（Adopted at the 20th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on June 29，1991， promulgated by Order No. 47 of the President of the People's Republic of China on June 29， 1991， and effective as of the date of promulgation）
颁布日期：19910629 　实施日期：19821119 　颁布单位：全国人大常委会

The 20th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress， having considered the proposal submitted by the State Council regarding the Draft Amendment to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics， decides to make the following revisions of Article 30 and Article 31 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics：

1. The following five items are added to the acts to which administrative sanctions shall be applicable as provided in Article 30：

（1） scrawling upon， defiling or mutilating cultural relics under State protection in not serious manners， or damaging or destroying signs put up in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of this Law for places to be protected as cultural relics， for which the persons involved shall be fined or instructed to compensate for the losses thus incurred by the public security department or by the units to which the cultural relics belong；

（2） undertaking construction projects within the scope of protection for a historical and cultural site， in contravention of the provisions of Article 11 of this Law， or constructing buildings or other structures within the area delimited for the control of construction around a site to be protected for its historical and cultural value， in contravention of the provisions of Article 12 of this Law， for which the persons involved shall be instructed by the departments for urban and rural planning， or by the said departments as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， to stop the construction and dismantle the buildings or other structures illegally constructed， or， shall be fined；

（3） carrying out such activities as demolition or excavation in the vicinity of sites to be protected for their historical and cultural value， thus endangering the safety of the cultural relics， for which the persons involved shall be stopped from continuing such activities by the public security department or by the said department as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， and may concurrently be fined；

（4） dealing， by agencies of cultural relics， in any cultural relics， the buying or selling of which is not permitted by the departments for cultural administration， for which the agencies involved shall， after examination and verification by the administrative departments for industry and commerce in conjunction with the departments for cultural administration， have their illegal earnings confiscated by the administrative departments for industry and commerce， and may concurrently be fined or shall have the cultural relics illegally handled confiscated；

（5） selling or presenting as gifts without permission any cultural relics in their collection by museums， libraries or like institutions under public ownership to other museums， libraries and like institutions under public ownership， for which， the institutions involved shall be instructed by the departments for cultural administration to recover the cultural relics sold or presented as gifts and shall have the illegal earnings derived therefrom confiscated or shall be fined； and the persons in charge and the persons directly responsible shall be given administrative sanctions by the units to which they belong or their higher authorities.

Item （2） of Article 30 which reads： “buying or selling cultural relics without the approval of the departments for cultural administration， for which the persons involved shall be warned or fined by the departments for the administration of industry and commerce， and their illegal earnings and the cultural relics illegally handled by them may be confiscated，” is amended to read： “buying or selling cultural relics without the approval of the departments for cultural administration， for which， the persons involved shall have their illegal earnings derived therefrom and the cultural relics illegally handled confiscated by the administrative departments for industry and commerce on their own or as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， and may concurrently be fined.”

A new paragraph is added to Article 30 as its second paragraph which reads： “Anyone who is not satisfied with the administrative sanctions made in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph may apply for reconsideration or bring a lawsuit according to law.”

2. The following provisions are added to Article 31： （1） “selling or presenting as gifts without permission any cultural relics in their collection by museums， libraries or like institutions under public ownership to any institution not under public ownership or to any individual， for which the persons in charge and the persons directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal responsibility by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law；” （2） “functionaries of the State who， by abusing their power， illegally appropriate any cultural relics under State protection shall be deemed as embezzlers and punished as such； those who have caused serious damage or losses to valuable cultural relics shall be investigated for criminal responsibility by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law.”

The provisions of the first paragraph of Article 31 regarding the investigation for criminal responsibility according to law is amended to read： （1） the wording “smuggling valuable relics out of the country” in Item （2） is amended to read： “smuggling cultural relics， the export of which is prohibited by the State；” （2） a new item is added， which reads： “excavating and robbing sites of ancient culture or ancient tombs.”

The second paragraph of Article 31， which reads： “those who excavate sites of ancient culture or ancient tombs without permission are punishable for larceny”， is deleted.

The third paragraph of Article 31， which reads： “those who sell valuable cultural relics in private collections to foreigners without permission are punishable for smuggling valuable cultural relics out of the country，” is amended to read： “Any organization or individual who， without permission， sells or presents as a gift to a foreigner any valuable cultural relics in its， his or her collection， the export of which is prohibited by the State， shall be deemed as smuggler and punished as such.”

