· Area of Law： Civil Law Foreign Affairs

· Level of Authority： Working Documents

· Date issued：12-29-2007

· Effective Date：12-29-2007

· Issuing Authority： Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

· Status： Effective

Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
(Adopted at the 31st Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on December 29, 2007)
The 31st Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress decides to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which was signed by Wang Yingfan, Permanent Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations, on behalf of the Government of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2001, and simultaneously declares that:
I. The minimum age for the citizens of the People's Republic of China to voluntarily enlist in the armed forces of this country is 17.
II. In order to enforce the aforesaid provisions, the Government of the People's Republic of China will adopt the following protection measures:
1. The Military Service Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that: Each year, male citizens who have reached the age of 18 by December 31 shall be enlisted for active service. In view of the needs of the armed forces and the principle of voluntary participation, male and female citizens who have not yet reached the age of 18 by December 31 of a certain year may be enlisted for active service. Citizens eligible for enlistment who have registered for military service but have not been enlisted for active service shall serve in the soldiers reserve. The minimum age for the soldiers reserve shall be 18. The Regulation on the Recruitment of Soldiers, which is enacted by the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Central Military Commission according to the Military Service Law of the People's Republic of China, stipulates that: In view of the needs of the armed forces and the principle of voluntary participation, male and female citizens who have reached the age of 17 but not yet reached the age of 18 by December 31 of a certain year may be enlisted for active service.
2. The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that: Whoever that practices fraud for selfish ends in enlistment, accepts or sends unqualified recruits, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the consequences are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years.
3. Some Provisions on the Recruitment of Soldiers in a Clean Manner, which were ratified by the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Central Military Commission, stipulate that: No recruitment conditions may be relaxed and no recruitment standards may be reduced in the work on recruiting soldiers; the system of interviewing and investigating the recruited youngsters' families and employers shall be implemented; and the ages of the recruited youngsters shall be examined.