Laws of the People's Republic of China

CHAPTER III HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

CHAPTER IV HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

CHAPTER V LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES

CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

   Article 1 These regulations are formulated with a view to strengthening highway construction and management, making the best use of highways in the national economy and defence, as well as in the people's everyday lives, and coping with the needs of socialist modernisation.

   Article 2 These regulations apply to national trunk highway (hereafter called national highway for short) provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal highway (hereafter called provincial highway), county (hereafter called county road ), and township highway (hereafter called township road ) in People's Republic of China These regulations shall apply to accommodation highways where applicable.

   Article 3 The Ministry of Communications of the PRC is the institution in charge of the nation-wide highway undertaking.

   Article 4 Highways shall be managed under unified leadership and at different levels.

National and provincial highway shall be built, maintained and managed by provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal departments in charge of highways.

Trans-provincial, autonomous regional and municipal motorways of the national highway shall be built, maintained and managed by special organisations approved by the Ministry of Communications.

County road shall be built, maintained and managed by county (city) departments in charge of highways.

Township road shall be built, maintained and managed by township (town) people's governments.

Accommodation highway shall be built, maintained and managed by the organisations using the highways.

   Article 5 No units or individuals are allowed to occupy or damage highways, land used for highways and highway facilities, which shall be protected by state laws.

   Article 6 Highway construction plans shall be based on the needs of the national economy and defence as well as the people's everyday lives, and co-ordinated with plans for railway, waterway, airway and pipeline construction and with urban planning.

   Article 7 Plans for building national highway shall be formulated by the Ministry of Communications and submitted to the State Council for examination and approval.

Plans for building provincial highway shall be formulated by the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal departments in charge of highways, submitted to the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal people's governments for examination and approval, and reported to the Ministry of Communications for the record.

Construction plans for county road shall be worked out by prefectural- level city organisations in charge of highways (or equivalent organisations ) and submitted to the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal people's governments or their agencies, for examination and approval.

Construction plans for township road shall be worked out by county departments in charge of highways, and submitted to the county people's governments for examination and approval.

Plans for building accommodation highways are to be formulated by organisations which shall use the highways, submitted to higher authorities for examination and approval, and reported to local departments in charge of highways for the record.

   Article 8 The state encourages accommodation highways to be used for community transportation, accommodation highways used for community transportation, with the approval of provincial, autonomous regional and municipal departments in charge of highways, may be reclassified as provincial highways or county roads.

   Article 9 Highway construction funds are to be raised through the following channels: investment by the state or local governments, units which shall use the highways, Sino-foreign joint ventures, community funds, loans, surcharges on vehicle purchase, and part of road maintenance fees.

Highways may also be constructed by civilian workers, community funds raised by society with government subsidies, and pay workers in a disaster area as a form of relief to them.

   Article 10 Departments in charge of highways may levy tools on vehicles that use motorways, first and second-grade highways, and large highway bridges, tunnels and ferry piers, which are built with loans or funds raised by the departments, in order to repay the loans or funds.

Rules imposing tolls shall be worked out by the Ministry of Communications with the agreement of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Commodity Prices.

   Article 11 Land used for highway construction shall be dealt with in accordance with the "Land utilisation law of the PRC".

   Article 12 Land approved for building new highways, expanding original highway subgrade and adding new highway facilities in accordance with a highway construction plan shall be incorporated into the general plan on land utilisation by the local people's government.

   Article 13 Highway construction units shall obtain prior approval from relevant departments when the construction affects the normal operations of railway, pipeline, water conservancy, electric power, and postal and telecommunications facilities.

   Article 14 Highway departments are responsible for the quality supervision and inspection of highway construction projects. Highways that have not been checked in accordance with relevant state regulations before acceptance, should not be made available for use.

   Article 15 While a highway is under construction, necessary facilities for highway protection, maintenance and environmental protection should be constructed at the same time as the highway construction.

Upon the completion of a highway, traffic signs should be erected in accordance with the appropriate regulations.

   Article 16 Highway departments should strengthen highway maintenance. Ensure the good condition, evenness and smooth traffic of highways; and improve the highways' durability and resistance against natural disasters.

In carrying out highway repairs or maintenance, a time limit should be set for the job. When a highway is under repair, proper measures should be taken to ensure the free passage of vehicles. If passage must be suspended temporarily, public security and communications management agencies should be notified so that public notices can be issued in advance.

   Article 17 Highway maintenance is performed under the system which integrates professional maintenance with maintenance performed by civilian workers.

The number of labour days and vehicles used to perform highway maintenance by civilian workers should not exceed the state standards.

   Article 18 Units and individuals who possess cars should pay highway maintenance fees at the highway maintenance departments in accordance with state regulations.

   Article 19 Highway maintenance fees should be exclusively used for highway maintenance purposes within the limits designated by the government. No unit or individual should transfer, divert, abuse, keep or default on highway maintenance fees.

   Article 20 When highway transportation is blocked because of serious natural disasters, local governments at and above the county level should immediately mobilise and organize nearby army units, government organs, organisations, schools and enterprises and establishments as well as urban and rural residents to assist the highway department in restoring highway transport within a set time limit.

   Article 21 When earth and rocks form non-utilized lands, barren hills, rivers and streams, or beaches are needed for highway construction or maintenance, agreement must first be obtained from local county (city) governments.

