Laws of the People's Republic of China

    Article 1  The present Regulations have been formulated for the purpose of
strengthening the management and protection of navigation marks, ensuring the
proper functioning of navigation marks and securing the safety of ships
navigating by water.

    Article 2  The present Regulations are applicable to navigation marks
installed within the territory of the People's Republic of China and other
territorial waters under the jurisdiction thereof.

    The navigation marks as referred to in the present Regulations are
navigation-assisting installations used for location of vessels, navigation of
vessels and other special purposes, and include visual navigation marks, radio
navigation facilities and acoustic navigation marks.

    Article 3  The administrative department under the State Council
responsible for communications shall be held responsible for the management
and protection of all navigation marks excluding those for fishing and
military purposes. The channels management organs for drainage areas and the
harbor superintendency organs for sea areas established by the administrative
department under the State Council responsible for communications, and the
communications administrations of the regional people's governments above the
county level shall be responsible for the management and protection of all the
navigation marks erected under their respective jurisdictions excluding those
for fishing and military purposes. The channels management organs for drainage
areas and the harbor superintendency organs for sea areas established by the
communications administrations and the administrative departments responsible
for communications under the State Council are generally referred to as
superintendency organs for navigational marks.

    Military superintendency organs for navigation marks and fishery harbor
superintendency organs shall exercise authority as navigation marks organs for
the management and protection of military and fishery navigation marks.

    Article 4  The management and protection of navigation marks shall comply
with the principles of unified management, responsibility divided up among
different levels and combined protection by both the instituted organs and the
masses.

    Article 5  All units and individuals have a duty to protect navigation
marks.

    Any action that is detrimental to the safety or the efficiency of
navigation marks shall be banned.

    All units and individuals shall have the right to prohibit, inform against
or sue any action that is detrimental to the safety or the functional
efficiency of navigation marks.

    Article 6  Navigation marks, except those marks provided for in the second
paragraph of the present Article, shall be installed in a unified manner by
the superintendency organs.

    Specialized units may act on their own to install special navigation
marks. The installation, dismantling, relocation or other changes to said
navigation marks shall be subject to the approval of the superintendency organ
for navigation marks.

    Article 7  Superintendency organs for navigation marks and specialized
units shall install navigation marks according to relevant national
regulations and technical standards.

    Article 8  Superintendency organs for navigation marks shall report to the
relevant departments when installing, dismantling, moving or making any other
changes to navigation marks.

    Article 9  Superintendency organs for navigation marks and specialized
units shall be responsible for their respective navigation mark installations
and guarantee the proper functioning of the navigation marks.

    Article 10  Any unit or individual, upon discovering any incidence of
damage, dysfunction, movement, or drifting of navigation marks, shall
immediately report to the superintendency organ for navigation marks.

    Article 11  No unit or individual may erect any lighting or sound devices
that may be mistaken for navigation marks.

    Article 12  If the relocation or dismantling of navigation marks is
necessary for the sake of construction operations, such action shall be
subject to the approval of the superintendency organ for navigation marks and
substitute measures shall be taken before the relocation or dismantling is
conducted. The expenses for the relocation or dismantling shall be borne by
the party carrying out the construction.

    Article 13  No building or structure that would impair the normal
functional efficiency of navigation marks may be constructed along the visual
orientation of visual navigation marks or along the transmission orientation
of radio navigation devices; no plant that will affect the normal functional
efficiency of navigation marks may be grown.

    Article 14  Vessels shall maintain a certain distance from navigation
marks when they are navigating by water and may not strike navigation marks.

    If a navigation mark is struck by a vessel, the incident shall be
immediately reported to the superintendency organ for navigation marks.

    Article 15  The following actions that are detrimental to navigation marks
shall be prohibited.

