（Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the            Sixth National People's Congress on September 5,1987,and revised in accordance            with the Decision on the Revision of the Archives Law of the People's Republic            of China adopted at the 20th Meeting of the Standing Committee Of the Eighth            National People's Congress on July 5, 1996)

 Contents

 

Chapter I    General            Provisions

 

Chapter II   Archives            Institutions and Their Responsibilities

 

Chapter III  Administration of            Archives

 

Chapter IV  Use and            Publication of Archives

 

Chapter V   Legal            Responsibility

 

Chapter VI  Supplementary            Provisions

Chapter I 　　General Provisions

 Article 1 This Law is enacted            with a view to strengthening the management, collection and arrangement of            archives and effectively protecting and using archives in the service of            socialist modernization. 

 Article 2 For the purpose of            this Law, "archives" means historical records in various forms, including            writings in different 1anguages, pictures, diagrams, audio-visual, etc., whose            preservation is of value to the State and society and which have been or are            being directly formed by State organs, public organizations and individuals in            their political, military, economic, scientific, technological, cultural,            religious and other activities.   

Article 3 Every State organ, unit of the armed forces, political            party, public organization, enterprise and institution and every citizen            sha1l have the obligation to protect            archives.   

Article 4 The people's governments at various levels shall strengthen            their leadership in archival work and incorporate the development of            undertakings of archives into the program of the national economic and social            development.   

Article 5 In archival work, the            principle of unified leadership and administration at different levels shall be            practiced in order to ensure the integrity and safety of archives and facilitate            their use by people of various quarters of society.  

Chapter II Archives Institutions and Their Responsibilities

 Article 6 The national archives            administration department shall be responsible for archival work throughout the            country. It shall make an overal1 p1an, coordinate the organizations, unify the            systems, and exercise supervision and provide guidance with regard to the            undertakings of archives in the whole country.  

The archives administration departments of the People's governments            at or above the county level shall be responsible for the undertakings of            archives within their respective administrative areas. They shall supervise and            direct the archiva1 work of the State organs, public organizations, enterprises,            institutions and other organizations under their jurisdiction. 

The people's governments of townships, nationality townships and            towns shall designate personnel to take charge of preserving the archives of            their own offices and to supervise and direct the archival work of their            subordinate units.   

Article 7 The archives institutions or archivists of State organs,            public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations shall be            responsib1e for preserving the archives of their own units and supervise and            direct the archival work of their subordinate units.   

Article 8 The nationa1 archives repositories and local archives            repositories of various types at or above the county level shall be cultural            institutions for the centralized administration of archives. They shall be            responsib1e for receiving, collecting, arranging and keeping archives within            their respective jurisdiction and making them available to users.   

Article 9 Archivists shall be devoted to their duty, observe            discipline and possess professional knowledge. 

Units and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in the            collection, arrangement and protection of archives and in making them available            to users shall be rewarded by the People's governments at the relevant            levels.  

Chapter III Administration of Archives  

Article 10 Materials of a unit that shou1d be filed and kept as            archives pursuant to State regulations must, in accordance with the re1evant            regu1ations, be regularly handed over to the archives division or archivists of            the unit for centralized administration. Nobody may keep such materials as his            personal property. 

Materials that shou1d not be kept as archives pursuant to State            regulations shall not be kept as archives without due authorization.  

Article 11 State organs, public organizations, enterprises,            institutions and other organizations must, in accordance with State regu1ations,            regularly hand over archives to the archives repositories            concerned.  

Article 12 The cu1tura1 re1ics, books and reference materials which            are kept in museums, libraries and memorial halls and are concurrent1y archives            may be administered by the above-mentioned units in accordance with the            provisions of laws and administrative rules and regulations.  

Archives repositories shall cooperate with the above-mentioned units            in the use of archives. 

Article 13 Archives repositories of all types and at all levels and            archives divisions of State organs, public organizations, enterprises,            institutions and other organizations shall establish a system of scientific            administration to facilitate the use of archives. They shall be equipped with            necessary facilities to ensure the safety of the archives. They shall adopt            advanced techno1ogy to modernize the administration of archives.  

Article 14 The administration and use of confidential archives,            changes in their security classification, and the declassification of such            archives must be effected according to the provisions of the laws and            administrative rules and regulations of the State regarding            secrecy.  

Article 15 The princip1es by which the value of archives for            preservation is appraised, the standards for determining the periods of            preservation, and the procedures and methods for destroying archives shall be            formulated by the national archives administration department. Unauthorized            destruction of archives shall be prohibited.  

Article 16 Collectively-owned or individually-owned archives whose            preservation is of value to the State and society or which should be kept            confidential shal1 be properly taken care of by the owners. If the archives are            considered 1iable to serious damage or unsafe because of the adverse conditions            under which they are kept or because of any other reason, the national archives            administration department shall have the right to take such measures as may            ensure the integrity and safety of the archives, such as by keeping the archives            on the owner's behalf or, when necessary, by purchasing such archives or            requisitioning them by purchase. 

