Section 4

Crimes of Undermining Order of Financial Management

Article 170 Whoever counterfeits currency shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine; and shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine or confiscation of property under any of the following circumstances:

(1) being a ringleader of a currency-counterfeiting organization;

(2) having counterfeited currency in an especially large amount; or

(3) there being other especially serious circumstances.

Article 171 Whoever sells or purchases counterfeit currency or knowingly transports counterfeit currency, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who purchases counterfeit currency or, by taking advantage of his position, exchanges counterfeit currency for genuine one, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. Where the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or confiscation of property. Where the circumstances are relatively minor, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only.

Whoever counterfeits currency and sells or transports the currency counterfeited shall be convicted and given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions in Article 170 of this Law.

Article 172 Whoever knowingly possesses or uses counterfeit currency, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. If the amount involved is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

Article 173 Whoever alters the currency, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. If the amount involved is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. 

Article 174 Whoever, without approval from the competent departments of the state, establishes any commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company, or any other financial institution, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. 

Whoever forges, alters or transfers the business license or any other approval document of any commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company or any other financial institution shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the first paragraph.

Article 175 Whoever, for the purpose of making profits, fraudulently obtains funds via credit from a financial institution and relends them to another at a higher rate, if the amount of illegal gains is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the illegal gains. If the amount of illegal gains is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, with a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the illegal gains.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody.

Article 175a Whoever obtains a loan, an acceptance of a negotiable instrument, a letter of credit, or a letter of guarantee, etc., from a bank or any other financial institution by deceptive means, thereby causing heavy losses to the bank or this financial institution, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine, or shall be sentenced to a fine only. Where extremely heavy losses are caused to the bank or this financial institution or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, and concurrently, a fine.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 176 Whoever illegally absorbs savings from the public or does so in a disguised form, thereby disrupting the financial order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine, or shall be sentenced to a fine only. Where the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine. Where the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Whoever commits an act as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs but proactively returns the illegally obtained savings or makes compensation to mitigate the damage before being prosecuted may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.

Article 177 Whoever forges or alters a financial document or instrument under any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) forging or altering a bill of exchange, promissory note or cheque;

(2) forging or altering any other bank settlement document, such as a certificate of entrusted collection of payments, a certificate of remittance, and a certificate of bank deposits;

(3) forging or altering a letter of credit or a bill or document attached to a letter of credit; or

(4) forging a credit card.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 177a Whoever hinders the management of credit cards under any of the following circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan:

(1) knowingly possessing or transporting a forged credit card, or knowingly possessing or transporting a relatively large quantity of forged blank credit cards;

(2) illegally holding a relatively large quantity of credit cards of others;

(3) obtaining a credit card by using a false identity certification; or

(4) selling, purchasing, or providing others with forged credit cards or credit cards obtained with false identity certifications.

Whoever steals, purchases or illegally provides credit card information of others shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who, by taking advantage of his position, commits a crime as prescribed in the second paragraph shall be given a heavier punishment.

Article 178 Whoever forges or alters any certificate of treasury securities or other securities issued by the state, where the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the amount involved is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. Where the amount involved is especially large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

Whoever forges or alters certificates of shares, enterprise bonds, or corporate bonds, where the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the amount involved is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding two paragraphs.

Article 179 Whoever, without approval from the competent departments of the state, issues shares, enterprise bonds, or corporate bonds, where the amount involved is large, the consequences are serious, or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than 1 percent but not more than 5 percent of the illegally raised funds, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody.

Article 180 Where an insider who holds inside information on securities or futures transactions or a person who illegally obtains such information, prior to the release of the information related to the issuance of securities, transactions of securities or futures, or other information that has a significant impact on the transaction prices of the securities or futures, buys or sells such securities, engages in the futures transaction related to the inside information, leaks such information, or explicitly or implicitly advises others to engage in the aforesaid transaction activities, the insider or this person shall, where the circumstances are serious, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and, concurrently, a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the illegal gains, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the illegal gains.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody.

Inside information and insiders as mentioned above shall be determined in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations.

A practitioner of any stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, fund management company, commercial bank, insurance company or any other financial institution, or an employee of the relevant regulatory department or industry association who, in violation of the relevant regulations, by using undisclosed information other than inside information which the offender has learned by virtue of his position, engages in securities or futures transactions involving the said information, or explicitly or implicitly advises another person to engage in the relevant transaction activities, where the circumstances are serious, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the first paragraph.

Article 181 Whoever fabricates and spreads false information that affects securities or futures transactions, thereby disrupting the securities or futures market and causing serious consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only.