    (1) Stealthily or openly plundering or otherwise illegally occupying
navigation marks or equipment for navigation marks;

    (2) Illegally moving, climbing on or painting navigation marks;

    (3) Shooting or throwing things at navigation marks;

    (4) Placing things on or against navigation marks; hitching livestock,
vessels, fishing equipment or explosives to navigation marks;

    (5) Any other action detrimental to navigation marks.

    Article 16  Any action that damages the supplementary facilities of
navigation marks shall be prohibited.

    The term "supplementary facilities" in the above paragraph refers to all
facilities set up for the supply of energy, water and other materials
necessary for navigation marks and management personnel, including the sites
of navigation marks, terraces for the landing of helicopters, debarkation
points, harbors, landing stages, water towers, oil (water) pumps, electricity
installations, office buildings, roads and storehouses for special uses, etc.

    Article 17  The following actions that would affect the functional
efficiency of navigation marks shall be prohibited:

    (1) Drilling, digging, excavating earth or stone, piling up materials or
operating lighting within 20 meters of navigation marks or on the ground under
which pipelines or circuits for navigation marks are erected;

    (2) Conducting demolition with 150 meters of navigation marks;

    (3) Burning grass on waste land within 500 meters of navigation marks;

    (4) Erecting or operating near radio navigation marks installations which
emit high-frequency electromagnetic radiation or devices that would affect the
functional efficiency of the radio navigation installations;

    (5) Suspending other power or communication lines from the aerial lines of
navigation marks;

    (6) Dropping anchor, drawing anchor, fishing or cultivating aquatic
animals near navigation marks;

    (7) Any other action that would affect the functional efficiency of
navigation marks.

    Article 18  Any unit or individual that commits any of the following acts
shall be rewarded by the navigation marks superintendency organ:

    (1) Informing or suing against an action detrimental to navigation marks,
thus contributing to the resolution of the case;

    (2) Timely preventing actions that would have caused damage to navigation
marks; preventing accidents from occurring or reducing losses;

    (3) Salvaging drifting navigation marks and returning them to the
superintendency organ for navigation marks.

    Article 19  In the event that a special navigation mark is installed,
dismantled, moved or otherwise altered without authorization counter to the
provisions of the second paragraph of Article 6 of the present Regulations,
the superintendency organ for navigation marks shall order that the special
navigation mark be dismantled, re-installed or adjusted within a specified
period of time.

    Article 20  If any of the following actions occur, the superintendency
organ for navigation marks shall order that a correction be made or remedial
measures be taken within a specified period of time:

    (1) Erection of lighting or sound devices near navigation marks counter to
provisions in Article 11 of the present Regulations;

    (2) Construction of buildings or structures or growing of plants counter
to provisions in Article 13 of the present Regulations.

    Article 21  If a vessel strikes a navigation mark but fails to report the
matter to the superintendency organ for navigation marks counter to provisions
in the second paragraph of Article 14 of the present Regulations, the
superintendency organ for navigation marks may impose a fine of up to 20,000
yuan in light of individual circumstances. If a loss is incurred, compensation
shall be made according to law.

    Article 22  If an offense is committed counter to the provisions of
Article 15, Article 16 or Article 17 such that a navigation mark or its
supplementary facility is wrecked or the functional efficiency of a navigation
mark is affected, the superintendency organ for navigation marks shall order
that a correction be made within a specified period of time, shall issue a
warning and may further impose a fine of up to 2,000 yuan. If a loss is
incurred, compensation shall be made according to law.

    Article 23  If an offense is committed counter to the present Regulations
such that a military navigation mark or its supplementary facility is damaged
or the functional efficiency of a military navigation mark is affected, and a
fine should be imposed, the military superintendency organ for navigation
marks shall turn the case over to the superintendency organ for navigation
marks for imposition of the punishment.

    Article 24  If a violation of the present Regulations constitutes an
offense counter to public security management regulations, it shall be
punished according to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on
Public Security Management and Penalties. If the violation constitutes a
crime, criminal responsibility shall be assessed according to law.

    Article 25  The present Regulations come into effect as of the date of
promulgation.