With respect to the archives mentioned in the preceding paragraph,            owners may deposit them with or sell them to State archives repositories;            selling of such archives to any units or individuals other than State archives            repositories shall, according to relevant State regulations, be subject to            approval of the archives administration departments of the people's governments            at or above the county leve1. It shall be strictly forbidden to sell such            archives for profit, or to sell them or give them to foreigners. 

Whoever donates archives to the State shall be rewarded by the            archives repositories concerned.  

Article 17 The sale of archives owned by the State shall be            prohibited. 

Specific measures for the simultaneous transfer of records regarding            the assets to be transferred by State-owned enterprises or institutions shall be            formulated by the national archives administration department. 

The exchange, transfer and sale of duplicates of archives shall be            handled according to State regulations.  

Article 18 State-owned archives and the archives specified in Article            l6 of this Law as well as dup1icates of such archives shall not be carried or            transported out of the country without authorization. 

 Chapter            IV 　Use and Publication of            Archives

 Article 19 Archives kept by            State archives repositories shall in general be open to the public upon the            expiration of 30 years from the date of their formation. Archives in economic,            scientific, technological and cultural fields may be open to the public in less            than 30 years; archives involving the security or vital interests of the State            and other archives which remain unsuitable for accessibility to the public upon            the expiration of 30 years may be open to the public after more than 30 years.            The specific time limits shall be defined by the national archives            administration department and submitted to the State Council for approval before            they become effective. 

Archives repositories shall regularly publish catalogues of records            that are open to the public, create conditions and simplify procedures for the            convenient use of archives. 

Citizens and organizations of the People's Republic of China possessing lawful identifications may            use archives which are open to the public.  

Article 20 State organs, public organizations, enterprises,            institutions, other organizations and citizens may, according to needs in            economic construction, national defense construction, education, scientific            research and other work, and pursuant to the relevant regulations, use the            archives which are not yet open to the public and the archives which are            preserved by relevant State organs, public organizations, enterprises,            institutions or other organizations.  

Measures for using the archives that are not yet open to the public            shall be laid down by the national archives administration department and            competent authorities.  

Article 2l Units or individuals            that have transferred or donated archives to archives repositories or deposited            archives with them sha11 have priority in the use of such archives and may            propose restrictions on the use of parts of the archives that are not suitable            for accessibility to the public, and the archives repositories shall protect the            lawful rights and interests of such units or individuals.  

Article 22 State-owned archives shall be made public by archives            repositories or State organs authorized by the State; no organization or            individual shall have the right to make public such archives without permission            from such archives repositories or State organs. 

With respect to collectively-owned or individually-owned archives,            the owners shall have the right to make them public but they must abide by the            relevant State regulations, and may not endanger the security and interests of            the State or encroach upon the lawful rights and interests of            others.  

Article 23 Archives repositories of all types and at al1 leve1s shal1            have research personnel to improve research in arrangement of archives, and            compile and publish archives in a planned way for distribution within various            circles.  

Chapter V　　Legal Responsibility  

Article 24 If any of the following acts is committed, the archives            administration department of the people's government at or above the county            level, or the competent authorities concerned shall, in accordance with law,            impose administrative sanctions on persons directly in charge or other persons            directly responsib1e for the case; and if the case constitutes a crime, criminal            responsibility shall be investigated according to law: 

(l ) damaging or losing State-owned archives; 

(2) providing, transcribing, publicizing, or destroying State-owned            archives without authorization; 

(3) altering or forging archives; 

(4) selling or transferring archives without authorization in            violation of Article l6 or Article l7 of this Law; 

(5) selling archives for profit or selling or giving archives to            foreigners; 

(6) failing to file records in accordance with regu1ations or failing            to transfer archives as scheduled, in violation of the provisions of Article 10            or Article 11 of this Law; 

(7) failing to adopt any measures for the archives being preserved,            with know1edge that they arc in danger, thus causing damage to the archives;            or 

(8) causing losses to archives as a result of neglect of duty on the            part of archivists. 

"Whoever commits an illegal act as specified in sub-paragraph (l),            (2) or (3) of the preceding paragraph in the course of using records of an            archives repository, the archives administration department of the people's            government at or above the county level shall give him a warning and may also            impose a penalty; those who have caused losses shall be ordered to compensate            the losses.  

If an enterprise, institution or individual commits an illegal act as            specified in sub-paragraph (4) or (5) of the first paragraph, the archives            administration department of the people's government at or above the county            level shall issue a warning, and may also impose a pena1ty; the illegal income,            if there is any, shall be confiscated; and the archives that have been sold or            given away may be requisitioned by purchase according to the provisions of            Article 16 of the Law.  

Article 25 If anyone carries or transports archives or duplicates            thereof, the exit of which from the country is forbidden, out of the territory            of China, such archives or duplicates thereof shall be confiscated by the            Customs, a penalty may also be imposed; and the confiscated archives or            duplicates thereof shall be transferred to the archives administration            department; if the case constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be            investigated according to law.  

Chapter VI　Supplementary Provisions

 Article 26 Measures for the            implementation of this Law shall be formulated by the national archives            administration department and shall enter into force after being submitted to            and approved by the State Council.  

Article 27 This Law shall come into force as of January l,            l988.