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Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China
(Adopted at the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on May 28, 2020)
Book One
General Part
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China for the purposes of protecting the lawful rights and interests of the persons of the civil law, regulating civil-law relations, maintaining social and economic order, meet the needs for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, and carrying forward the core socialist values.
Article 2 The civil law regulates personal and proprietary relationships among the persons of the civil law, namely, natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations that are equal in status.
Article 3 The personal rights, proprietary rights, and other lawful rights and interests of the persons of the civil law are protected by law and free from infringement by any organization or individual.
Article 4 All persons of the civil law are equal in legal status when conducting civil activities.
Article 5 When conducting a civil activity, a person of the civil law shall, in compliance with the principle of voluntariness, create, alter, or terminate a civil juristic relationship according to his own will.
Article 6 When conducting a civil activity, a person of the civil law shall, in compliance with the principle of fairness, reasonably clarify the rights and obligations of each party.
Article 7 When conducting a civil activity, a person of the civil law shall, in compliance with the principle of good faith, uphold honesty and honor commitments.
Article 8 When conducting a civil activity, no person of the civil law shall violate the law, or offend public order or good morals.
Article 9 When conducting a civil activity, a person of the civil law shall act in a manner that facilitates conservation of resources and protection of the ecological environment.
Article 10 Civil disputes shall be resolved in accordance with law. Where the law does not specify, custom may be applied, provided that public order and good morals may not be offended.
Article 11 Where there are other laws providing special provisions regulating civil-law relations, such provisions shall be followed.
Article 12 The laws of the People’s Republic of China shall apply to the civil activities taking place within the territory of the People’s Republic of China, except as otherwise provided by law.
Chapter II
Natural Persons
Section 1 Capacity for Enjoying Civil-law Rights and Capacity for Performing Civil Juristic Acts
Article 13 A natural person shall, from the time of birth until the time of death, have the capacity for enjoying civil-law rights, and may enjoy civil-law rights and assume civil-law duties in accordance with law.
Article 14 All natural persons are equal in their capacity for enjoying civil-law rights.
Article 15 The time of birth and time of death of a natural person are determined by the time recorded on his birth or death certificate as applied, or, if there is no birth or death certificate, by the time recorded in the natural person’s household registration or other valid identity certificate. If there is sufficient evidence overturning the time recorded in the aforementioned documents, the time that is established by such evidence shall prevail.
Article 16 A fetus is deemed as having the capacity for enjoying civil-law rights in estate succession, acceptance of gift, and other situations where protection of a fetus’ interests is involved. However, a stillborn fetus does not have such capacity ab initio.
Article 17 A natural person aged 18 or above is an adult. A natural person under the age of 18 is a minor.
Article 18 An adult has full capacity for performing civil juristic acts and may independently perform civil juristic acts.
A minor aged 16 or above whose main source of support is the income from his own labor is deemed as a person with full capacity for performing civil juristic acts.
Article 19 A minor aged 8 or above has limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts, and may perform a civil juristic act through or upon consent or ratification of his legal representative, provided that such a minor may independently perform a civil juristic act that is purely beneficial to him or that is appropriate to his age and intelligence.
Article 20 A minor under the age of 8 has no capacity for performing civil juristic acts, and may perform a civil juristic act only through his legal representative.
Article 21 An adult unable to comprehend his own conduct has no capacity for performing civil juristic acts, and may perform a civil juristic act only through his legal representative.
The preceding paragraph is applicable to a minor aged 8 or above who is unable to comprehend his own conduct.
Article 22 An adult unable to fully comprehend his own conduct has limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts, and may perform a civil juristic act through or upon consent or ratification of his legal representative, provided that such an adult may independently perform a civil juristic act that is purely beneficial to him or that is appropriate to his intelligence and mental status.
Article 23 The guardian of a person who has no or limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts is the legal representative of the person.
Article 24 Where an adult is unable to comprehend or fully comprehend his conduct, any interested person of such an adult or a relevant organization may request the people’s court to declare that the said adult be identified as a person with no or limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts.
Where a person has been identified by a people’s court as a person with no or limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts, the people’s court may, upon request of the person, an interested person thereof, or a relevant organization, and based on the recovery of his intelligence and mental health, declare that the said person becomes a person with limited or full capacity for performing civil juristic acts.
A relevant organization referred to in this Article includes a residents’ committee, a villagers’ committee, a school, a medical institution, the women’s federation, the disabled person’s federation, a legally established organization for senior people, the civil affairs department, and the like.
Article 25 The domicile of a natural person is the residence recorded in the household or other valid identification registration system; if a natural person’s habitual residence is different from his domicile, the habitual residence is deemed as his domicile.
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