GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE CIVIL LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ——附加英文版

The National People's Congress
 

agency to another person, he shall first obtain the principal's consent.
If the principal's consent is not obtained in advance, the matter shall be
reported to him promptly after the transfer, and if the principal objects,
the agent shall bear civil liability for the acts of the transferee;
however, an entrusted agency transferred in emergency circumstances in
order to safeguard the principal's interests shall be excepted.
Article 69
An entrusted agency shall end under any of the following circumstances:
(1) when the period of agency expires or when the tasks entrusted are
completed;
(2) when the principal rescinds the entrustment or the agent declines the
entrustment;
(3) when the agent dies;
(4) when the principal loses his capacity for civil conduct; or
(5) when the principal or the agent ceases to be a legal person.
Article 70
A statutory or appointed agency shall end under any of the following
circumstances:
(1) when the principal gains or recovers capacity for civil conduct;
(2) when the principal or the agent dies;
(3) when the agent loses capacity for civil conduct;
(4) when the people's court or the unit that appointed the agent rescinds
the appointment; or
(5) when the guardian relationship between the principal and the agent
ends for other reasons.

Chapter V Civil Rights
Section 1 Property Ownership and Related Property Rights
Article 71
"Property ownership" means the owner's rights to lawfully possess,
utilize, profit from and dispose of his property.
Article 72
Property ownership shall not be obtained in violation of the law.
Unless the law stipulates otherwise or the parties concerned have agreed
on other arrangements, the ownership of property obtained by contract or
by other lawful means shall be transferred simultaneously with the
property itself.
Article 73
State property shall be owned by the whole people.
State property is sacred and inviolable, and no organization or individual
shall be allowed to seize, encroach upon, privately divide, retain or
destroy it.
Article 74
Property of collective organizations of the working masses shall be owned
collectively by the working masses. This shall include:
(1) land, forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land, beaches and
other areas that are stipulated by law to be under collective ownership;
(2) property of collective economic organizations;
(3) collectively owned buildings, reservoirs, farm irrigation facilities
and educational, scientific, cultural, health, sports and other
facilities; and (4) other property that is collectively owned.
Collectively owned land shall be owned collectively by the village
peasants in accordance with the law and shall be worked and managed by
village agricultural production cooperatives, other collective
agricultural economic organizations or villages' committees. Land already
under the ownership of the township (town) peasants' collective economic
organizations may be collectively owned by the peasants of the township
(town). Collectively owned property shall be protected by law, and no
organization or individual may seize, encroach upon, privately divide,
destroy or illegally seal up, distrain, freeze or confiscate it.
Article 75
A citizen's personal property shall include his lawfully earned income,
housing, savings, articles for daily use, objects d'art, books, reference
materials, trees, livestock, as well as means of production the law
permits a citizen to possess and other lawful property. A citizen's lawful
property shall be protected by law, and no organization or individual may
appropriate, encroach upon, destroy or illegally seal up, distrain, freeze
or confiscate it.
Article 76
Citizens shall have the right of inheritance under the law.
Article 77
The lawful property of social organizations, including religious
organizations, shall be protected by law.
Article 78
Property may be owned jointly by two or more citizens or legal persons.
There shall be two kinds of joint ownership, namely co-ownership by shares
and common ownership. Each of the co-owners by shares shall enjoy the
rights and assume the obligations respecting the joint property in
proportion to his share. Each of the common owners shall enjoy the rights
and assume the obligations respecting the joint property. Each co-owner
by shares shall have the right to withdraw his own share of the joint
property or transfer its ownership. However, when he offers to sell his
share, the other co-owners shall have a right of pre-emption if all other
conditions are equal.
Article 79
If the owner of a buried or concealed object is unknown, the object shall
belong to the state. The unit that receives the object shall commend or
give a material reward to the unit or individual that turns in the object.
Lost-and-found objects, flotsam and stray animals shall be returned to
their rightful owners, and any costs thus incurred shall be reimbursed by
the owners.
Article 80
State-owned land may be used according to law by units under ownership by
the whole people; it may also be lawfully assigned for use by units under
collective ownership. The state shall protect the usufruct of the land,
and the usufructuary shall be obligated to manage, protect and properly
use the land.
