Section 2 Crimes of Smuggling

Article 151 Whoever smuggles weapons, ammunition, nuclear materials, or counterfeit currency shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 7 years, and concurrently, a fine or confiscation of property. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of property. Where the circumstances are relatively minor, 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.

Whoever smuggles cultural relics, gold, silver or any other precious metal, the export of which is prohibited by the state, or smuggles rare animals or the products made thereof or therefrom, the import or export of which is prohibited by the state, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years, and concurrently, a fine. Where the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, confiscation of property. Where the circumstances are relatively minor, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years, and concurrently, a fine.

Whoever smuggles rare plants or the products made thereof or therefrom, or other goods or articles, the import or export of which is prohibited by the state, 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, and concurrently, a fine.

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 punished in accordance with the provisions in the corresponding paragraph of this Article.

Article 152 Whoever, for the purpose of making profits or dissemination, smuggles pornographic movies, videotapes, audiotapes, pictures, books or journals, or other pornographic materials 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 circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and concurrently, a fine 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, short-term custody, or non-custodial correction, and concurrently, a fine.

Whoever transports solid, liquid or gaseous waste into the territory of the People’s Republic of China by evading the supervision and control of the customs, where the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 5 years, 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, and concurrently, a fine.

An entity committing a crime as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs of this Article 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 153 Whoever smuggles goods or articles other than those as mentioned in Articles 151, 152 and 347 shall be punished based on the gravity of the circumstances according to the following provisions respectively:

(1) whoever smuggles goods or articles and evades a relatively large amount of payable duties, or commits smuggling again after being subjected to administrative penalty twice for smuggling within a year, 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 payable duties evaded but not more than five times the amount of payable duties evaded; 

(2) whoever smuggles goods or articles, if the amount of payable duties evaded is large or there are other serious circumstances, 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 the amount of payable duties evaded but not more than five times the amount of payable duties evaded; or

(3) whoever smuggles goods or articles, if the amount of payable duties evaded is especially large or there are other especially serious circumstances, 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 of payable duties evaded but not more than five times the amount of payable duties evaded, or with 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 sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or short-term custody. Where the circumstances are 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. Where the circumstances are especially serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years.

Where a smuggler has smuggled goods or articles several times but has not been dealt with, the smuggler shall be punished on the basis of the cumulative amount of the payable duties evaded in these smuggling cases.

Article 154 Whoever commits any of the following acts of smuggling, which constitutes a crime according to the provisions in this Section, shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions in Article 153 of this Law:

(1) without approval from the customs and without paying the payable duties, selling for profits within the territory of the People's Republic of China bonded goods approved for import to be used in processing, assembly, and compensatory trade, including raw and processed materials, parts, finished products, and equipment; or

(2) without approval from the customs and without paying the payable duties, selling for profits within the territory of the People's Republic of China specific imported goods or articles with reduced duties or tax exemption.

Article 155 Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be convicted of the crime of smuggling and be punished in accordance with the relevant provisions in this Section:

(1) directly and illegally purchasing from smugglers articles, the import of which is prohibited by the state, or directly and illegally purchasing from smugglers other smuggled goods or articles, with a relatively large value;

(2) transporting, purchasing or selling goods or articles, the import or export of which is prohibited by the state, in inland seas, territorial waters, or boundary rivers or lakes; or transporting, purchasing or selling without legal certificates, goods or articles, the import or export of which is restricted by the state, with a relatively large value.

Article 156 Whoever colludes with smugglers and provides them with loans, funds, accounts, invoices, or documents of proof, or with conveniences such as transportation, storage, or mailing services, shall be convicted and punished as an accomplice in smuggling.

Article 157 Whoever provides armed escorts for smuggling shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions in the first paragraph of Article 151 of this Law.

Whoever resists, by means of violence or threat, the investigation of smuggling shall be convicted of the crime of smuggling and the crime of obstructing functionaries of a state organ in performing their duty in accordance with the law which is prescribed in Article 277 of this Law, and be punished in accordance with the provisions on combining punishments for multiple crimes.