A practitioner of a stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, or futures brokerage company, or an employee of the securities industry association, the futures industry association or the relevant securities and futures regulatory department who deliberately provides false information, or forges, alters or destroys transaction records in order to induce investors to buy or sell securities or futures contracts, thereby causing serious consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. Where the circumstances are extremely grave, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody.

Article 182 Whoever manipulates the securities or futures market, thereby affecting the prices or quantities of securities or futures transactions by the following means, where the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine, or shall be sentenced to a fine only. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine:

(1) carrying out combined or successive purchases or sales independently or in collusion with other persons by building up an advantage in terms of funds, shareholding, position, or information;

(2) colluding with other persons to trade securities or futures at preconcerted time and price through preconcerted method;

(3) trading securities between accounts actually controlled by himself, or trading futures contracts with himself as the counterpart;

(4) placing and withdrawing orders of securities or futures contracts frequently or in a large volume without the intent of filling the order;

(5) inducing investors to conduct securities or futures trading using false or uncertain material information;

(6) making public evaluations, forecasts or investment recommendations on certain securities or issuers, or certain underlying assets, while making reverse securities or futures trading; or

(7) using other means to manipulate the securities or futures markets.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 183 An employee of an insurance company who, taking advantage of his position, intentionally fabricates a non-existing accident and settles a false claim thereupon, thereby obtaining the insurance proceeds for his own possession, shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 271 of this Law.

An employee of a state-owned insurance company or a person assigned by a state-owned insurance company to perform public duties in a non-state-owned insurance company committing an act as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Articles 382 and 383 of this Law.

Article 184 An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who, in conducting financial business, solicits or illegally accepts money or other forms of property from others as a price of providing benefits, or, in violation of the relevant state regulations, accepts kickbacks or service charges under various names and takes them into his own possession, shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 163 of this Law.

An employee of a state-owned financial institution or a person assigned by a state-owned financial institution to perform public duties in a non-state-owned financial institution committing an act as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Articles 385 and 386 of this Law.

Article 185 An employee of any commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company or any other financial institution who, by taking advantage of his position, misappropriates funds belonging to the said institution or its customers shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 272 of this Law.

An employee of a state-owned commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company or any other state-owned financial institution or a person assigned by a state-owned commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company or any other state-owned financial institution to perform public duties in a non-state-owned institution as listed in the preceding paragraph committing an act as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 384 of this Law.

Article 185a Any commercial bank, stock exchange, futures exchange, securities company, futures brokerage company, insurance company or any other financial institution that, in violation of its fiduciary duty, uses the funds of its customers or other entrusted property, or trust property, if the circumstances are serious, shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 30,000 yuan but not more than RMB 300,000 yuan. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan.

Where a social security fund management institution, a housing provident fund management institution or any other public fund management institution, or an insurance company, an insurance asset management company, or a securities investment fund management company uses funds in violation of the relevant state regulations, the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 186 An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who grants loans in violation of the relevant state regulations, where the amount involved is large or heavy losses are caused, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan. Where the amount involved is especially large or extremely heavy losses are caused, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan.

An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who grants loans to his connections in violation of the relevant state regulations shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding two paragraphs.

The connections mentioned above shall be determined in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Commercial Banks and the relevant financial regulations.

Article 187 An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who absorbs funds from its customers without entering these funds into the corresponding account book of the bank or this financial institution, where the amount involved is large or heavy losses are caused, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. Where the amount involved is especially large or extremely heavy losses are caused, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 188 An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who, in violation of the relevant regulations, issues to others letters of credit or other letters of guarantee, negotiable instruments, certificates of deposits, or certificates of financial standing, where the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 189 An employee of a bank or any other financial institution who, in dealing with instruments, accepts, pays for, or provides a guarantee for negotiable instruments which do not conform to the provisions in the Law on Negotiable Instruments, thereby causing heavy losses, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody. Where extremely heavy losses are caused, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 190 A company, an enterprise, or any other entity that, in violation of the relevant state regulations, deposits foreign exchange overseas without authorization, or illegally transfers foreign exchange overseas, where the amount involved is relatively large, shall be fined not less than 5 percent but not more than 30 percent of the amount of the evaded foreign exchange, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody. Where the amount is large or there are other serious circumstances, the entity shall be fined not less than 5 percent but not more than 30 percent of the amount of the evaded foreign exchange, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years.

