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

No. 58 

The Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on October 17, 2020, is hereby promulgated, and shall come into force as of December 1, 2020.

Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

                                          October 17, 2020

Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China 

(Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on October 17, 2020) 

Contents

Chapter I General Provisions 

Chapter II Control Policies, the Control List and Control Measures 

Section 1 General Rules 

Section 2 Administration of Export of Dual-use Items 

Section 3 Administration of Export of Military Products 

Chapter III Supervision and Administration 

Chapter IV Legal Liabilities 

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I

General Provisions 

Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of safeguarding national security and interest, performing nonproliferation and other international obligations, and strengthening and regulating export control. 

Article 2 This Law shall apply where the state exercises control on the export of dual-use items, military products, nuclear and other goods, technologies, services related to safeguarding national security and interest or performing nonproliferation and other international obligations (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "controlled items"). 

For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, "controlled items" include technical materials and other data related to the items. 

For the purposes of this Law, "export control" means the prohibitive or restrictive measures taken by the state against the transfer of controlled items from the territory of the People's Republic of China to overseas and the provision of controlled items by a citizen, legal person, or unincorporated organization of the People's Republic of China to a foreign organization or foreigner. 

For the purposes of this Law, "dual-use items" means goods, technologies, and services that may be used either for civil purposes or for military purposes or to contribute to an increase in military potential, especially to design, develop, produce or use weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. 

For the purposes of this Law, "military products" means the equipment, special production equipment, and other related goods, technologies, and services used for military purposes. 

For the purposes of this Law, "nuclear" means nuclear materials, nuclear equipment, non-nuclear materials used by reactors, as well as related technologies and services. 

Article 3 Export control shall adhere to the holistic view of national security, safeguard international peace, balance security and development, and improve administration and services in relation to export control. 

Article 4 The state shall implement unified rules for export control, formulating control lists, schedules and catalogues (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the control list"), and practicing export licensing, among others. 

Article 5 The departments of the State Council and the Central Military Commission that undertake export control functions (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "state export control authorities") shall be in charge of the export control work as mandated by their duties and responsibilities. Other relevant departments of the State Council and the Central Military Commission shall undertake the export control-related work as mandated by their duties and responsibilities. 

The state shall establish a mechanism to coordinate among the above mentioned departments in major issues concerning export control. The state export control authorities and the relevant departments of the State Council shall work closely and enhance information sharing. 

The state export control authorities shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, establish an advisory mechanism for experts' advice on export control. 

The state export control authorities should issue sector-specific guidelines for export control at appropriate times, guiding exporters to establish and improve their internal compliance programs for export control and operate in accordance with laws and regulations. 

The relevant departments of people's governments in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall undertake export control-related work in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations.

Article 6 The state shall strengthen international cooperation in export control and participate in developing international rules on export control. 

Article 7 An exporter may, in accordance with the law, establish or join a chamber of commerce, association, or any other self-regulatory organization in a given sector. 

Any such chamber of commerce, association, or self-regulatory organization shall comply with laws and administrative regulations, provide its members with export control-related services in accordance with its articles of association, and play a coordinating and self-regulatory role. 

Chapter II

Control Policies, the Control List and Control Measures

Section 1

General Rules

Article 8 The state export control authorities shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, formulate export control policies among which those on major issues shall be submitted to the State Council or both the State Council and the Central Military Commission for approval. 

The state export control authorities may assess the destination countries or regions to which controlled items are exported, identify the risk level, and take control measures based on the assessment. 

Article 9 The state export control authorities shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, as well as export control policies and prescribed procedures, formulate and revise the list of controlled items for export in conjunction with relevant departments, and publish the list in a timely manner. 

For the purposes of safeguarding national security and interest or performing nonproliferation and other international obligations, the state export control authorities may, upon the approval of the State Council or both the State Council and the Central Military Commission, impose temporary control on goods, technologies or services outside the control list, and make an announcement thereon. The term of such temporary control shall not exceed two years. By the time the term of temporary control expires, an assessment shall be made in a timely manner and, based on the assessment result, a decision shall be made whether to terminate the temporary control, extend the period of the temporary control, or include the items subject to the temporary control in the export control list. 

