and improves a geological survey system, strengthens basic geological surveys, and provides basic geological data for the exploration, mining, and protection of mineral resources.
Article 8 The state enhances policies and measures, increases support for the exploration, mining, trading, and reserving of strategic mineral resources, promotes the expansion of reserves and production capacity of strategic mineral resources, and facilitates the optimization and upgrading of strategic mineral resource industries to ensure the security of mineral resources.
The list of strategic mineral resources shall be determined and adjusted by the State Council.
Specific strategic mineral resources determined by the State Council shall be mined protectively in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state.
Article 9 With regard to the exploration and mining of mineral resources, the state applies the principles of unified planning, rational geographical distribution, multi-purpose exploration, rational mining and multi-purpose utilization.
The natural resources authority of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the development and reform, emergency management, ecology and environment, industry and information technology, water administration, energy, mine safety oversight, and other relevant authorities of the State Council, prepare a national mineral resources plan based on the national development plan, national spatial plan, and geological survey results, among others, and implement it with the approval of the State Council or its authorized department.
The natural resources authority of a provincial people's government shall, in conjunction with relevant authorities, prepare a local mineral resources plan; with the consent of the people's government, it shall submit the plan for approval by the natural resources authority of the State Council before implementation.
The natural resources authority of a districted-city or county people's government shall, in conjunction with relevant authorities, prepare a local mineral resources plan based on the mineral resource status and actual needs within their administrative regions; with the consent of the people's government, it shall submit the plan for approval by the natural resources authority of the people's government at the next higher level before implementation.
Article 10 The state strengthens the establishment of a strategic mineral resources reserve system and mineral resources emergency system, improving the capability to ensure the supply of mineral resources during emergencies
Article 11 The state encourages and supports scientific and technological innovation and the application of scientific and technological advances in exploring for, mining, and protecting mineral resources, ecologically restoring mining areas, and other fields, pursues digital, intelligent, and green development, and improves the scientific and technological level in fields related to mineral resources.
Article 12 An entity or individual that has made outstanding contributions to exploring for, mining, and protecting mineral resources and ecologically restoring mining areas or significant achievements in scientific and technological innovation in fields related to mineral resources or any other aspect shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with relevant provisions issued by the state.
Article 13 In mining mineral resources in national autonomous areas, the state shall give consideration to the interests of those areas and make arrangements favorable to the areas' economic development and to the production and well-being of the locals.
Self-government organs in national autonomous areas shall, in accordance with legal provisions and unified national plans, have the priority to develop and utilize in a rational manner the mineral resources that may be developed by the local authorities.
Article 14 The natural resources authority of the State Council, in conjunction with relevant authorities, is responsible for the supervision and administration of exploring, mining, and protecting mineral resources, as well as ecologically restoring mining areas, and overseeing other related activities across the country.
The natural resources authority of a local people's government at or above the county level, in conjunction with relevant department, is responsible for the supervision and administration of exploring for, mining, and protecting mineral resources, ecologically restoring mining areas, and other local activities.
Agencies authorized by the State Council shall oversee the development, utilization, supervision, and administration of mineral resources by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
Article 15 The state adheres to the policy of equality, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation and actively promotes international cooperation in the field of mineral resources.
Chapter II Mineral Rights
Article 16 The state implements a system for paid acquisition of exploration and mining rights.
Exploration and mining rights are collectively referred to as mineral rights.
Article 17 A mineral right shall be transferred by bidding, auction, quotation, or any other competitive means unless laws, administrative regulations, or provisions issued by the State Council permit its conventional transfer or otherwise creation.
The State Council shall establish the authority to transfer mineral rights. The natural resources authorities of people's governments at or above the county level organize the transfer of mineral rights within their prescribed purview.
The transfer of mineral rights shall be integrated into a unified public resource trading platform and system in accordance with state provisions.
Article 18 The natural resources authority of a people's government at or above the county level shall enhance overall arrangements for the transfer of mineral rights, streamline the process, improve efficiency, and ensure that the transfer suits the need to enhance exploration and mining of mineral resources. When transferring a mineral right, factors such as the characteristics of different mineral resources, minimum mining scale of the mine, environmental protection, and safety requirements shall be taken into account.