Article 191 Where a person commits any of the following acts to cover up or conceal the source or nature of the gains, as well as the proceeds derived therefrom, of drug-related crime, organized crime of a gang nature, crime of terrorism, crime of smuggling, crime of corruption or bribery, crime of undermining the order of financial management, or crime of financial fraud, the aforesaid criminal gains and proceeds derived therefrom shall be confiscated and in the meantime, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine, or shall be sentenced to a fine only. Where the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine:

(1) providing bank accounts;

(2) converting property into cash, negotiable instruments, or securities; 

(3) transferring funds by remittance or in any other manner of payment and settlement; 

(4) transferring assets across the border; or 

(5) covering up or concealing, by any other means, the source and nature of criminal gains and proceeds.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Section 5 Crimes of Financial Fraud

Article 192 Whoever, for the purpose of illegal possession, unlawfully raises funds by fraudulent means, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, and concurrently, a fine. If the amount involved is large or if there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 7 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine or confiscation of property.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 193 Whoever, for the purpose of illegal possession, commits any of the following acts to defraud a bank or any other financial institution of loans, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) fabricating a cause, such as attracting investment and introducing a project;

(2) using a false economic contract;

(3) using a false document of proof;

(4) using a false certificate of property right as a guaranty, or repeatedly using the same property as guaranties in excess of its value; or

(5) obtaining loans by any other fraudulent means.

Article 194 Whoever commits fraud in relation to negotiable instruments in any of the following ways, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) knowingly using a forged or an altered bill of exchange, promissory note or cheque;

(2) knowingly using an invalidated bill of exchange, promissory note or cheque;

(3) using a bill of exchange, promissory note or cheque in the name of another person or entity without authorization;

(4) issuing a rubber cheque or a cheque on which the seal is not in conformity with the reserved specimen seal, in order to obtain money or other forms of property; or

(5) in the capacity of a drawer, issuing a bill of exchange or promissory note not backed by funds, or falsely specifying the particulars thereon at the time of issue, in order to obtain money or other forms of property.

Whoever uses a forged or an altered bank settlement document, such as the certificate of entrusted collection of payments, the certificate of remittance and the certificate of deposits, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 195 Whoever commits fraud in relation to a letter of credit in any of the following ways shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) using a forged or an altered letter of credit, or a forged or an altered bill or document attached to a letter of credit;

(2) using an invalidated letter of credit;

(3) obtaining a letter of credit by fraud; or

(4) committing fraud in relation to a letter of credit by any other means.

Article 196 Whoever commits credit card fraud in any of the following ways, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) using a forged credit card, or using a credit card obtained with a false identity certification;

(2) using an invalidated credit card;

(3) using another’s credit card without authorization; or

(4) malicious overdraft.

“Malicious overdraft" as mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to the situation where a credit card holder who, for the purpose of illegal possession, draws the account beyond the limit or defaults in paying the debt, and still refuses to make the repayment after the issuing bank gives a notice urging him to pay.

Whoever steals a credit card and uses it shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 264 of this Law.

Article 197 Whoever commits fraud by using forged or altered certificates of treasury bonds or any other securities issued by the state, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

Article 198 Whoever commits insurance fraud in any of the following ways, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan or confiscation of property:

(1) a policyholder obtaining insurance proceeds through deliberate falsification of the subject matter of the insurance;

(2) a policyholder, an insured or a beneficiary obtaining insurance proceeds by fabricating the cause of an accident or overstating the extent of losses;

(3) a policyholder, an insured or a beneficiary obtaining insurance proceeds by making up an accident that never occurred;

(4) a policyholder or an insured obtaining insurance proceeds by deliberately causing an accident which results in property damage; or

(5) a policyholder or a beneficiary obtaining proceeds by deliberately causing the death, disability or illness of the insured.

Whoever commits a crime listed in Subparagraph (4) or (5) of the preceding paragraph, which concurrently constitutes another crime, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions on combining punishments for multiple crimes.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the first paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years.

Any insurance appraiser, witness or property assessor of an accident who deliberately provides false documents of proof, thus facilitating others in committing insurance fraud, shall be convicted as an accomplice and be punished as such.

Article 199 (repealed)

Article 200 An entity committing a crime as prescribed in Article 194 or 195 of this Section shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and may concurrently be fined. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine.

Section 6

Crimes of Undermining Administration of Tax Collection

Article 201 A taxpayer who files a false tax return or fails to file a tax return by means of deception or concealment to evade taxes, if the amount of evaded tax is relatively large and accounts for not less than 10 percent of the total payable taxes, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine. If the amount of evaded tax is large and accounts for not less than 30 percent of the total payable taxes, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years and concurrently, a fine.

