The Counterespionage Law of the People's Republic of China is a legislation concerning counterespionage in China. It was passed by the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...

on 1 November 2014 came into effect on that day.

Legislative history

The draft of the Counterespionage Law of the People's Republic of China was first reviewed at the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the

12th National People's Congress The 12th National People's Congress (NPC) was elected in national congressional conferences from October 2012 to February 2013 and was in session from 2013 to 2018. It succeeded the 11th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions ...

on August 25, 2014; the draft was reviewed again at the 11th meeting of the NPCSC on October 28 of the same year. The law was formally passed at the 11th meeting of the NPCSC on November 1 of the same year. This is the first time that China has legally identified specific espionage activities. On November 22, 2017, the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

promulgated the Implementation Rules of the Counterespionage Law of the People's Republic of China. On April 10, 2017, the Beijing Municipal State Security Bureau issued and implemented the “Measures for Rewarding Citizens for Reporting Spy Activities” in accordance with this law. "Those who play a particularly important role in preventing and stopping espionage activities or solving espionage cases and provide particularly outstanding clues will be awarded a reward of 100,000 to 500,000 yuan.” The term "walking 500,000" derived from this is also used by the

Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China is the highest organ when the national congress is not in session and is tasked with carrying out congress resolutions, directing all party work, and representing the Communist Youth ...

to refer to spies. On April 26, 2023, the Second Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress adopted the revised Counterespionage Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on July 1, 2023.{{cite web , date=2023-04-26 , title=中华人民共和国主席令_中国人大网 , url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c30834/202304/43a161b6990e4f479fe54e7de48ddb43.shtml , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510194031/http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c30834/202304/43a161b6990e4f479fe54e7de48ddb43.shtml , archive-date=2023-05-10 , access-date=2023-04-26 , website=中国人大网 , language=zh , ref={{sfnref , 中国人大网 , 2023 , url-status=live

Provisions

The law defines six types of activities, such as "recruiting personnel for espionage organizations," as espionage activities.

References

2014 in Chinese law Law of the People's Republic of China