The state encourages entities and individuals to offer the sources of exploration right blocks available for transfer to the natural resources authorities of people's governments at or above the county level; if they meet the transfer conditions, the natural resources authorities of the relevant people's governments shall promptly arrange the transfer.
The natural resources authority of the State Council shall enhance guidance and supervision of mineral rights transfers.
Any laws or administrative regulations that prohibit or restrict the mining of mineral resources within a certain area shall be complied with.
Article 19 If a mineral right is transferred through competitive means, the natural resources authority transferring the mineral right ("mineral right transferor") shall announce in advance the basic information on the mineral right to be transferred, competition rules, transferee's technical capability, and other conditions, rights and obligations, and other relevant matters, and shall not treat market participants in an differentiated or discriminatory manner by imposing unreasonable conditions.
Article 20 When transferring a mineral right, the mineral right transferor shall sign a contract for the transfer of the mineral right in written form with the transferee determined in accordance with the law.
The contract for the transfer of the mineral right shall specify the mineral and area to be explored for or mined, the requirements for exploration, mining, ecological restoration of the mining area, and safety, the amount and payment method of proceeds of the mineral right transfer, the term of the mineral right, and other matters; if specific strategic mineral resources are involved, it shall also specify the relevant requirements for protective mining. The natural resources authority of the State Council shall compile a model contract for the transfer of the mineral right.
Article 21 The amount and payment method of proceeds of the transfer of a mineral right under the contract for the transfer of the mineral right shall comply with the provisions issued by the state on the collection of proceeds of mineral right transfers.
The finance authority of the State Council, in conjunction with the natural resources and taxation authorities of the State Council, shall develop measures for collecting proceeds of mineral right transfers, and implement them with the approval of the State Council. When formulating the measures, it shall base the measures on the characteristics of different mineral resources, follow the principles of facilitating safeguards for national rights and interests, encouraging exploration of mineral resources, and promoting the sustainable development of the mining industry, and extensively listen to advice from all stakeholders.
Article 22 To create a mineral right, an application for its registration shall be submitted to the mineral right transferor. If the registration conditions are met, the mineral right transferor shall enter the relevant matters in the register of mineral rights and issue a certificate of mineral rights to the mineral rights holder.
Modifying, transferring, mortgaging, or extinguishing a mining right shall be registered in accordance with the law.
Creating, modifying, transferring, mortgaging, or extinguishing a mining right takes effect after being registered in accordance with the law, or does not take effect without registration unless otherwise provided by law.
The natural resources authority of the State Council shall develop specific measures for the registration of mineral rights.
Article 23 An exploration right holder enjoys the right to explore for relevant mineral resources and obtain a mining right in accordance with the law within the registered exploration area.
A mining right holder enjoys the right to mine relevant mineral resources and obtain the mined mineral products within the registered mining area.
A mineral right holder has the priority of acquiring the mineral rights for other newly discovered mineral resources in the registered exploration and mining area in accordance with the law; the natural resources authority of the State Council shall develop specific measures.
No other mineral rights shall be created within the registered exploration and mining area, unless the provisions issued by the State Council or the natural resources authority of the State Council permit the creation of mineral rights specific to certain minerals.
Article 24 The term of an exploration right is five years. When the exploration right expires, it may be renewed for no more than three times, each time for five years and with the exploration area being reduced in accordance with applicable provisions, unless otherwise provided by laws and administrative regulations.
The exploration right holder shall promptly explore in accordance with the contract for the transfer of the exploration right and report the relevant situation to the original mineral right transferor every year; if it fails to explore or substantively explore without good reason, the exploration right shall not be renewed when expiring.
The term of a mining right shall be determined based on the mineral resource reserves and the scale of mine construction, and shall not exceed 30 years. When the mining right expires, and there are still mineral resources available for mining in the registered mining area, it may be renewed, unless otherwise provided by laws and administrative regulations.
If no application for renewal is made upon expiration, or renewal is denied in accordance with the law, the mineral right is extinguished.
Article 25 After measuring mineral resources available for mining, the exploration right holder may apply for converting its exploration right into a mining right within the term of the exploration right, unless otherwise provided by laws and administrative regulations. The original mineral right transferor shall sign a contract for the transfer of the mining right with the exploration right holder to create a mining right.
If the exploration right cannot be temporarily converted into a m......