The right of citizens and collectives to contract for management of land
under collective ownership or of state-owned land under collective use
shall be protected by law. The rights and obligations of the two
contracting parties shall be stipulated in the contract signed in
accordance with the law.
Land may not be sold, leased, mortgaged or illegally transferred by any
other means.
Article 81
State-owned forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land, beaches,
water surfaces and other natural resources may be used according to law by
units under ownership by the whole people; or they may also be lawfully
assigned for use by units under collective ownership. The state shall
protect the usufruct of those resources, and the usufructuary shall be
obliged to manage, protect and properly use them.
State-owned mineral resources may be mined according to law by units under
ownership by the whole people and units under collective ownership;
citizens may also lawfully mine such resources. The state shall protect
lawful mining rights.
The right of citizens and collectives to lawfully contract for the
management of forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land, beaches
and water surfaces that are owned by collectives or owned by the state but
used by collectives shall be protected by law. The rights and obligations
of the two contracting parties shall be stipulated in the contract in
accordance with the law.
State-owned mineral resources and waters as well as forest land,
mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land and beaches owned by the state and
those that are lawfully owned by collectives may not be sold, leased,
mortgaged or illegally transferred by any other means.
Article 82
Enterprises under ownership by the whole people shall lawfully enjoy the
rights of management over property that the state has authorized them to
manage and operate, and the rights shall be protected by law.
Article 83
In the spirit of helping production, making things convenient for people's
lives, enhancing unity and mutual assistance, and being fair and
reasonable, neighbouring users of real estate shall maintain proper
neighbourly relations over such matters as water supply, drainage,
passageway, ventilation and lighting. Anyone who causes obstruction or
damage to his neighbour, shall stop the infringement, eliminate the
obstruction and compensate for the damage.
Section 2 Creditors' Rights
Article 84
A debt represents a special relationship of rights and obligations
established between the parties concerned, either according to the agreed
terms of a contract or legal provisions. The party entitled to the rights
shall be the creditor, and the party assuming the obligations shall be the
debtor.
The creditor shall have the right to demand that the debtor fulfil his
obligations as specified by the contract or according to legal provisions.
Article 85
A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or
terminate their civil relationship. Lawfully established contracts shall
be protected by law.
Article 86
When there are two or more creditors to a deal, each creditor shall be
entitled to rights in proportion to his proper share of the credit. When
there are two or more debtors to a deal, each debtor shall assume
obligations in proportion to his share of the debt.
Article 87
When there are two or more creditors or debtors to a deal, each of the
joint creditors shall be entitled to demand that the debtor fulfil his
obligations, in accordance with legal provisions or the agreement between
the parties; each of the joint debtors shall be obliged to perform the
entire debt, and the debtor who performs the entire debt shall be entitled
to ask the other joint debtors to reimburse him for their shares of the
debt.
Article 88
The parties to a contract shall fully fulfil their obligations pursuant to
the terms of the contract.
If a contract contains ambiguous terms regarding quality, time limit for
performance, place of performance, or price, and the intended meaning
cannot be determined from the context of relevant terms in the contract,
and if the parties cannot reach an agreement through consultation, the
provisions below shall apply:
(1) If quality requirements are unclear, state quality standards shall
apply; if there are no state quality standards, generally held standards
shall apply.
(2) If the time limit for performance is unclear, the debtor may at his
convenience fulfill his obligations towards the creditor; the creditor may
also demand at any time that the debtor perform his obligations, but
sufficient notice shall be given to the debtor.
(3) If the place of performance is unclear, and the payment is money, the
performance shall be effected at the seat or place of residence of the
party receiving the payment; if the payment is other than money, the
performance shall be effected at the seat or place of residence of the
party fulfilling the obligations.
(4) If the price agreed by the parties is unclear, the state-fixed price
shall apply. If there is no state-fixed price, the price shall be based on
market price or the price of a similar article or remuneration for a
similar service.
If the contract does not contain an agreed term regarding rights to patent
application, any party who has completed an invention-creation shall have
the right to apply for a patent.
If the contract does not contain an agreed term regarding rights to patent
application, and technological research achievements, the parties shall
all have the right to use such achievements.
