National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China

National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China
12th National People's Congress
  • National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China
CitationNational Intelligence Law
(in Chinese)
Territorial extent People's Republic of China (applicable extraterritorially)
Enacted by28th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress
EnactedJune 27, 2017
CommencedJune 28, 2017
Amended by
2018
Related legislation
National Security Law (China), Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law
Summary
A law enacted in accordance with the Constitution, in order to strengthen and safeguard national intelligence work and safeguard national security and interests.
Keywords
National Security, Intelligence
Status: In force

The National Intelligence Law of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国国家情报法) is a national law of the People's Republic of China, passed in June 2017.

The law is the first one made public in China which is related to China's national intelligence agencies. The law does not explicitly name any organizations that it empowers. According to the law, "everyone is responsible for state security" which is in line with China's state security legal structure as a whole. The final draft of the law on 16 May 2017 was toned down as compared to previous versions. The 12th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the law on 27 June 2017. The law was updated on 27 April 2018.

The passage of the National Intelligence Law was part of a larger effort by the Chinese central government to strengthen its security legislation. In 2014, China passed a law on counterespionage, in 2015 a law on national security and another on counter-terrorism, in 2016 a law on cybersecurity and foreign NGO management, among others.