Article 10 For the purposes of safeguarding national security and interest or performing nonproliferation and other international obligations, the state export control authorities may, upon the approval of the State Council or both the State Council and the Central Military Commission, work with relevant departments to ban the export of certain controlled items, or the export of certain controlled items to a specific destination country or region, or a specific organization or individual. 

Article 11 Exporters of controlled items shall comply with provisions of this Law and other relevant laws and administrative regulations. Where it is provided by law that accreditation is required for exporting a controlled item, such accreditation shall be obtained first. 

Article 12 The state shall adopt a licensing system for the export of controlled items. 

For export of controlled items set forth in the export control list or items subject to temporary control, an exporter shall file an application for a license with the state export control authorities. 

For export of goods, technologies and services other than those on the control list and those subject to temporary control, an exporter shall file an application for a license with the state export control authorities if it knows, should know, or has been notified by the state export control authorities that the relevant goods, technologies and services may pose any of the following risks: 

(1) Endangering national security or interest; 

(2) Being used to design, develop, produce or use weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery; and 

(3) Being used for terrorism. 

Where an exporter is unable to determine whether the goods, technologies or services to be exported fall within the scope of controlled items set forth hereby and consults the state export control authorities, the latter shall respond in a timely manner. 

Article 13 The state export control authorities shall review an exporter's application for exporting a controlled item to decide whether or not to grant an approval, by taking into full consideration the following factors: 

(1) National security and interest; 

(2) International obligations and commitments; 

(3) The type of export;

(4) The sensitivity of the controlled item; 

(5) Destination country or region of the export;

(6) The end user and end use of the exported item; 

(7) The relevant credit records of the applicant exporter; and 

(8) Other factors set forth by laws and administrative regulations. 

Article 14 Where an exporter has established an internal compliance program for export control which runs effectively, the state export control authorities may grant facilitation to the exporter, such as a general license for the export of controlled items. Specific measures shall be formulated by the state export control authorities.

Article 15 An exporter shall submit to the state export control authorities certificates about the enduser and end use, which shall be issued by the end user or the relevant government agency of the country or region where the end user is located. 

Article 16 The end user of a controlled item shall undertake not to change the end use of the relevant controlled item or transfer it to any third party without consent of the state export control authorities. 

Where an exporter or importer discovers that there may be a change of end user or end use, the exporter or importer shall immediately report to the state export control authorities according to applicable provisions.

Article 17 The state export control authorities shall establish rules for the management of risks related to end users and end uses of controlled items, conduct assessment and inspection on end users and end uses, and strengthen end user and end use management.

Article 18 The state export control authorities shall establish the restricted namelist of importers and end users who fall under any of the following circumstances: 

(1) Violating the end user and end use management requirements;

(2) May endanger national security or interest; or 

(3) Using any controlled item for terrorism. 

With respect to importers and end users included in the control list, the state export control authorities may take necessary measures such as prohibiting or restricting the trade of controlled items, or ordering a suspension of exporting the relevant controlled items. 

An exporter shall not trade with any importer or end user on the control list. Where an exporter does need to trade with such an importer or end user under special circumstances, the exporter may file an application with the state export control authorities. 

Where an importer or end user on the control list, after taking proper measures, no longer falls into the circumstances specified in the first paragraph, it may apply to the state export control authorities to be removed from the control list. The state export control authorities may, according to actual situation, decide whether to remove the importer or end user from the control list. 

Article 19 Where a consignor of exported goods or agent for customs declaration exports controlled goods, the consignor or agent shall submit the license issued by the state export control authorities to the Customs for inspection and go through formalities of customs declaration according to the relevant provisions of the State. 

Where a consignor of exported goods fails to submit the license issued by the state export control authorities to the Customs for inspection, the Customs, with evidence showing that the exported goods may fall within the scope of export control, shall question the said consignor and may request the state export control authorities to organize identification, and shall handle the matter in accordance with law based on the result of the identification conclusion. The exported goods shall not be released during the identification or questioning.

Article 20 No organization or individual may provide agency, freight, delivery, customs declaration, third-party e-commerce trading platform, financial or any other service for an exporter when the exporter is conducting activities violating the export control laws.