Chapter V

Informatization of Archives

Article 35 The people's governments at all levels shall formulate informatization plans covering the informatization of archives, and ensure secured preservation and effective use of digital archival resources such as electronic archives and digitized traditional archives.

Archival repositories, state organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations shall promote the informatization of archives and ensure the security of archived information.

Article 36 State organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations shall actively step up the development of their electronic archives management system and connect this system to the network of office automation systems, business systems, etc.

Article 37 Electronic archives shall be created from reliable sources through standardized procedures, and the elements contained therein shall be in compliance with relevant regulations.

Electronic archives shall have the same effect as traditional archives and can be used as credentials.

The measures for managing electronic archives shall be formulated by the national archives administration in conjunction with relevant departments.

Article 38 The state encourages and supports the archival repositories, state organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations in the digitization of traditional archives. The originals shall be properly preserved after digitization.

Article 39 Electronic archives shall be transferred to the archival repositories via a network or storage medium that meets the requirements for security management .

The archival repositories shall review incoming electronic archives to ensure their authenticity, integrity, accessibility, and security.

The archival repositories may keep off-site backups of critical digital archives.

Article 40 The archival repositories shall be responsible for collecting, preserving, and providing access to digital archival resources. The archival repositories shall set up establishments for digital archives where conditions permit. 

Article 41 The state promotes the construction of a service platform for sharing digital archives, advancing the inter-regional and inter-departmental sharing and use of the digital archives resources.

Chapter VI

Supervision and Inspection

Article 42 The archives administrations may, in accordance with the laws and administrative regulations governing the management of archives, inspect the archival repositories, state organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations with respect to the following:

(1) The implementation of the accountability and administration systems for archival work;

(2) The allocation and maintenance of repositories, facilities, and equipment;

(3) The management of archivists;

(4) The collection, arrangement, preservation, and availability of archives;

(5) The informatization of archives and the assurance of information safety; and

(6) The supervision of and guidance for subordinate entities on archival work.

Article 43 When conducting an inspection based on the clues to violations of law, an archives administration may, provided that the requirements for security and confidentiality are met, inspect the relevant repositories, facilities, and equipment, consult the relevant materials, inquire the persons concerned, and record the relevant information. The entities and individuals concerned shall cooperate with the inspection.

Article 44 The archival repositories, state organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations shall, upon discovering safety threats to archives, promptly eliminate the said threats and take remedial measures. Damages of archives and leaks of archival information shall be reported to the archives administrations in a timely manner.

Article 45 The archives administrations shall, upon discovering safety threats to archives in the archival repositories, state organs, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations, order a rectification to eliminate the threats within a prescribed time period. 

Article 46 Every entity and individual has the right to report violations of law concerning archives to the archives administrations and relevant authorities.

The archives administrations or relevant authorities that receive such reports shall deal with the report in time in accordance with the law.

Article 47 The archives administrations and their staff shall carry out supervision and inspection in accordance with their statutory duties and powers, as well as the statutory procedures, and ensure that supervision and inspection is done in a reasonable, impartial, strict, and efficient way. The archives administrations and their staff shall not use their powers for private gain, and shall not divulge any state secrets, business secrets or private information learned during their performance of duties.

Chapter VII

Legal Liabilities

Article 48 If an entity or individual commits any of the following acts, the archives administration or the relevant authorities at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the law, sanction the person in charge and other persons of the entity who are directly liable:

(1) Losing archives owned by the state;

(2) Providing, transcribing, copying, or releasing archives owned by the state without authorization;

(3) Buying, selling, or otherwise unlawfully transferring archives owned by the state;

(4) Tampering with, damaging, or forging archives, or destroying archives without authorization;

(5) Selling or giving archives to foreign individuals or organizations;

(6) Failing to file archival records in accordance with regulations or transfer archival records within a specified time period, and refusing to make rectifications when ordered to do so;

(7) Failing to provide public access to archives in accordance with regulations;

(8) Failing to take remedial measures in response to known safety threats, which results in the damage or loss of archives, or failing to make rectifications within a time limit when ordered to do so;

(9) Failing to take remedial measures in response to a safety incident, covering up the incident, or refusing to cooperate with an investigation; and

(10) Damaging or losing archives due to dereliction of duty by archivists.

Article 49 Where the use of archival records of an archival repository constitutes a violation prescribed in Subparagraph (1), (2) or (4) of Article 48 of this Law, the archives administration at or above the county level shall issue a warning, and impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan if the offender is an entity, or a fine of not less than RMB 500 yuan but not more than RMB 5,000 yuan in case of an individual.

Where an archival service enterprise, during service, commits any of the acts prescribed in Subparagraph (1), (2) or (4) of Article 48 of this Law, the archives administration at or above the county level shall issue a warning to the enterprise, and impose a fine of not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan.

Where an entity or individual commits any of the acts prescribed in Subparagraph (3) or (5) of Article 48 of this Law, the archives administration at or above the county level shall issue a warning, confiscate the illegal gains, and impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan if the offender is an entity, or a fine of not less than RMB 500 yuan but not more than RMB 5,000 yuan in case of an individual. In addition, the archives sold or given away may be requisitioned pursuant to Article 22 of this Law.

Article 50 Where archives or duplicates of archives are transported, mailed, carried, or transmitted through the Internet out of China in violation of this Law, the customs or the relevant departments shall seize said archives or duplicates, block the transmission, and impose a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan if the offender is an entity, or a fine of not less than RMB 500 yuan but not more than RMB 5,000 yuan in case of an individual. The archives or duplicates seized or intercepted shall be handed over to the relevant archives administrations.

Article 51 Where a violation of this Law constitutes a crime, the offender shall be criminally prosecuted. Where the violation causes property losses or other damages, the offender shall be subject to civil liability.

Chapter VIII

Supplementary Provisions

Article 52 The administrative measures for the archival work of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Chinese People's Armed Police Force shall be formulated by the Central Military Commission in accordance with this Law.

Article 53 This Law shall come into force as of January 1, 2021.