Laws of the People's Republic of China

This English document is coming from "LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THEPEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GOVERNING FOREIGN-RELATED MATTERS" (1991.7)which is compiled by the Brueau of Legislative Affairs of the StateCouncil of the People's Republic of China, and is published by the ChinaLegal System Publishing House.In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese shall prevail.

Whole Document LAW OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON THE PROCEDURE OF THECONCLUSION OF TREATIES(Adopted at the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee of theSeventh National People's Congress on December 28, 1990, promulgated byOrder No. 37 of the President of the People's Republic of China onDecember 28, 1990, and effective as of the same date)Article 1The present Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution of thePeople's Republic of China.Article 2This Law shall be applicable to bilateral or multilateral treaties andagreements and other instruments of the nature of a treaty or agreementconcluded between the People's Republic of China and foreign states.Article 3The State Council, that is, the Central People's Government, of thePeople's Republic of China shall conclude treaties and agreements withforeign states.The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People'sRepublic of China shall decide on the ratification and abrogation oftreaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states.The President of the People's Republic of China shall, in accordance withdecisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,ratify and abrogate treaties and important agreements concluded withforeign states.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China shall,under the leadership of the State Council, administer the specific affairsconcerning the conclusion of treaties and agreements with foreign states.Article 4The People's Republic of China shall conclude treaties and agreements withother states in the name of:(1) the People's Republic of China;(2) the Government of the People's Republic of China;(3) the governmental departments of the People's Republic of China.Article 5The decision to negotiate and sign treaties and agreements shall be madeaccording to the following procedures:(1) in the case of a treaty or agreement to be negotiated and signed inthe name of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of ForeignAffairs or the department concerned under the State Council in conjunctionwith the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall make a recommendation and drawup a draft treaty or agreement of the Chinese side and submit it to theState Council for examination and decision;(2) in the case of a treaty or agreement to be negotiated and signed inthe name of the Government of the People's Republic of China, the Ministryof Foreign Affairs or the department concerned under the State Councilshall make a recommendation and draw up a draft treaty or agreement of theChinese side and, after consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,submit it to the State Council for examination and decision. In the caseof an agreement concerning a specific line of business, its Chinese draftshall, with the consent of the State Council, be examined and decided uponby the department concerned under the State Council or when necessary inconsultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;(3) agreements to be negotiated and signed in the name of a governmentaldepartment of the People's Republic of China concerning matters within thescope of functions and powers of the department concerned shall be decidedupon by the department itself or after consultation with the Ministry ofForeign Affairs. In the case of an agreement relating to matters of majorimportance or matters falling within the functions and powers of otherdepartments under the State Council, the department concerned shall submitit by itself or after consultation with the other departments concernedunder the State Council, to the State Council for decision. The draftagreement of the Chinese side shall be examined and decided upon by thedepartment concerned or when necessary in consultation with the Ministryof Foreign Affairs.When major modification in the Chinese draft of a treaty or agreementalready examined and decided upon by the State Council are necessary as aresult of negotiation, the revised draft shall be submitted to the StateCouncil for examination and decision.Article 6Representatives for negotiating and signing treaties or agreements shallbe appointed according to the following procedures:(1) In the case of a treaty or agreement to be concluded in the name ofthe People's Republic of China or the Government of the People's Republicof China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the department concernedunder the State Council shall submit a report to the State Council for theappointment of a representative. The full powers of the representativeshall be signed by the Premier of the State Council, but may also besigned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.(2) In the case of an agreement to be concluded in the name of agovernmental department of the People's Republic of China, arepresentative shall be appointed by the head of the department concerned.The letter of authorization for the representative shall be signed by thehead of the department. Where the head of a department signs an agreementconcluded in the name of the governmental department, and where thecontracting parties agree that it is necessary for the head of thedepartment to produce full powers, the full powers shall be signed by thePremier of the State Council, but may also be signed by the Minister ofForeign Affairs.The following persons shall dispense with full powers for negotiating andsigning treaties and agreements:(1) the Premier of the State Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs;(2) the head of a diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China whonegotiates and signs treaties and agreements concluded between China andthe state to which he is accredited, unless it is otherwise agreed by thecontracting parties;(3) the head of a governmental department of the People's Republic ofChina who negotiates and signs the agreements concluded in the name of hisdepartment, unless it is otherwise agreed by the contracting parties;(4) the person, dispatched to an international conference or accredited toan international organization by the People's Republic of China, who is atthe same time the representative for negotiating treaties or agreements inthat conference or organization, unless it is otherwise agreed by theconference or otherwise provided for in the constitution of theorganization.Article 7The ratification of treaties and important agreements shall be decidedupon by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.The treaties and important agreements referred to in the precedingparagraph are as follows:(1) treaties of friendship and cooperation, treaties of peace and similartreaties of a political nature;(2) treaties and agreements relating to territory and delimitation ofboundary lines;(3) treaties and agreements relating to judicial assistance andextradition;(4) treaties and agreements which contain stipulations inconsistent withthe laws of the People's Republic of China;(5) treaties and agreements which are subject to ratification as agreed bythe contracting parties; and(6) other treaties and agreements subject to ratification.After the signing of a treaty or an important agreement, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs or the department concerned under the State Council inconjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall submit it to theState Council for examination and verification; the State Council shallthen refer it to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congressfor decision on ratification; the President of the People's Republic ofChina shall ratify it in accordance with the decision of the StandingCommittee of the National People's Congress.After the ratification of a bilateral treaty or an important bilateralagreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall execute the formalitiesfor