Archives Law of the People's Republic of China
| 1988.01.01
STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS
ARCHIVES LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
(Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Sixth National People's Congress on September 5, 1987, promulgated
by Order No. 58 of the President of the People's Republic of China on
September 5, 1987, and effective as of January 1, 1988)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER II ARCHIVES INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
CHAPTER III MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES
CHAPTER IV USING THE ARCHIVES AND MAKING THEM PUBLIC
CHAPTER V LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY
CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
@@ Article 1. This Law is formulated 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 " mean
historical records in various forms, including writings in
different languages, pictures, diagrams, audio-visuals, 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 shall have the obligation to protect the archives.
@@ Article 4. The people's governments at all levels shall
strengthen their leadership in the work on archives and incorporate
the building of archives into national economic and social development
plans.
@@ Article 5. The work on archives shall be placed under
unified leadership and conducted through management at various
levels 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 state administrative authority for archives
shall be responsible for the work on archives throughout the country.
It shall make an overall plan, coordinate the organizations,
unify the systems, and exercise supervision and provide guidance
with respect to the work on archives in the whole country.
The administrative authorities for archives under the local
people's governments at or above the county level shall be
responsible for the work on archives within their respective
administrative areas. They shall supervise and direct the
archives work of the state organs, public organizations,
enterprises, institutions and other organizations within their
areas.
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
archives work of their subordinate units.
@@ Article 7. The archives institutions or archivists of state
organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other
organizations shall be responsible for preserving the archives of
their own units and supervise and direct the archives work of their
subordinate units.
@@ Article 8. The national archives centre and local archives
centres of various types at or above the county level shall be
cultural institutions for the centralized management of archives.
They shall be responsible 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.
Those units or individuals that have done exceedingly well
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 MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES
@@ Article 10. Materials of a unit that should be filed and
kept as archives pursuant to state provisions must, in accordance with
the relevant regulations, be handed over periodically to the
archives division or archivists of the unit for centralized
management. Nobody may keep such materials as his personal property.
Materials that should not be kept as archives pursuant to state
provisions 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 provisions, hand over archives
periodically to the archives centres concerned.
@@ Article 12. The cultural relics, books and reference materials
which are kept in museums, libraries and memorial halls and are
concurrently archives may be managed by the above-mentioned units in
accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative rules
and regulations. Archives centres shall cooperate with the
above-mentioned units in the use of archives.
@@ Article 13. Archives centres 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 management to facilitate the use of
archives. They shall be equipped with necessary facilities to ensure
the safety of the archives. They shall adopt advanced technology to
modernize the management of archives.
@@ Article 14. The management and use of confidential archives,
changes in their security classes, and the declassification of such
archives must be effected according to the provisions of
the security laws and administrative rules and regulations of the
state regarding security.
@@ Article 15. The principles 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 state
administrative authority for archives. 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 shall be properly taken care of by the
owners. If the archives are considered liable to serious damage or
unsafe because of the adverse conditions under which they are kept
or because of any other reason, the state administrative authority
for archives 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.
Owners of the archives prescribed in the preceding paragraph may
deposit them with or sell them to the archives centres
concerned. It shall be strictly forbidden to resell such archives
for profit or sell them privately to foreigners.
Those who donate archives to the state shall be rewarded by the
archives centres concerned.
@@ Article 17. The sale of archives owned by the state shall be
prohibited.
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 16 of this Law as well as duplicates of such archives must
not be carried or transported out of the country without authorization.
CHAPTER IV USING THE ARCHIVES AND MAKING THEM PUBLIC
@@ Article 19. Archives kept by state archives centres shall in
general be opened 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 opened 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
opened to the public after more than 30 years. The specific time
limits shall be defined by the state administrative authority for
archives and submitted to the State Council for approval before they
become effective. Archives centres shall create the conditions,
simplify the procedures, and provide conveniences for the 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 defence
construction, education, scientific research and other work, and
pursuant to the relevant provisions, 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 and other organizations.
Measures for using the archives that are not yet open to the public
shall be laid down by the state administrative authority for
archives or by the competent departments.
@@ Article 21. Units or individuals that have transferred or
donated archives to archives centres or deposited archives with
them shall 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 centres
shall protect the lawful rights and interests of such units or
individuals.
@@ Article 22. State-owned archives shall be made public by
archives centres 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 centres or state
organs.
With respect to collectively-owned and individually-owned
archives, the owners shall have the right to make them public but
they must abide by the relevant state provisions, and may not
endanger the security and interests of the state or violate the lawful
rights and interests of others.
@@ Article 23. Archives centres of all types and at all levels
shall 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. Whoever has committed any of the following acts
shall be subject to administrative sanctions according to the
seriousness of the circumstances; he who causes losses shall be
ordered to compensate for them; and he who commits an act which
constitutes a crime shall be investigated for criminal responsibility
according to law:
(1) damaging or losing state-owned archives or destroying them
without authorization;
(2) supplying, copying, or making public state-owned archives
without authorization;
(3) altering or forging archives;
(4) selling state-owned archives;
(5) reselling archives for profit or selling archives to foreigners
without authorization;
(6) carrying or transporting out of the country archives or
their duplicates that are forbidden to be taken out of the country; or
(7) causing losses to archives as a result of neglect of duty on
the part of archivists.
Whoever has committed an act prescribed in item (5) or (6) of the
preceding paragraph may be concurrently subject to administrative
sanctions by the state administrative organ concerned.
CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS
@@ Article 25. Measures for the implementation of this Law
shall be formulated by the state administrative authority for
archives and shall enter into force after being submitted to and
approved by the State Council.
@@ Article 26. This Law shall come into force as of January 1, 1988.
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