The removal of earth or rocks from the above-mentioned places should not in any way have an adverse effect upon any nearby water conservancy, power or communications facilities, and farmland water and soil conservancy.

When earth or rocks are obtained from highway material sites approved by the local county (city) government, no unit or individual should stand in the way or ask for payment under any pretext.

   Article 22 Highway landscaping work will be under the overall planning and implementation of the highway departments.

Highway landscaping should be carried out in accordance with the highway technological standards.

No unauthorized felling of roadside forests or trees is allowed. Felling of roadside forests or trees for replanting purposes must first be approved by the highway departments.

CHAPTER IV HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

   Article 23 Departments in charge of highways are responsible for the management and protection of highways, land set aside for the exclusive use by highways and highway facilities, and have the authority to investigate, stop and deal with all activities that encroach upon or destroy highways, land for exclusive use by highways and highway facilities.

   Article 24 Construction of facilities and the planting of crops are banned upon highways and land for exclusive use by highways. Also banned is the use of roadside ditches for irrigation or drainage purposes.

   Article 25 Cutting into a mountain, cutting timber and construction on both sides of highways should not endanger the safety of highways and highway facilities.

   Article 26 No excavation of sand, dike and dam construction, dumping of rubbish, reduction or expansion of river-beds, or demolition operations may be carried out within 200m either upstream or downstream of large highway bridges and highway ferries. No unauthorised removal of earth and rocks or cutting of timber is permitted above highway tunnels or within 100m of the entrances and exits of highway tunnels.

   Article 27 Vehicles and personnel that use a highway ferry must comply with the ferry's management regulations.

   Article 28 Without proper approval by highway departments, caterpillar tread vehicles and vehicles with iron-rimmed wheels are not permitted to travel on paved highways. Vehicles or goods whose weights exceed the weight limit of a highway bridge should not be allowed to cross the bridge. Under special conditions when they must travel on a highway or cross a highway bridge, effective technical protection measures must be taken.

   Article 29 When a highway must be dug or when the land reserved for use by a highway or highway facilities must be dug or used temporarily to facilitate the construction of railways, airfields, power stations, reservoirs or irrigation canals, or the laying of pipelines, the construction unit must obtain the approval of the highway department in advance. If the construction affects the passage of vehicles, approval must also be obtained from the public security and communications departments. On completion of construction, the construction unit must restore or rebuild the highway to its original status or in accordance with the standard agreed upon between the construction unit and the highway department in advance.

   Article 30 When building overhead bridges aqueducts or pipelines across highways, consideration must be given to the highway's long-term development, they must meet the highway's technical standards, and approval must be obtained in advance from the local highway, public security and communications departments.

   Article 31 When construction projects of a permanent nature are being erected on either side of a highway, the distance from the edge of the building facing the highway to the outer rim of the roadside ditch of the highway should be no less than 20m for state highways, 15m for provincial highways, 10m for county roads, and 5m for township roads.

   Article 32 When crossroads must be built on highways, approval must be obtained from the highway, public security and communications administration departments.

The design and construction of crossroads must comply with state standards.

   Article 33 With the approval of the provincial, autonomous regional or municipal people's government, the highway departments may set up toll stations and road tax check points at highway entrances, bridgeheads and ferry and tunnel entrances.

   Article 34 In dealing with units or individuals who contravene the rules contained herein, departments in charge of highways may order the unit or individual to return what he or it has taken, restore the highway to its original condition, compensate for the losses he or it has caused, confiscate his or its illegal income or impose a fine, depending on the circumstances.

   Article 35 In dealing with those who fail to pay the state-set maintenance fee or toll charge and those who Violate regulation on usage of maintenance fee contained hereof, the highway departments may order them to pay up in addition to a fine, depending on the circumstances.

   Article 36 If the party or parties concerned refuse to accept the penalty imposed by the highway department, they may appeal to the higher authorities. If the higher authorities' decision is still considered unacceptable they may bring a lawsuit against the highway department at the people's court within 15 days of the receipt of the decision. When neither a suit is filed within the time limit, nor the obligations are honoured, the highway department may ask the people's court to enforce the penalty.

   Article 37 For highway administrative personnel who violate these regulations, the highway department concerned may take disciplinary or economic sanctions against them.

   Article 38 Those who contravene these regulations shall be punishable in accordance with regulations governing offences against public order, or will be dealt with by judicial organs if their contraventions are of a criminal nature.

CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

   Article 39 The following terms used in these rules are defined as follows: "Highway" means roads travelled on by motor vehicles between cities, between cities and the countryside and between various townships which have been checked and accepted by departments in charge of highways. The term highway includes its highway subgrade pavement, brides, culverts and tunnels.

"Land exclusively for highway use" means land bordering the ditches (or water drainage ditches) on both sides of a highway which should extend to no less than a meter from the edge of the ditches. Just exactly how far from the edge of the roadside ditches the land for use by highways should extend is to be decided by the people's government at and above the county level.

"Highway facilities" mean drainage facilities; protection installations; crossroads; boundary markers; survey stakes; safety, communications, checking, supervision, control, maintenance, and service facilities; flower beds; lawns; trees; and special-purpose buildings.

   Article 40 The Ministry of Communications is responsible for the interpretation of these rules and will formulate detailed regulations to implement them.

   Article 41 This Rules will come into effect on 1st January,1988.