(Adopted by the Second Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on July 2, 1993, promulgated by Order No 7 of the President of the People's Republic of China on July 2, 1993 and effective on September 1, 1993)
For the purposes of punishing the crimes of production and sale of fake or substandard commodities, safeguarding human health and the safety of person and property, protecting the lawful rights and interests of users and consumers, and maintaining the socio-economic order, the following provisions are made to supplement the Criminal Law:
1. Where a producer or seller mixes impurities or imitations into a product, or passes a fake product off as a genuine one, or passes a defective product off as a high-quality one, or passes a substandard product off as a standard one, if the unlawful earnings obtained therefrom amount to exceed 20 000 yuan but not exceed 100 000 yuan, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment not exceeding two years or criminal detention and may concurrently be punished with a fine; or may be punished with an administrative penalty if the circumstances are relatively minor; if the unlawful earnings amount to more than 100 000 yuan but not exceeding 300,000 yuan, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment exceeding two years but not exceeding seven years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the unlawful earnings amount to more than 300 000 yuan but less than 1 million yuan, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment not less than seven years with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property; and if the unlawful earnings amount to more than 1 million yuan, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of fifteen years or life imprisonment with a concurrent punishment of confiscation of property.
2. Anyone who produces or sells fake medicine definitely harmful to human health shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment not exceeding three years or criminal detention with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the offense has caused serious harm to human health, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not exceeding ten years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the offense has caused death of a person or any other especially serious harm to human health, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment or death penalty with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
Anyone who produces or sells medicine of inferior quality and thereby has caused serious harm to human health shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the consequences are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
"Fake medicine" as the term is used in this Article refers to a medicine or a non-medical substance to be categorized as or handled as fake medicine in accordance with the provisions of Pharmaceutical Administration Law of the People's Republic of China. "Medicine of interior quality" as the term is used in this Article refers to a medicine to be categorized as a medicine of inferior quality in accordance with the provisions of Pharmaceutical Administration Law of the People's Republic of China.
3. Anyone who produces or sells food that does not conform to hygiene standards and thereby results in a serious food-poisoning accident or any serious disease caused by food-borne bacteria, thus seriously harming human health, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than seven years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the consequences are particularly serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years or life imprisonment with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
Anyone who mixes the food he or she produces or sells with toxic or harmful non-food stuffs shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and may concurrently or separately be punished with a fine; if the offense results in a serious food-poisoning accident or any serious disease caused by food-borne bacteria, thus seriously harming human health, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years with a concurrent punishment of fine; and if the offense thus caused death of a person or any other particularly serious harm to human health, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment or death penalty with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
4. Anyone who produces medical appliances or medical hygiene materials that do not conform to the national or trade standards safeguarding human health or who sells such appliances or materials while clearly knowing their unconformity to the national or trade standards safeguarding human health, thereby seriously harming human health, shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of not more than five years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the consequences are particularly serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
5. Anyone who produces electrical appliances, pressure containers, explosive or inflammable products or any other products that do not conform to the national or trade standards safeguarding the safety of person or property or who sells such products while clearly knowing their unconformity to the national or trade standards safeguarding the safety of person or property, thereby causing serious consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and be concurrently punished with a fine; if the consequences are particularly serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years with a concurrent punishment of fine.
6. Anyone who produces fake pesticides, fake animal pharmaceuticals or fake chemical fertilizers, or sells pesticides, animal pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers or seeds while clearly knowing that such products are fake or no longer effective, or any producer or seller who passes substandard pesticides, animal pharmaceuticals, chemical fertilizers or seeds off as those up to the standard, thereby causing considerable losses to production, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and be concurrently or separately punished with a fine; if the losses caused to production are heavy, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years with a concurrent punishment of fine; if the losses are especially great, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years or life imprisonment with a concurrent punishment of fine or confiscation of property.
7. Anyone who produces cosmetics that do not conform to the hygiene standards, or sells cosmetics while clearly knowing its unconformity with the hygienic standards, thereby causing serious consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and may concurrently or separately be punished with a fine.
8. Anyone who produces or sells products listed in Articles 2 to 7 of this Decision, if the case does not constitute a crime as stipulated in the respective Articles but involves an unlawful earning of more than 20,000 yuan, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of this Decision.
Anyone who produces or sells products listed in Articles 2 to 7 of this Decision, if the case constitutes a crime as stipulated in the respective Articles as well as a crime as stipulated in Article 1 of this Decision, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions demanding a heavier punishment.
9. Any enterprise or institution that commits a crime as stipulated in Articles 2 to 7 of this Decision shall be punished with a fine, and the persons directly in charge and other persons held directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of the respective Articles.
Any enterprise or institution that commits a crime as stipulated in Article 1 of this Decision shall be punished with a~ fine, and if the circumstances are serious, the persons directly in charge and other persons held directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of this Decision.
10. Any State functionary who exploits his or her office to intentionally shield an enterprise, institution or a person from prosecution, while clearly knowing that it or he or she is guilty of a crime stipulated in this Decision, shall be investigated for criminal liability by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 188 of the Criminal Law.
Any State functionary who is charged with the responsibility of investigating an enterprise, institution or a person guilty of a crime specified in this Decision but fails to perform his or her duty as stipulated by the law shall, in light of the different circumstances, be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law or by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 188 of the Criminal Law.
Any State functionary, who by abusing his or her power or practicing jobbery, retaliates against or frame up a person who exposes or denounces any crime specified in this Decision, shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of Article 146 of the Criminal Law.
11. Whoever commits a crime specified in any Article of this Decision and is found to be a recidivist shall be given a heavier punishment.
12. If a fine is sentenced in accordance with the provisions of this Decision, the amount of the fine shall be not less than one times but not more than five times of the unlawful earnings.
Whoever commits a crime specified in any Article of this Decision and thereby causes losses to the victims shall, besides being investigated for criminal liability in accordance with this Decision, be sentenced according to law to compensation for the losses incurred in light of the circumstances.
Where a crime is committed as specified in any Article of this Decision, all his or her earnings and property illegally obtained shall be confiscated; Where a crime is committed as provided in Articles 1 to 7 of this Decision, the products illegally produced or marketed as specified in these Articles shall be confiscated.
13. This Decision shall enter into force on September 1, 1993.