Article 89
In accordance with legal provisions the agreement between the parties on
the performance of a debt may be guaranteed using the methods below:
(1) A guarantor may guarantee to the creditor that the debtor shall
perform his debt. If the debtor defaults, the guarantor shall perform the
debt or bear joint liability according to agreement. After performing the
debt, the guarantor shall have the right to claim repayment from the
debtor.
(2) The debtor or a third party may offer a specific property as a pledge.
If the debtor defaults, the creditors shall be entitled to keep the pledge
to offset the debt or have priority in satisfying his claim out of the
proceeds from the sale of the pledge pursuant to relevant legal
provisions.
(3) Within the limits of relevant legal provisions, a party may leave a
deposit with the other party. After the debtor has discharged his debt,
the deposit shall either be retained as partial payment of the debt or be
returned. If the party who leaves the deposit defaults, he shall not be
entitled to demand the return of the deposit; if the party who accepts the
deposit defaults, he shall repay the deposit in double.
(4) If a party has possession of the other party's property according to
contract and the other party violates the contract by failing to pay a
required sum of money within the specified time limit, the possessor shall
have a lien on the property and may keep the retained property to offset
the debt or have priority in satisfying his claim out of the proceeds from
the sale of the property pursuant to relevant legal provisions.
Article 90
Legitimate loan relationships shall be protected by law.
Article 91
If a party to a contract transfers all or part of his contractual rights
or obligations to a third party, he shall obtain the other party's consent
and may not seek profits therefrom. Contracts which according to legal
provisions are subject to state approval, such as transfers, must be
approved by the authority that originally approved the contract, unless
the law or the original contract stipulates otherwise.
Article 92
If profits are acquired improperly and without a lawful basis, resulting
in another person's loss, the illegal profits shall be returned to the
person who suffered the loss.
Article 93
If a person acts as manager or provides services in order to protect
another person's interests when he is not legally or contractually
obligated to do so, he shall be entitled to claim from the beneficiary the
expenses necessary for such assistance.
Section 3 Intellectual Property Rights
Article 94
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy rights of authorship (copyrights)
and shall be entitled to sign their names as authors, issue and publish
their works and obtain remuneration in accordance with the law.
Article 95
The patent rights lawfully obtained by citizens and legal persons shall be
protected by law.
Article 96
The rights to exclusive use of trademarks obtained by legal persons,
individual businesses and individual partnerships shall be protected by
law.
Article 97
Citizens who make discoveries shall be entitled to the rights of
discovery. A discoverer shall have the right to apply for and receive
certificates of discovery, bonuses or other awards.
Citizens who make inventions or other achievements in scientific and
technological research shall have the right to apply for and receive
certificates of honour, bonuses or other awards.
Section 4 Personal Rights
Article 98
Citizens shall enjoy the rights of life and health.
Article 99
Citizens shall enjoy the right of personal name and shall be entitled to
determine, use or change their personal names in accordance with relevant
provisions. Interference with, usurpation of and false representation of
personal names shall be prohibited. Legal persons, individual businesses
and individual partnerships shall enjoy the right of name. Enterprises as
legal persons, individual businesses and individual partnerships shall
have the right to use and lawfully assign their own names.
Article 100
Citizens shall enjoy the right of portrait.
The use of a citizen's portrait for profit without his consent shall be
prohibited.
Article 101
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of reputation. The
personality of citizens shall be protected by law, and the use of insults,
libel or other means to damage the reputation of citizens or legal persons
shall be prohibited.
Article 102
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of honour. It shall be
prohibited to unlawfully divest citizens and legal persons of their
honorary titles.
Article 103
Citizens shall enjoy the right of marriage by choice. Mercenary marriages,
marriages upon arbitrary decision by any third party and any other acts of
interference in the freedom of marriage shall be prohibited.
Article 104
Marriage, the family, old people, mothers and children shall be protected
by law. The lawful rights and interests of the handicapped shall be
protected by law.
Article 105
Women shall enjoy equal civil rights with men.

Chapter VI Civil Liability
Section 1 General Stipulations
Article 106
Citizens and legal persons who breach a contract or fail to fulfil other
obligations shall bear civil liability.
