· Area of Law： Military

· Level of Authority： Military Regulations

· Date issued：10-15-2002

· Effective Date：01-01-1998

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： State Council Central Military Commission

Regulations on Export Control of Military Items of China
(Promulgated by Order No.234 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China on October 22, 1997, and revised in accordance with the Decision of the State Council and the Central Military Commission on Modifying the Regulations on Export Control of Military Items of the People's Republic of China made on October 15, 2002)
Chapter 1 General Rules
Article 1 The Regulations are formulated to strengthen the centralized management of military exports and maintain the normal military export order.
Article 2 The military exports referred to in the present Regulations are commercial exports of military-purpose equipment, specialized production facilities and other materials, technologies and related services.
The military exports referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be included in the management list of military exports, which shall be formulated, adjusted and promulgated by the national military export control authorities.
Article 3 Under the leadership of the State Council and the Central Military Commission, the national military export control authorities shall be responsible for the military export activities nationwide and implement the supervision and management of nationwide military exports.
Article 4 The State shall implement a centralized military export management mechanism to prohibit any military export activities that damage the national interests and security and to maintain a normal military export order in accordance with the law.
Article 5 All military exports should be consistent with the following principles:
(1) Assisting the recipient country to develop its legitimate self-defense capabilities;
(2) Not jeopardizing the peace, security and stability in the relevant regions and around the world;
(3) Not interfering in the internal affairs of the recipient country.
Article 6 Provisions of the international treaties that the People's Republic of China has concluded or joined shall prevail in case they are different from the present Regulations. However, clauses about which the People's Republic of China has made statements of reservation are excluded.
Chapter 2 Military Trading Companies
Article 7 Military trading companies referred to in the present Regulations are corporate legal entities that have legally obtained military export authorization to engage in military export activities within the approved business scope.
Article 8 Military export authorization is reviewed and granted by the national military export control authorities. Specific application procedures will be stipulated by the national military export control authorities.
Article 9 Military trading companies will operate independently in accordance with the law and be responsible for their own profits and losses.
Article 10 Military trading companies shall abide by the contracts, guarantee the product quality and improve the after-sales services.
Article 11 Military trading companies, as required by the regulations of the national military export control authorities, shall faithfully submit the documents and files related to their military export activities. The national military export control authorities shall maintain the commercial confidentiality and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the military trading companies.
Article 12 Military trading companies may entrust authorized military export transportation agents to handle the export transportation and other related businesses. The national military export control authorities shall draw up the specific measures concerning it.
Chapter 3 Military Export Management
Article 13 The State manages military exports through a licensing system.
Military exports and contracts shall be filed for review and approval in accordance with the present Regulations. Military exports must be accompanied by military export licenses.
Article 14 Military exports shall be reviewed and approved by the national military export control authorities or by the national military export control authorities in conjunction with the relevant departments in the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
Article 15 Once the military export is approved, the military trading company may sign the military export contract with overseas buyers. The signed military export contract shall be submitted to the national military export control authorities for review and approval; the national military export control authorities shall make a decision within 20 days upon receipt of the application. The military export contract may take effect only upon such approval.
Military trading companies shall append the valid certification documents from the recipient countries to the military export contract approval application when filing the application with the national military export control authorities.
Article 16 Major military exports and their related contracts shall be reviewed by the national military export control authorities in conjunction with the relevant department of the State Council and the Central Military Commission, and be submitted to the State Council and the Central Military Commission for approval.
Article 17 Military trading companies shall, prior to engaging in military exports, apply to the national military export control authorities for the military export license with the approval documents for the export contracts. The national military export control authorities shall issue the military export licenses within 10 days upon receipt of the application to those requests that conform to the military export contract specifications.