Where a withholding agent, by using a means as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, fails to pay or underpays the taxes which this agent has withheld or collected, if the amount involved is relatively large, the withholding agent shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Whoever has committed acts as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs multiple times but has not been dealt with for such acts shall be punished on the basis of the cumulative total tax evaded.

Whoever has committed an act as prescribed in the first paragraph, but has paid the taxes in arrears and the surcharge thereon after receiving a recovery notice issued by the tax authorities in accordance with the law, and has already been subjected to an administrative penalty, shall not be held criminally liable except when, within the last 5 years, the person has received criminal punishment for tax evasion or has been given an administrative penalty by the tax authorities twice or more times for tax evasion.

 Article 202 Whoever resists paying taxes by means of violence or threat shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the amount of the tax he resists to pay. If the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, with a fine of not less than the amount of but not more than five times the amount of the tax he resists paying.

Article 203 Any taxpayer who fails to pay the payable tax and transfers or conceals property, as a result of which the tax authorities are unable to collect the tax in arrears, if the amount of the delinquent tax is not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than the amount of the delinquent tax but not more than five times the amount, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. If the amount of the delinquent tax is over RMB 100,000 yuan, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, with a fine of not less than the amount of the delinquent tax but not more than five times the amount.

Article 204 Whoever, by filing a false export declaration or by any other deceptive means, obtains from the state an export tax refund, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than the amount obtained by fraud but not more than five times the amount. If the amount involved is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than the amount obtained by fraud but not more than five times the amount. If the amount involved is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than the amount obtained by fraud but not more than five times the amount, or confiscation of property.

Any taxpayer who, after paying the taxes, adopts a deceptive means as prescribed in the preceding paragraph to obtain a tax refund shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 201 of this Law, and for the amount obtained by fraud that exceeds what has been paid, the offender shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 205 Whoever makes out false value-added tax invoices or other false invoices to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the amount of the taxes indicated in the false invoices is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the amount of the taxes indicated in the false invoices is large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in this Article shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody. If the amount of the taxes indicated in the false invoices is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years. If the amount of the taxes indicated in the false invoices is large or there are other especially serious circumstances, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment.

Making out false value-added tax invoices or any other false invoices to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes refers to the act of making out such false invoices for another or for oneself, asking another to make out such false invoices for oneself, or recommending another to make out such false invoices.

Article 205a Whoever makes out false invoices other than those specified in Article 205 of this Law, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 2 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, and concurrently, a fine. If the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 2 years but not more than 7 years and concurrently, a fine.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 206 Whoever forges value-added tax invoices or sells forged ones shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is large or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in this Article shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated large or there are other especially serious circumstances, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment.

Article 207  Whoever illegally sells value-added tax invoices shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is relatively large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 10 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

Article 208 Whoever illegally purchases value-added tax invoices or purchases forged value-added tax invoices shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years or short-term custody, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only.

Whoever, after illegally purchasing value-added tax invoices or purchasing forged value-added tax invoices, makes out such invoices or sells them shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 205, 206 or 207 of this Law correspondingly.

Article 209 Whoever forges, or makes without authorization, other invoices which can be used to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes, or sells such invoices shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, with a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. If the number of invoices involved is especially large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 7 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

Whoever forges, or makes without authorization, invoices other than the ones specified in the preceding paragraph, or sells the said invoices shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 2 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, and concurrently, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 50,000 yuan, or shall be sentenced to a fine on the said scale only. If the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 2 years but not more than 7 years, with a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan.

Whoever illegally sells other invoices which can be used to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the first paragraph.

Whoever illegally sells invoices other than the ones specified in the third paragraph shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the second paragraph.

Article 210 Whoever steals value-added tax invoices or other invoices which can be used to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 264 of this Law.

Whoever obtains, by fraudulent means, value-added tax invoices or other invoices which can be used to obtain an export tax refund or to offset payable taxes shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 266 of this Law.

Article 210a Whoever knowingly holds a relatively large number of forged invoices shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 2 years, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, and concurrently, a fine. If the number of invoices or the amount of taxes indicated is large, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 2 years but not more than 7 years, and concurrently, a fine. 

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 211 An entity committing a crime as prescribed in Article 201, 203, 204, 207, 208 or 209 of this Section shall be fined, and the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be punished in accordance with the provisions in the corresponding article of this Section.

Article 212 Whoever commits a crime as prescribed in Articles 201 to 205 and is sentenced to a fine or confiscation of property shall be so punished after the tax authorities have recovered the delinquent tax and the fraudulent export tax refund.