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TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER II ARCHIVES INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES CHAPTER III MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES CHAPTER IV USING THE ARCHIVES AND MAKING THEM PUBLIC CHAPTER V LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. This Law is formulated with a view to strengthening the management, collection and arrangement of archives and effectively protecting and using archives in the service of socialist modernization. Article 2. For the purpose of this Law, "archives" mean historical records in various forms, including writings in different languages, pictures, diagrams, audio-visuals, etc., whose preservation is of value to the state and society and which have been or are being directly formed by state organs, public organizations and individuals in their political, military, economic, scientific, technological, cultural, religious and other activities. Article 3. Every state organ, unit of the armed forces, political party, public organization, enterprise and institution and every citizen shall have the obligation to protect the archives. Article 4. The people's governments at all levels shall strengthen their leadership in the work on archives and incorporate the building of archives into national economic and social development plans. Article 5. The work on archives shall be placed under unified leadership and conducted through management at various levels in order to ensure the integrity and safety of archives and facilitate their use by people of various quarters of society. CHAPTER II ARCHIVES INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES Article 6. The state administrative authority for archives shall be responsible for the work on archives throughout the country. It shall make an overall plan, coordinate the organizations, unify the systems, and exercise supervision and provide guidance with respect to the work on archives in the whole country. The administrative authorities for archives under the local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the work on archives within their respective administrative areas. They shall supervise and direct the archives work of the state organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations within their areas. The people's governments of townships, nationality townships and towns shall designate personnel to take charge of preserving the archives of their own offices and to supervise and direct the archives work of their subordinate units. Article 7. The archives institutions or archivists of state organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations shall be responsible for preserving the archives of their own units and supervise and direct the archives work of their subordinate units. Article 8. The national archives centre and local archives centres of various types at or above the county level shall be cultural institutions for the centralized management of archives. They shall be responsible for receiving, collecting, arranging and keeping archives within their respective jurisdiction and making them available to users. Article 9. Archivists shall be devoted to their duty, observe discipline and possess professional knowledge. Those units or individuals that have done exceedingly well in the collection, arrangement and protection of archives and in making them available to users shall be rewarded by the people's governments at the relevant levels. CHAPTER III MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES Article 10. Materials of a unit that should be filed and kept as archives pursuant to state provisions must, in accordance with the relevant regulations, be handed over periodically to the archives division or archivists of the unit for centralized management. Nobody may keep such materials as his personal property. Materials that should not be kept as archives pursuant to state provisions shall not be kept as archives without due authorization. Article 11. State organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations must, in accordance with state provisions, hand over archives periodically to the archives centres concerned. Article 12. The cultural relics, books and reference materials which are kept in museums, libraries and memorial halls and are concurrently archives may be managed by the above-mentioned units in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative rules and regulations. Archives centres shall cooperate with the above-mentioned units in the use of archives. Article 13. Archives centres of all types and at all levels and archives divisions of state organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations shall establish a system of scientific management to facilitate the use of archives. They shall be equipped with necessary facilities to ensure the safety of the archives. They shall adopt advanced technology to modernize the management of archives. Article 14. The management and use of confidential archives, changes in their security classes, and the declassification of such archives must be effected according to the provisions of the security laws and administrative rules and regulations of the state regarding security. Article 15. The principles by which the value of archives for preservation is appraised, the standards for determining the periods of preservation, and the procedures and methods for destroying archives shall be formulated by the state administrative authority for archives. Unauthorized destruction of archives shall be prohibited. Article 16. Collectively-owned or individually-owned archives whose preservation is of value to the state and society or which should be kept confidential shall be properly taken care of by the owners. If the archives are considered liable to serious damage or unsafe because of the adverse conditions under which they are kept or because of any other reason, the state administrative authority for archives shall have the right to take such measures as may ensure the integrity and safety of the archives, such as by keeping the archives on the owner's behalf or, when necessary, by purchasing such archives or requisitioning them by purchase. Owners of the archives prescribed in the preceding paragraph may deposit them with or sell them to the archives centres concerned. It shall be strictly forbidden to resell such archives for profit or sell them privately to foreigners. Those who donate archives to the state shall be rewarded by the archives centres concerned. Article 17. The sale of archives owned by the state shall be prohibited. The exchange, transfer and sale of duplicates of archives shall be handled according to state regulations. Article 18. State-owned archives and the archives specified in Article 16 of this Law as well as duplicates of such archives must not be carried or transported out of the country without authorization. CHAPTER IV USING THE ARCHIVES AND MAKING THEM PUBLIC Article 19. Archives kept by state archives centres shall in general be opened to the public upon the expiration of 30 years from the date of their formation. Archives in economic, scientific, technological and cultural fields may be opened to the public in less than 30 years; archives involving the security or vital interests of the state and other archives which remain unsuitable for accessibility to the public upon the expiration of 30 years may be opened to the public after more than 30 years. The specific time limits shall be defined by the state administrative authority for archives and submitted to the State Council for approval before they become effective. Archives centres shall create the conditions, simplify the procedures, and provide conveniences for the use of archives. Citizens and organizations of the People's Republic of China possessing lawful identifications may use archives which are open to the public. Article 20. State organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions, other organizations and citizens may, according to needs in economic construction, national defence construction, education, scientific research and other work, and pursuant to the relevant provisions, use the archives which are not yet open to the public and the archives which are preserved by relevant state organs, public organizations, enterprises, institutions and other organizations. Measures for using the archives that are not yet open to the public shall be laid down by the state administrative authority for archives or by the competent departments. Article 21. Units or individuals that have transferred or donated archives to archives centres or deposited archives with them shall have priority in the use of such archives and may propose restrictions on the use of parts of the archives that are not suitable for accessibility to the public, and the archives centres shall protect the lawful rights and interests of such units or individuals. Article 22. State-owned archives shall be made public by archives centres or state organs authorized by the state; no organization or individual shall have the right to make public such archives without permission from such archives centres or state organs. With respect to collectively-owned and individually-owned archives, the owners shall have the right to make them public but they must abide by the relevant state provisions, and may not endanger the security and interests of the state or violate the lawful rights and interests of others. Article 23. Archives centres of all types and at all levels shall have research personnel to improve research in arrangement of archives, and compile and publish archives in a planned way for distribution within various circles. CHAPTER V LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY Article 24. Whoever has committed any of the following acts shall be subject to administrative sanctions according to the seriousness of the circumstances; he who causes losses shall be ordered to compensate for them; and he who commits an act which constitutes a crime shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law: (1) damaging or losing state-owned archives or destroying them without authorization; (2) supplying, copying, or making public state-owned archives without authorization; (3) altering or forging archives; (4) selling state-owned archives; (5) reselling archives for profit or selling archives to foreigners without authorization; (6) carrying or transporting out of the country archives or their duplicates that are forbidden to be taken out of the country; or (7) causing losses to archives as a result of neglect of duty on the part of archivists. Whoever has committed an act prescribed in item (5) or (6) of the preceding paragraph may be concurrently subject to administrative sanctions by the state administrative organ concerned. CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS Article 25. Measures for the implementation of this Law shall be formulated by the state administrative authority for archives and shall enter into force after being submitted to and approved by the State Council. Article 26. This Law shall come into force as of January 1, 1988. |
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