This Decision shall take effect as of the date of its promulgation.

Article 30 and Article 31 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics shall be republished after being correspondingly amended according to this Decision.

Appendix： Article 30 and Article 31 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics

（Amended according to the Decision Regarding the Revision of Article 30 and Article 31 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics adopted at the 20th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on June 29， 1991）

Article 30 Administrative sanctions shall be applied to those who have committed any of the following acts：

（1） scrawling upon， defiling or mutilating cultural relics under State protection in not serious manners， or damaging or destroying signs put up in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of this Law for places to be protected as cultural relics， for which the persons involved shall be fined or instructed to compensate for the losses thus incurred by the public security department or by the units to which the cultural relics belong；

（2） hiding cultural relics discovered underground， in inland waters， in territorial seas or in other places and failing to report and deliver them to the State， for which the persons involved shall be warned or fined by the public security department and the cultural relics illegally acquired by them shall be recovered；

（3） undertaking construction projects within the scope of protection for a historical and cultural site， in contravention of the provisions of Article 11 of this Law， or constructing buildings or other structures within the area delimited for the control of construction around a site to be protected for its historical and cultural value， in contravention of the provisions of Article 12 of this Law， for which the persons involved shall be instructed by the departments for urban or rural planning on their own， or by the said departments as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， to stop the construction and dismantle the buildings or other structures illegally constructed， or， shall be fined；

（4） carrying out such activities as demolition or excavation in the vicinity of sites to be protected for their historical and cultural value， thus endangering the safety of the cultural relics， for which the persons involved shall be stopped from continuing such activities by the public security department or by the said department as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， and may concurrently be fined；

（5） buying or selling cultural relics without the approval of the departments for cultural administration， for which， the persons involved shall have their illegal earnings derived therefrom and the cultural relics illegally handled confiscated by the administrative departments for industry and commerce on their own or as suggested by the departments for cultural administration， and may concurrently be fined；

（6） dealing， by agencies of cultural relics， in any cultural relics， the buying or selling of which is not permitted by the departments for cultural administration， for which the agencies involved shall， after examination and verification by the administrative departments for industry and commerce in conjunction with the departments for cultural administration， have their illegal earnings confiscated by the administrative departments for industry and commerce， and may concurrently be fined or shall have the cultural relics illegally handled confiscated；

（7） selling cultural relics in private collections to foreigners without permission， for which the persons involved shall be fined by the administrative departments for industry and commerce， and the cultural relics in question and the illegal earnings derived therefrom may also be confiscated；

（8） selling or presenting as gifts without permission any cultural relics in their collection by museums， libraries or like institutions under public ownership to other museums， libraries and like institutions under public ownership， for which， the institutions involved shall be instructed by the departments for cultural administration to recover the cultural relics sold or presented as gifts and shall have the illegal earnings derived therefrom confiscated or shall be fined； and the persons in charge and the persons directly responsible shall be given administrative sanctions by the units to which they belong or their higher authorities.

Anyone who is not satisfied with the administrative sanctions made in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph may apply for reconsideration or bring a lawsuit according to law.

Article 31 Persons who commit any of the following acts shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law：

（1） misappropriating or stealing cultural relics of the State；

（2） smuggling cultural relics， the export of which is prohibited by the State， or serious cases of speculation in cultural relics；

（3） willful damage of valuable cultural relics or places of cultural and historical interest under State protection；

（4） excavating and robbing sites of ancient culture or ancient tombs； or

（5） damage of， or losses to valuable cultural relics caused by the dereliction of duty on the part of State functionaries.

Selling or presenting as gifts without permission any cultural relics in their collection by museums， libraries or like institutions under public ownership to any institution not under public ownership or to any individual， for which the persons in charge and the persons directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal responsibility by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law.

State functionaries who， by abusing their power， illegally appropriate any cultural relics under State protection shall be deemed as embezzlers and punished as such； those who have caused serious damage of or losses to valuable cultural relics shall be investigated for criminal responsibility by applying mutatis mutandis the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law.

Any organization or individual who， without permission， sells or presents as a gift to a foreigner any valuable cultural relics in its， his or her collection， the export of which is prohibited by the State， shall be deemed as smuggler and punished as such.

Personnel in charge of cultural relics who steal cultural relics placed under their care shall be given heavier punishment according to law