Amendment (X) to the Criminal Law of China

• Document Number：Order No. 80 of the President
• Area of Law： Criminal Law
• Level of Authority： Laws
• Date issued：11-04-2017
• Effective Date：11-04-2017
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
(No. 80)
The Amendment (X) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 4, 2017, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on the date of issuance.
President of the People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping
November 4, 2017
Amendment (X) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on November 4, 2017)
For the purposes of punishing the criminal acts of desecrating the national anthem and practically maintaining the solemnity of playing, singing and using the national anthem and the national dignity, one paragraph is added in Article 299 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China as paragraph 2, and this article is amended to read:
“Whoever desecrates the national flag or the national emblem of the People's Republic of China on a public occasion by intentionally burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling, or trampling on it or otherwise shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years, limited incarceration, supervision without incarceration, or deprivation of political rights.
“Whoever intentionally tampers with the lyrics or music of the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, plays or sings the national anthem in a manner of distortion or denigration, or otherwise desecrates the national anthem on a public occasion shall be punished under the preceding paragraph if the circumstances are serious.”
This Amendment shall come into force on the date of issuance.