Order of the President of the People’s Republic of China
(No. 29)
The National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China, as adopted at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on July 1, 2015, is hereby issued and shall come into force on the date of issuance.
President of the People’s Republic of China: Xi Jinping
July 1, 2015
National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China
(Adopted at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People’s Congress on July 1, 2015)
Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Tasks of Maintaining National Security
Chapter III Powers and Duties regarding Maintaining National Security
Chapter IV National Security Rules
Section 1 General Rules
Section 2 Intelligence Information
Section 3 Risk Prevention, Assessment and Warning
Section 4 Review and Supervision
Section 5 Crisis Management and Control
Chapter V National Security Safeguards
Chapter VI Obligations and Rights of Citizens and Organizations
Chapter VII Supplemental Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 To maintain national security, safeguard the regime of people’s democratic dictatorship and the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, protect the fundamental interest of the people, ensure the smooth advancement of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, this Law is developed in accordance with the Constitution.
Article 2 “National security” means a status in which the regime, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, welfare of the people, sustainable economic and social development, and other major interests of the state are relatively not faced with any danger and not threatened internally or externally and the capability to maintain a sustained security status.
Article 3 All national security work shall adhere to the overall national security view, regard people’s security as the tenet, regard political security as the fundamental, regard economic security as the basis, regard military, cultural, and social security as the safeguard, and by promoting international security, maintain national security in all fields, build a national security system, and walk a path of national security with Chinese characteristics.
Article 4 All national security work shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and a centralized, unified, efficient, and authoritative national security leadership system shall be established.
Article 5 The central leading body for national security shall be responsible for coordinating policies and deliberations on national security work, researching, developing, and guiding the implementation of national security strategies and relevant major guidelines and policies, conducting overall coordination of significant national security affairs and important tasks, and promoting the rule of law in national security.
Article 6 The state shall develop and continue to enhance national security strategies, comprehensively assess international and domestic security situations, specify the guidelines for and medium- and long-term objectives of national security strategies and the national security policies, tasks, and measures in key fields.
Article 7 National security shall be maintained in accordance with the Constitution and laws and the principle of socialist rule of law by respecting and safeguarding human rights and protecting citizens’ rights and freedom in accordance with the law.
Article 8 National security shall be maintained in line with economic and social development.
In national security work, overall arrangements shall be made on internal security and external security; territorial security and citizen security; conventional security and unconventional security; and own security and common security.
Article 9 In maintenance of national security, priority shall be given to prevention, equal attention shall be paid to temporary and permanent solutions, specialized tasks shall be combined with reliance on the masses, the functions of specialized authorities and other relevant authorities in maintaining national security shall be maximized, and citizens and organizations shall be extensively mobilized to prevent, frustrate, and legally punish any conduct that compromises national security.
Article 10 National security shall be maintained by insisting on mutual trust, mutual benefits, equality, and cooperation, actively participating in security exchange and cooperation with foreign governments and international organizations, and fulfilling international security obligations to promote common security and maintain world peace.
Article 11 All citizens of the People’s Republic of China, state authorities, armed forces, political parties, people’s groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other social organizations shall have the responsibility and obligation to maintain national security.
The sovereignty and territorial integrity of China shall not be infringed upon or partitioned. Maintaining the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the state shall be the common obligation of all Chinese people including Hong Kong and Macao compatriots and Taiwan compatriots.
Article 12 The state shall commend and reward individuals and organizations that have made prominent contributions to maintaining national security.
Article 13 Whoever as an employee of a state authority abuses power, neglects duty, practices favoritism, or makes falsification in national security work or any activity involving national security shall be held liable in accordance with the law.
Any individual or organization that fails to fulfill the obligation of maintaining national security or conducts any activity compromising national security in violation of this Law or any relevant law shall be held liable in accordance with the law.
Article 14 April 15th each year shall be the National Security Education Day.
Chapter II Tasks of Maintaining National Security
Article 15 The state shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, maintain the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, develop socialist democratic politics, improve the socialist rule of law, reinforce the mechanism for checks and oversight of power, and protect the people’s rights as the master of the country.
The state shall prevent, frustrate, and legally punish any conduct that betrays the country, splits the country, incites rebellion, subverts or incites the subversion of the people’s democratic dictatorship; prevent, frustrate, and legally punish any conduct that compromises national security such as stealing and divulging state secrets; and prevent, frustrate, and legally punish any penetration, destruction, subversion, and secession activities of overseas forces.
Article 16 The state shall maintain and develop the fundamental interest of the overwhelming majority of people, protect the people’s security, create good subsistence and development conditions and a peaceful environment for work and living, and protect citizens’ life and property safety and other lawful rights and interests.
Article 17 The state shall strengthen the construction of border defense, maritime defense, and air defense, and take all necessary defense, management, and control measures to protect the security of territorial land, inland waters, territorial sea, and territorial airspace and maintain the state’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
Article 18 The state shall attach great importance to revolutionize, modernize, and standardize the armed forces, build armed forces satisfying the requirements for protecting national security and development interest; implement active defense military strategies and guidelines, prevent and resist invasion, and prevent armed subversion and secession; conduct international military security cooperation, conduct peace-keeping operations of the United Nations, international rescue, maritime escort operations, and military actions that protect the state’s overseas interests, to maintain the sovereignty, security, territorial integrity, and development interest of the state and the world peace.
Article 19 The state shall maintain its basic economic system and the order of the socialist market economy, improve the rules and mechanisms to prevent and resolve economic security risks, and ensure the security of important industries and crucial fields related to the lifeline of the national economy, key sectors, major infrastructure, major construction projects, and other major economic interests.
Article 20 The state shall improve macro-prudential financial management and financial risk prevention and disposal mechanisms, enhance financial infrastructure and basic capability, prevent and resolve systemic and regional financial risks, and prevent and resist the impact of external financial risks.
Article 21 The state shall rationally utilize and protect resources and energies, effectively manage and control the development of strategic resources and energies, enhance the reserves of strategic resources and energies, improve the construction of strategic resource and energy transport channels and security protection measures, strengthen cooperation in international resources and energies, and comprehensively enhance emergency safeguard capability, to ensure the sustainable, reliable, and effective supply of resources and energies required for economic and social development.
Article 22 The state shall improve the grain safety guarantee system, protect and improve the comprehensive grain production capacity, improve grain reserves rules, the circulation system, and market control mechanisms, and improve grain safety warning rules, to guarantee grain supply and quality safety.
Article 23 The state shall adhere to developing an advanced socialist culture, inherit and carry forward the fine traditional culture of the Chinese nation, cultivate and practice the core values of socialism, prevent and resist the impact of harmful culture, maintain its ideological domination, and enhance the overall cultural strength and competitiveness.
Article 24 The state shall strengthen the building of capability of independent innovation, accelerate the development of independent and controllable strategic new and high technologies and core technologies in important fields, strengthen the utilization and protection of intellectual property rights, and the building of science and technology secrecy capability, and guarantee the security of major technologies and projects.