1、s Republic of China, and is published by the China Legal System Publishing House. In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese shall prevail.Whole Document （法规全文）（Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National Peoples Congress, promulgated by Order No. 37 of the President of the Peop
2、les Republic of China on April 12, 1986, and effective as of January 1, 1987）ContentsChapter I Basic PrinciplesChapter II Citizen （Natural Person）Section 1 Capacity for Civil Rights and Capacity for Civil ConductSection 2 GuardianshipSection 3 Declarations of Missing Persons and DeathSection 4 Indiv
3、idual Businesses and Lease holding Farm HouseholdsSection 5 Individual PartnershipChapter III Legal PersonsSection 1 General StipulationsSection 2 Enterprise as Legal PersonSection 3 Official Organ, Institution and Social Organization as Legal PersonsSection 4 Economic AssociationChapter IV Civil Ju
4、ristic Acts and AgencySection 1 Civil Juristic ActsSection 2 AgencyChapter V Civil RightsSection 1 Property Ownership and Related Property RightsSection 2 Creditors RightsSection 3 Intellectual Property RightsSection 4 Personal RightsChapter VI Civil LiabilitySection 2 Civil Liability for Breach of
5、ContractSection 3 Civil Liability for Infringement of RightsSection 4 Methods of Bearing Civil LiabilityChapter VII Limitation of ActionChapter VIII Application of Law in Civil Relations with ForeignersChapter IX Supplementary ProvisionsArticle 1This Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitu
6、tion and the actual situation in our country, drawing upon our practical experience in civil activities, for the purpose of protecting the lawful civil rights and interests of citizens and legal persons and correctly adjusting civil relations, so as to meet the needs of the developing socialist mode
7、rnization.Article 2The Civil Law of the Peoples Republic of China shall adjust property relationships and personal relationships between civil subjects with equal status, that is, between citizens, between legal persons and between citizens and legal persons.Article 3Parties to a civil activity shal
8、l have equal status.Article 4In civil activities, the principles of voluntariness, fairness, making compensation for equal value, honesty and credibility shall be observed.Article 5The lawful civil rights and interests of citizens and legal persons shall be protected by law; no organization or indiv
9、idual may infringe upon them.Article 6Civil activities must be in compliance with the law; where there are no relevant provisions in the law, they shall be in compliance with state policies.Article 7Civil activities shall have respect for social ethics and shall not harm the public interest, ugogooc
10、ial economic order.Article 8The law of the Peoples Republic of China shall apply to civil activities within the Peoples Republic of China, except as otherwise stipulated by law.The stipulations of this Law as regards citizens shall apply to foreigners and stateless persons within the PeopleSection 1
11、 Capacity for Civil Rights and Capacity for Civil Conduct.Article 9A citizen shall have the capacity for civil rights from birth to death and shall enjoy civil rights and assume civil obligations in accordance with the law.Article 10All citizens are equal as regards their capacity for civil rights.A
12、rticle 11A citizen aged 18 or over shall be an adult. He shall have full capacity for civil conduct, may independently engage in civil activities and shall be called a person with full capacity for civil conduct.A citizen who has reached the age of 16 but not the age of 18 and whose main source of i
13、ncome is his own labour shall be regarded as a person with full capacity for civil conduct.Article 12A minor aged 10 or over shall be a person with limited capacity for civil conduct and may engage in civil activities appropriate to his age agogohall be represented by his agent ad litem or participa
14、te with the consent of his agent ad litem.A minor under the age of 10 shall be a person having no capacity for civil conduct agogo agent ad litem.Article 13A mentally ill person who is unable to account for his own conduct shall be a person having no capacity for civil conduct agogo agent ad litem.A
15、 mentally ill person who is unable to fully account for his own conduct shall be a person with limited capacity for civil conduct and may engage in civil activities appropriate to his mental health; in other civil activities, he shall be represented by his agent ad litem or participate with the cons
16、ent of his agent ad litem.Article 14The guardian of a person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct shall be his agent ad litem.Article 15The domicile of a citizen shall be the place where his residence is registered; if his habitual residence is not the same as his domicile, his habitua
17、l residence shall be regarded as his domicile.Article 16The parents of a minor shall be his guardians. If the parents of a minor are dead or lack the competence to be hisguardian, a person from the following categories who has the competence to be a guardian shall act as his guardian:（1） paternal or
18、 maternal grandparent;（2） elder brother or sister; or（3） any other closely connected relative or friend willing to bear the responsibility of guardianship and having approval from the units of the minors parents or from the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of the minors residence. In
19、case of a dispute over guardianship, the units of the minors parents or the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of his residence shall appoint a guardian from among the minors near relatives. If disagreement over the appointment leads to a lawsuit, the peoples court shall make a ruling.
20、If none of the persons listed in the first two paragraphs of this article is available to be the guardian, the units of the minors parents, the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of the minors residence or the civil affairs department shall act as his guardian.Article 17A person from th
21、e following categories shall act as guardian for a mentally ill person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct:（1） spouse;（2） parent;（3） adult child;（4） any other near relative;（5） any other closely connected relative or friend willing to bear the responsibility of guardianship and having
22、 approval from the unit to which the mentally ill person belongs or from the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of his residence. In case of a dispute over guardianship, the unit to which the mentally ill person belongs or the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of his resid
23、ence shall appoint a guardian from among his near relatives. If disagreement over the appointment leads to a lawsuit, the peoples court shall make a ruling.If none of the persons listed in the first paragraph of this article is available to be the guardian, the unit to which the mentally ill person
24、belongs, the neighbourhood or village committee in the place of his residence or the civil affairs department shall act as his guardian.Article 18A guardian shall fulfil his duty of guardianship and protect the person, property and other lawful rights and interests of his ward. A guardian shall not
25、handle the property of his ward unless it is in the wards interests.A guardians rights to fulfil his guardianship in accordance with the law shall be protected by law. If a guardian does not fulfil his duties as guardian or infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of his ward, he shall be held
26、 responsible; if a guardian causes any property loss for his ward, he shall compensate for such loss. The peoples court may disqualify a guardian based on the application of a concerned party or unit.Article 19A person who shares interests with a mental patient may apply to a peoples court for a dec
27、laration that the mental patient is a person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct.With the recovery of the health of a person who has been declared by a peoples court to be without or with limited capacity for civil conduct, and upon his own application or that of an interested person,
28、 the peoples court may declare him to be a person with limited or full capacity for civil conduct.Article 20If a citizens whereabouts have been unknown for two years, an interested person may apply to a peoples court for a declaration of the citizen as missing.If a persons whereabouts become unknown
29、 during a war, the calculation of the time period in which his whereabouts are unknown shall begin on the final day of the war.Article 21A missing persons property shall be placed in the custody of his spouse, parents, adult children or other closely connected relatives or friends.In case of a dispu
30、te over custody, if the persons stipulated above are unavailable or are incapable of taking such custody, the property shall be placed in the custody of a person appointed by the peoples court. Any taxes, debts and other unpaid expenses owed by a missing person shall defrayed by the custodian out of the missing persons property.Article 22In