Citizens and legal persons who through their fault encroach upon state or
collective property or the property or person of other people shall bear
civil liability. Civil liability shall still be borne even in the absence
of fault, if the law so stipulates.
Article 107
Civil liability shall not be borne for failure to perform a contract or
damage to a third party if it is caused by force majeure, except as
otherwise provided by law.
Article 108
Debts shall be cleared. If a debtor is unable to repay his debt
immediately, he may repay by instalments with the consent of the creditor
or a ruling by a people's court. If a debtor is capable of repaying his
debt but refuses to do so, repayment shall be compelled by the decision of
a people's court.
Article 109
If a person suffers damages from preventing or stopping encroachment on
state or collective property, or the property or person of a third party,
the infringer shall bear responsibility for compensation, and the
beneficiary may also give appropriate compensation.
Article 110
Citizens or legal persons who bear civil liability shall also be held for
administrative responsibility if necessary. If the acts committed by
citizens and legal persons constitute crimes, criminal responsibility of
their legal representatives shall be investigated in accordance with the
law.
Section 2 Civil Liability for Breach of Contract
Article 111
If a party fails to fulfil its contractual obligations or violates the
term of a contract while fulfilling the obligations, the other party shall
have the right to demand fulfillment or the taking of remedial measures
and claim compensation for its losses.
Article 112
The party that breaches a contract shall be liable for compensation equal
to the losses consequently suffered by the other party.
The parties may specify in a contract that if one party breaches the
contract it shall pay the other party a certain amount of breach of
contract damages; they may also specify in the contract the method of
assessing the compensation for any losses resulting from a breach of
contract.
Article 113
If both parties breach the contract, each party shall bear its respective
civil liability.
Article 114
If one party is suffering losses owing to the other party's breach of
contract, it shall take prompt measures to prevent the losses from
increasing; if it does not promptly do so, it shall not have the right to
claim compensation for the additional losses.
Article 115
A party's right to claim compensation for losses shall not be affected by
the alteration or termination of a contract.
Article 116
If a party fails to fulfil its contractual obligations on account of a
higher authority, it shall first compensate for the losses of the other
party or take other remedial measures as contractually agreed and then the
higher authority shall be responsible for settling the losses it
sustained.
Section 3 Civil Liability for Infringement of Rights
Article 117
Anyone who encroaches on the property of the state, a collective or
another person shall return the property; failing that, he shall reimburse
its estimated price. Anyone who damages the property of the state, a
collective or another person shall restore the property to its original
condition or reimburse its estimated price. If the victim suffers other
great losses therefrom, the infringer shall compensate for those losses as
well.
Article 118
If the rights of authorship (copyrights), patent rights, rights to
exclusive use of trademarks, rights of discovery, rights of invention or
rights for scientific and technological research achievements of citizens
or legal persons are infringed upon by such means as plagiarism,
alteration or imitation, they shall have the right to demand that the
infringement be stopped, its ill effects be eliminated and the damages be
compensated for.
Article 119
Anyone who infringes upon a citizen's person and causes him physical
injury shall pay his medical expenses and his loss in income due to missed
working time and shall pay him living subsidies if he is disabled; if the
victim dies, the infringe shall also pay the funeral expenses, the
necessary living expenses of the deceased's dependents and other such
expenses.
Article 120
If a citizen's right of personal name, portrait, reputation or honour is
infringed upon, he shall have the right to demand that the infringement be
stopped, his reputation be rehabilitated, the ill effects be eliminated
and an apology be made; he may also demand compensation for losses.
The above paragraph shall also apply to infringements upon a legal
person's right of name, reputation or honour.
Article 121
If a state organ or its personnel, while executing its duties, encroaches
upon the lawful rights and interests of a citizen or legal person and
causes damage, it shall bear civil liability.
Article 122
If a substandard product causes property damage or physical injury to
others, the manufacturer or seller shall bear civil liability according to
law. If the transporter or storekeeper is responsible for the matter, the
manufacturer or seller shall have the right to demand compensation for its
losses.
