Port Law of the PRC — Full English Translation (2003, Amended 2018)

Adopted at the 3rd Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress on June 28, 2003

Amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Port Law of the People’s Republic of China adopted at the 7th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on December 29, 2018

Effective: January 1, 2004 (as amended, effective December 29, 2018)

Table of Contents

Chapter I — General Provisions

Article 1 — This Law is enacted for the purposes of strengthening port administration, maintaining port security and operational order, protecting the lawful rights and interests of the parties concerned, and promoting the development of ports.

Article 2 — This Law shall apply to those engaged in port planning, construction, maintenance, operation, management and other related activities.

Article 3 — For the purposes of this Law, “port” means an area consisting of a certain scope of water and land that is harbored, has the functions of docking, berthing, embarking and disembarking passengers, and loading and unloading cargo, and is equipped with corresponding dock facilities. Ports may be divided into public ports and non-public ports. Public ports serve the public and non-public ports serve specific users such as industrial and mining enterprises.

Article 4 — The State Council and the relevant departments of the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with law, strengthen port administration, safeguard the national interest and public interest, and promote port development.

Article 5 — The state encourages domestic and foreign economic organizations and individuals to invest in and construct ports and operate port businesses in accordance with law, and protects the lawful rights and interests of investors and operators.

Chapter II — Port Planning and Construction

Article 6 — Port planning shall be prepared in accordance with the needs of national economic and social development and the requirements of national defense, reflecting the principles of rational utilization of shoreline resources, compliance with urban and town system planning, and integration with flood control, navigation, water supply, power generation, fishing and ecological protection, and the overall arrangement of land development.

Article 7 — Port planning shall include port layout planning and port master planning. Port layout planning refers to port distribution planning, and port master planning refers to the specific planning for a particular port within a certain period of time, covering port water and land areas, port shoreline use, anchorage allocations and other planning matters.

Article 8 — Port layout planning shall be prepared by the administrative department of transport of the State Council in consultation with relevant departments. Port master planning shall be prepared by the port administrative department in consultation with the relevant departments. Port planning shall be reviewed in accordance with the law and approved before implementation.

Article 9 — Construction of port facilities shall comply with port planning and shall not be constructed in violation of the planning. Construction of port facilities shall comply with the legally prescribed construction procedures and comply with relevant national standards and technical specifications.

Article 10 — The use of port shorelines shall be subject to approval by the port administrative department. Units applying to use port shorelines shall meet port planning requirements, have corresponding qualifications and capacities and submit the required application materials.

Article 11 — Land and water areas for port construction shall be demarcated and determined in accordance with the approved port master planning. No unit or individual may occupy such land or water areas without authorization.

Article 12 — Public maritime infrastructure such as port public navigation channels, breakwaters and anchorage ground shall be constructed and maintained by the relevant people’s governments. The state encourages investment in port construction through various channels and diverse investment entities.

Chapter III — Port Operation

Article 13 — To engage in port operation, an applicant shall apply in writing to the port administrative department, and obtain a port operation permit in accordance with law. Relevant permits shall also be obtained in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations.

Article 14 — An applicant for port operation shall meet the following conditions:

(1) — Having fixed business premises;

(2) — Having facilities, equipment and professional and technical personnel suitable for the business applied for;

(3) — Having sound operational management rules and safety management systems;

(4) — Other conditions prescribed by laws and regulations.

Article 15 — Port operators shall comply with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations and the operational rules of the port administrative department. Port operators shall ensure safe operation and provide fair and quality services to users on a non-discriminatory basis.

Article 16 — Port operators shall not engage in monopolistic practices or unfair competition. Where a port operator takes advantage of its port position to compel others to accept its services or to accept unreasonable transaction conditions, the market supervision and administration department and the port administrative department shall investigate and deal with the same.

Article 17 — Port charges shall be implemented in accordance with the state provisions on price administration. For port charges subject to government-set prices or government-guided prices, port operators shall implement them according to the prescribed standards; for port charges subject to market-adjusted prices, port operators shall follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness and good faith.

Article 18 — Port operators shall establish statistical ledgers, and truthfully submit statistical information to the port administrative department and relevant authorities in accordance with law.

Article 19 — Port operators shall give priority to arranging the operation of emergency rescue and relief supplies, materials for key national construction projects, military transport and other supplies that require priority transport.

Chapter IV — Port Safety and Supervision

Article 20 — Port operators shall comply with the provisions of laws and regulations on production safety, have production safety conditions, and improve production safety responsibility systems.

Article 21 — Port operators shall formulate contingency plans for dangerous goods accidents, passenger security risks, natural disasters and other emergencies, in accordance with relevant provisions, and conduct regular drills.

Article 22 — Port operators shall equip their port facilities with adequate safety and fire protection facilities in accordance with relevant provisions and standards, and ensure the normal operation of such facilities.

Article 23 — Port operators engaged in loading, unloading and storage of dangerous goods shall meet the conditions prescribed by the state, obtain the necessary permits, and operate strictly in accordance with the safety technical specifications for dangerous goods.

Article 24 — The port administrative department shall conduct supervision and inspection of port operations in accordance with law, including inspections of the implementation of port planning, port construction, port operation permits, the safety management system of port operators, and the quality of port services.

Article 25 — The port administrative department shall establish a public information inquiry system and provide information on port operation permits, port charges and other relevant information for public inquiry.

Article 26 — Port administrative department personnel shall produce their law enforcement credentials when performing supervisory inspection duties. Port operators and relevant entities shall cooperate with the inspection and shall not refuse or obstruct such inspection.

Chapter V — Legal Liability

Article 27 — Where port construction is carried out in violation of port planning, the port administrative department shall order the violator to cease construction and restore the site to its original condition within a prescribed time limit; where a violator fails to do so, the port administrative department may apply to the people’s court for compulsory enforcement. The costs of such enforcement shall be borne by the violator.

Article 28 — Where port shorelines are used without authorization, the port administrative department shall order the violator to cease the illegal activity and restore the site to its original condition within a prescribed time limit; a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 but not more than RMB 50,000 may be imposed concurrently.

Article 29 — Where an entity engages in port operation without a port operation permit, the port administrative department shall order it to cease its illegal operations and confiscate its illegal gains; where illegal gains exceed RMB 100,000, a fine of not less than two times but not more than five times the illegal gains shall be imposed; where there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than RMB 100,000, a fine of not less than RMB 50,000 but not more than RMB 200,000 shall be imposed.

Article 30 — Where a port operator violates safety production provisions and the case constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with law; where the case is not serious enough to constitute a crime, the port administrative department or other relevant departments shall impose administrative penalties in accordance with law.

Article 31 — Where a port operator handles dangerous goods without authorization or fails to comply with the safety technical specifications for dangerous goods, the port administrative department and the maritime safety administration shall order it to make corrections; where the circumstances are serious, the relevant permits may be revoked.

Article 32 — Where staff members of the port administrative department, in the course of port administration, abuse their power, neglect their duties, or engage in malpractice for personal gain, and the case constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with law; where the case is not serious enough to constitute a crime, administrative sanctions shall be imposed in accordance with law.

Chapter VI — Supplementary Provisions

Article 33 — The port administration of military harbors, fishery harbors and other special-purpose harbors shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations of the state.

Article 34 — This Law shall come into force on January 1, 2004.