ChinaCriminal Law, Arts. 285-286 (unauthorized computer intrusion and system destruction)
Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, Arts. 285, 286
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 29 August 2026.
What it requires
- Do not intrude into a computer system to obtain its data, or exercise illegal control over it, where the conduct is serious (Art. 285).
- Do not damage or destroy a computer information system's function, data, or programs (Art. 286).
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 285(1) criminalizes intrusion into state-affairs, defense, or advanced-science computer systems; Art. 285(2), added by the 2009 Amendment VII, reaches intrusion into other systems, or other technical means, to obtain their data or illegally control them, where the circumstances are serious; Art. 286 criminalizes destroying a computer system's function, data, or programs.
These target circumvention and intrusion, not mere collection of what a system already makes public, and no top-level case construing authorization as narrowly as the United States' Van Buren was found for a scraping fact pattern.
This instrument is secondary-sourced only: official primary text was sought at eight URLs across five official domains (npc.gov.cn, flk.npc.gov.cn, spp.gov.cn, court.gov.cn, mps.gov.cn), and every one serves either a JavaScript shell, a server error, or (at flk.npc.gov.cn) a single-page app whose article text loads by a client-side mechanism; no CAPTCHA appears anywhere.
This is a confirmed access-tier gap, not a finding about the law, and it must not be presented as verified against primary text.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web
Read the law
Lawinfochina/PKULAW English translation (secondary publisher)
official npc.gov.cn, flk.npc.gov.cn, spp.gov.cn, court.gov.cn, and mps.gov.cn text confirmed unreachable
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.