The Customs shall accept the declarations upon presentation of the license to examine and allow passage of the items in accordance with the relevant State regulations.
Article 18 The national military export control authorities shall formulate the procedures for reviewing and approving military exports and contracts and for issuing military export licenses.
Article 19 Military export notifications shall be issued jointly by the national military export control authorities in conjunction with other relevant departments. Upon receipt of the notifications, the departments and local people's governments concerned shall seriously fulfill their duties in accordance with the relevant state provisions to ensure the safety, promptness and accuracy of military exports.
Chapter 4 Military Export Order
Article 20 No units or organizations shall engage in military export activities without obtaining authorization in advance.
The state prohibits individuals from operating military exports.
Article 21 Military trading companies shall abide by the laws and administrative regulations in their military export activities to ensure the normal order of military exports.
Article 22 Military trading companies may not conduct any of the following behaviors in their military export activities:
(1) Endangering national security or social and public interests;
(2) Supplanting competitors by unfair competitive means;
(3) Infringing upon the intellectual rights protected by the laws of the People's Republic of China;
(4) Forging, altering, fraudulently obtaining or transferring the military export approval documents, contract approval documents, licenses, valid certificates from recipient countries, and other documents;
(5) Exceeding the defined and approved scope of activities;
(6) Other activities that violate the laws and administrative regulations.
Article 23 The national military export control authorities, on its own initiative or upon the requests from other military trading companies, may deal with the conducts that interfere with the normal military export order.
Chapter 5 Legal Responsibilities
Article 24 The national military export control authorities will give warning to and demand within a definite time corrective measures from the military trading companies that violate Article 11 of the present Regulations. If no correction is made within the prescribed period of time, a fine of more than 20,000 yuan but less than 100,000 yuan will be imposed on the offending company, the military export authorizations granted to that offending company will be suspended or even revoked.
Article 25 The military trading companies that violate Items 4) and 5) of Article 22 of the present Regulations and thus violate the criminal law shall be prosecuted for criminal responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of the criminal law on the crime of illegal business operations, the crime of forging, altering or trading official documents, credentials or seals of the state organs or other crimes; if the circumstances are not serious enough for criminal penalties, the national military export control authorities will give the offending company a warning, confiscate the illegal gains, and impose on it a fine of more than 1 time but less than 3 times of the illegal gains, if the illegal gains are less than 100,000 yuan, a fine of more than 100,000 yuan but less than 300,000 yuan will be imposed, and the military export authorizations granted to this offending company will be suspended or even revoked.
The military trading companies that violate Items 1), 2) and 3) of Article 22 of the present Regulations or other laws and administrative regulations will be given punishments by the relevant state authorities in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and the national military export control authorities may suspend or even revoke the military export authorizations granted to those offending companies; those violating the criminal law shall be prosecuted for criminal responsibilities pursuant to the relevant provisions of the criminal law.
Article 26 Those that violate Article 20 of the present Regulations will have their illegal activities closed down by the national military export control authorities, those that violate the criminal law shall be prosecuted for criminal responsibilities pursuant to the provisions of the criminal law on the crime of illegal business operations or other crimes; if the circumstances are not serious enough for criminal penalties, the national military export control authorities will give the offender a warning, confiscate the illegal gains, and impose on it a fine of more than 1 time but less than 5 times of the illegal gains, if the illegal gains are less than 100,000 yuan, a fine of more than 100,000 yuan but less than 500,000 yuan will be imposed.
Article 27 The military trading companies that refuse to accept the specific administrative actions conducted by the national military export control authorities shall first apply for administrative reconsideration pursuant to law; those that still refuse to accept the administrative reconsideration decision may file administrative actions to the people's court.
Article 28 The staff members working in the national military export administration and management posts who abuse the powers, neglect the duties, or accept and demand bribes shall be prosecuted for criminal responsibilities according to the provisions of the criminal law on the crime of abusing the powers, the crime of neglecting the duties, the crime of accepting bribes or other crime; disciplinary penalties will be given to those whose conducts are not serious for criminal penalties.
Chapter 6 Supplementary Rules
Article 29 The present Regulations shall apply to the exports of police-use equipment.
Article 30 The present Regulations shall come into force on January 1, 1998.