the exchange of the instruments of ratification with the othercontracting party. After the ratification of a multilateral treaty or animportant multilateral agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shallexecute the formalities for the deposit of the instrument of ratificationwith the depositary state or international organization. The instrument ofratification shall be signed by the President of the People's Republic ofChina and countersigned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.Article 8After the signing of the agreements and other instruments of the nature ofa treaty which do not fall under paragraph 2, Article 7 of this Law andwhich are subject to approval as prescribed by the State Council or asagreed by the contracting parties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or thedepartments concerned under the State Council in conjunction with theMinistry of Foreign Affairs shall submit them to the State Council forapproval. After the approval of agreements and other instruments of thenature of a treaty, in the case of a bilateral one, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs shall execute the formalities for the exchange of theinstruments of approval with the other contracting party or for mutualnotification of the approval by diplomatic notes. In the case of amultilateral one, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall execute theformalities for the deposit of the instrument of approval with thedepositary state or international organization concerned. The instrumentof approval shall be signed by the Premier of the State Council, but mayalso be signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.Article 9After the signing of the agreements which need no decision on ratificationby the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or approval bythe State Council, the agreements shall be submitted by the departmentsconcerned under the State Council to the State Council for the record,except those agreements concluded in the name of the governmentaldepartments of the People's Republic of China which are to be submitted bythese departments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for registration.Article 10If the two contracting parties need to go through different domestic legalprocedures for the entry into force of the same treaty or agreement, thesaid treaty or agreement shall enter into force after the accomplishmentby the two parties of their respective legal procedures and the mutualnotification by diplomatic notes.After the signing of the treaties and agreements listed in the precedingparagraph, the formalities of ratification, approval, entry on the recordor registration shall be executed as the case requires in accordance withArticles 7, 8 or 9 of this Law. The formalities of notification by noteshall be completed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Article 11The decision to accede to multilateral treaties or agreements shall bemade by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or theState Council as the case requires. The procedures for acceding tomultilateral treaties and agreements shall be as follows:(1) to accede to a multilateral treaty or an important multilateralagreement listed in Paragraph 2, Article 7 of this Law, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs or the department concerned under the State Council inconjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall make arecommendation after examination and submit it to the State Council forexamination and verification; the State Council shall then refer it to theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress for decision onaccession. The instrument of accession shall be signed by the Minister ofForeign Affairs, and the specific formalities executed by the Ministry ofForeign Affairs;(2) to accede to a multilateral treaty or agreement other than thoselisted in Paragraph 2, Article 7 of this Law, the Ministry of ForeignAffairs or the department concerned under the State Council in conjunctionwith the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall make a recommendation afterexamination and submit it to the State Council for decision on accession.The instrument of accession shall be signed by the Minister of ForeignAffairs, and the specific formalities executed by the Ministry of ForeignAffairs.Article 12The decision to accept a multilateral treaty or an agreement shall be madeby the State Council.In the case of a multilateral treaty or agreement containing clauses ofacceptance which is signed by the Chinese representative or does notrequire any signature, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the departmentconcerned under the State Council in conjunction with the Ministry ofForeign Affairs shall make a recommendation after examination and submitit to the State Council for decision on acceptance. The instrument ofacceptance shall be signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and thespecific formalities executed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Article 13A bilateral treaty or agreement concluded by the People's Republic ofChina with a foreign state shall be done in the Chinese language and theofficial language of the other contracting party, both texts being equallyauthentic. When necessary, a text in the language of a third state agreedupon by the two contracting parties may be executed in addition as athird, equally authentic, official text or an unofficial text forreference. It may be stipulated by agreement of the two contractingparties that the third text shall prevail in case of divergence ofinterpretation of the treaty or agreement.For agreements on specific lines of business and treaties and agreementsconcluded with international organizations, a single language fairlycommonly used internationally may also be used by agreement of the twocontracting parties or in accordance with the provisions of theconstitutions of the international organizations concerned.Article 14Signed originals of bilateral treaties and agreements concluded in thename of the People's Republic of China or the Government of the People'sRepublic of China and copies of multilateral treaties and agreementscertified as true by the depositary states or international organizationsconcerned shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Signedoriginals of bilateral agreements concluded in the name of thegovernmental departments of the People's Republic of China shall bedeposited with these departments.Article 15A treaty or an important agreement of which the Standing Committee of theNational People's Congress has decided on ratification or accession shallbe published in the bulletin of the Standing Committee of the NationalPeople's Congress. The measures for publishing other treaties andagreements shall be made by the State Council.Article 16Treaties and agreements concluded by the People's Republic of China shallbe compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into a collection of theTreaties of the People's Republic of China.Article 17Treaties and agreements concluded by the People's Republic of China shallbe registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations by the Ministryof Foreign Affairs in accordance with the relevant provisions of theUnited Nations Charter. Treaties and agreements concluded by the People'sRepublic of China that require registration with other internationalorganizations shall be registered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs orthe departments concerned under the State Council in accordance with therespective constitutions of the international organizations.Article 18The procedures for the conclusion of a treaty or an agreement with aninternational organization by the People's Republic of China shall followthis Law and the constitution of the relevant international organization.Article 19The procedures for amendment to, abrogation of and withdrawal fromtreaties and agreements concluded by the People's Republic of China shallfollow mutatis mutandis the procedures for the conclusion of the treatiesand agreements in question.Article 20The State Council may make regulations in accordance with this Law for itsimplementation.Article 21This Law shall enter into force as of the date of promulgation.