Article 123
If any person causes damage to other people by engaging in operations that
are greatly hazardous to the surroundings, such as operations conducted
high aboveground, or those involving high pressure, high voltage,
combustibles, explosives, highly toxic or radioactive substances or high-
speed means of transport, he shall bear civil liability; however, if it
can be proven that the damage was deliberately caused by the victim, he
shall not bear civil liability.
Article 124
Any person who pollutes the environment and causes damage to others in
violation of state provisions for environmental protection and the
prevention of pollution shall bear civil liability in accordance with the
law.
Article 125
Any constructor who engages in excavation, repairs or installation of
underground facilities in a public place, on a roadside or in a passageway
without setting up clear signs and adopting safety measures and thereby
causes damage to others shall bear civil liability.
Article 126
If a building or any other installation or an object placed or hung on a
structure collapses, detaches or drops down and causes damage to others,
its owner or manager shall bear civil liability, unless he can prove
himself not at fault.
Article 127
If a domesticated animal causes harm to any person, its keeper or manager
shall bear civil liability. If the harm occurs through the fault of the
victim, the keeper or manager shall not bear civil liability; if the harm
occurs through the fault of a third party, the third party shall bear
civil liability.
Article 128
A person who causes harm in exercising justifiable defence shall not bear
civil liability. If justifiable defence exceeds the limits of necessity
and undue harm is caused, an appropriate amount of civil liability shall
be borne.
Article 129
If harm occurs through emergency actions taken to avoid danger, the person
who gave rise to the danger shall bear civil liability. If the danger
arose from natural causes, the person who took the emergency actions may
either be exempt from civil liability or bear civil liability to an
appropriate extent. If the emergency measures taken are improper or exceed
the limits of necessity and undue harm is caused, the person who took the
emergency action shall bear civil liability to an appropriate extent.
Article 130
If two or more persons jointly infringe upon another person's rights and
cause him damage, they shall bear joint liability.
Article 131
If a victim is also at fault for causing the damage, the civil liability
of the infringe may be reduced.
Article 132
If none of the parties is at fault in causing damage, they may share civil
liability according to the actual circumstances.
Article 133
If a person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct causes
damage to others, his guardian shall bear civil liability. If the guardian
has done his duty of guardianship, his civil liability may be
appropriately reduced.
If a person who has property but is without or with limited capacity for
civil conduct causes damage to others, the expenses of compensation shall
be paid from his property. Shortfalls in such expenses shall be
appropriately compensated for by the guardian unless the guardian is a
unit.
Section 4 Methods of Bearing Civil Liability
Article 134
The main methods of bearing civil liability shall be:
(1) cessation of infringements;
(2) removal of obstacles;
(3) elimination of dangers;
(4) return of property;
(5) restoration of original condition;
(6) repair, reworking or replacement;
(7) compensation for losses;
(8) payment of breach of contract damages;
(9) elimination of ill effects and rehabilitation of reputation; and
(10) extension of apology.
The above methods of bearing civil liability may be applied exclusively or
concurrently. When hearing civil cases, a people's court, in addition to
applying the above stipulations, may serve admonitions, order the offender
to sign a pledge of repentance, and confiscate the property used in
carrying out illegal activities and the illegal income obtained therefrom.
It may also impose fines or detentions as stipulated by law.

Chapter VII Limitation of Action
Article 135
Except as otherwise stipulated by law, the limitation of action regarding
applications to a people's court for protection of civil rights shall be
two years.
Article 136
The limitation of action shall be one year in cases concerning the
following:
(1) claims for compensation for bodily injuries;
(2) sales of substandard goods without proper notice to that effect;
(3) delays in paying rent or refusal to pay rent; or
(4) loss of or damage to property left in the care of another person.
Article 137
A limitation of action shall begin when the entitled person knows or
should know that his rights have been infringed upon. However, the
people's court shall not protect his rights if 20 years have passed since
the infringement. Under special circumstances, the people's court may
extend the limitation of action.
Article 138
If a party chooses to fulfil obligations voluntarily after the limitation
of action has expired, he shall not be subject to the limitation.
Article 139
A limitation of action shall be suspended during the last six months of
the limitation if the plaintiff cannot exercise his right of claim because
of force majeure or other obstacles. The limitation shall resume on the
day when the grounds for the suspension are eliminated.
Article 140