(Promulgated by Decree No. 32 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on March 21, 1989 and effective as of May 1, 1989)

Article 1 These Provisions are formulated with a view to strengthening the administration of achievements in survey and drawing, ensuring the rational use of achievements in survey and drawing, and increasing the economic and social benefits of survey and drawing so as to render a better service in socialist modernization.

Article 2 The "achievements in survey and drawing", as mentioned in these Provisions, refer to the following achievements in basic survey and drawing and in specialized survey and drawing that are completed on land, at seas and oceans, and in space:

(1)   the data and pictures from astronomical survey, geodetic survey, geodetic survey completed on artificial satellites, and gravitational survey;

(2)   the data, recorded on negatives and magnetic tapes, that are collected from aerial survey and airborne remote sensing survey;

(3)   various kinds of maps (including topographic maps, ordinary maps, land registry maps, sea charts, and other relevant specialized maps);

(4)   the data and pictures from engineering survey;

(5)   other relevant geographical data; and

(6)   technical data directly related to achievements in survey and drawing.

Article 3 The competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the State Council shall be in charge of the administration of and supervision over the achievements in survey and drawing of the whole country, and shall also be responsible for the organizational work for the reception, collection, sorting out, storage, and provision for use, on a nationwide scale, of the achievements in basic survey and drawing and the relevant achievements in specialized survey and drawing. The competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the people's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be in charge of the administration of and supervision over the achievements in survey and drawing within their respective administrative areas, and shall also be responsible for the organizational work for the reception, collection, sorting out, storage, and provision for use, within their respective administrative areas, of the achievements in basic survey and drawing and the relevant achievements in specialized survey and drawing.

The departments concerned under the State Council and the departments concerned under the People's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for the administration of the achievements in specialized survey and drawing of their respective departments. The competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing in the armed forces shall be responsible for the administration of the achievements in survey and drawing in military departments.

Article 4 With respect to achievements in survey and drawing, scientific administration shall be practised, rules and regulations be instituted and perfected and modern scientific and technical means be employed so as to provide the achievements for timely, accurate, safe and convenient use.

Article 5 The achievements in survey and drawing shall, in light of their different natures-those open to the public (i.e. to be openly used, or openly published), and those kept from the public (i.e. to be used only within restricted departments, or kept confidential), be administered in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State.

Article 6 The security classification, readjustment, and declassification of achievements in basic survey and drawing shall be promulgated by the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the State Council after the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the State Council and the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing in the armed forces have jointly consulted with the competent authorities for guarding secrets of both the State and the armed forces.

The security classification, readjustment, and declassification of achievements in specialized survey and drawing shall be determined by the department concerned for the administration of achievements in specialized survey and drawing and they shall also be reported to the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing at the same level for the record; and their classes of security shall not be lower than those of the originally used geographical base maps and of other achievements in basic survey and drawing.

Various departments and units must, in using classified achievements in survey and drawing, carry out administration in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of the State on guarding secrets. In the event that classified achievements in survey and drawing have to be used openly, they must go through the process of declassification in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State.

The destruction of classified achievements in survey and drawing shall be approved by the person in charge of the competent authorities at or above the county level of the user unit of the said achievements in survey and drawing. The classified achievements in survey and drawing to be destroyed shall be duly registered and recorded, and then destroyed under supervision; and the destruction shall also be reported, for the record, to the administrative department that had provided the said achievements.

Article 7 With respect to the achievements in basic survey and drawing and the relevant achievements in specialized survey and drawing made by the departments concerned under the State Council and by the local departments concerned, the departments mentioned above must submit annually, in accordance with pertinent provisions, to the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the State Council or to the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the people's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, a catalogue or its duplicate listing the following achievements:

(1)   a catalogue and its duplicate (one copy of each) of the data and pictures from astronomical survey, geodetic survey, geodetic survey completed on artificial satellites, and gravitational survey;

(2)   a catalogue (one copy) of the data, recorded on negatives and magnetic tapes, that are collected from aerial survey and airborne remote sensing survey;

(3)   a catalogue (one copy) of topographic maps, ordinary maps, land registry maps, sea charts, and other important specialized maps;

(4)   various kinds of officially printed maps (in duplicate);

(5)   a catalogue (one copy) of the data and pictures collected from survey of important engineering projects.

Article 8 The achievements - made in survey and drawing by foreigners independently or in cooperation with the departments concerned of the People's Republic of China, within the territory of the People's Republic of China, or outside the land territory of China, in the sea areas that are under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, with the approval of the government of the People's Republic of China or the approval of a department authorized by it - shall be administered in accordance with these Provisions. The proprietary rights of the aforesaid achievements are stipulated as follows:

(1)   the achievements made in survey and drawing by foreigners independently or in cooperation with the departments concerned of the People's Republic of China within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall all belong to the People's Republic of China;

(2)   the achievements made in survey and drawing by foreigners in cooperation with the departments concerned of the People's Republic of China, outside the land territory of China, in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China shall, on the premise of not violating these Provisions, be shared between the two parties concerned in accordance with the stipulations in the relevant contract;

(3)   with respect to those achievements made in survey and drawing by foreigners independently outside the land territory of the People's Republic of China, in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, the aforesaid foreigners must provide the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing of the People's Republic of China with a duplicate or a reproduction of all the achievements made in their survey and drawing.

Article 9 Where a unit has the necessity to make use of the achievements in basic survey and drawing made by other provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government, the said unit shall go through the procedures for the use of the aforesaid achievements in survey and drawing by presenting an official letter written by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where the unit is located, to the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where the achievements have been made. Where a unit has the necessity to make use of the achievements in specialized survey and drawing of other provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the case shall be handled in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the department, under whose administration the aforesaid achievements in specialized survey and drawing are placed.

Article 10 Where a military department has the necessity to make use of the achievements in survey and drawing made by government departments, the case shall be handled in a unified manner by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the Headquarters of the General Staff, or by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under military region or the services, in cooperation with the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the people's governments of the various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Where a government department or a unit has the necessity to make use of the achievements in survey and drawing made by military departments, the case shall be handled by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the State Council, or by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the people's governments of the various provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under Central Government, in cooperation with the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the Headquarters of the General Staff, or with the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under military region or the services.

Article 11 The competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing shall be responsible for the quality control and administration of the achievements in survey and drawing made within the boundaries of their own administrative areas. The achievements in survey and drawing made by the various departments and units concerned must be subject to the procedures for checking up and acceptance; and only those which are up to the standard shall be provided for use.

Article 12 The provisions of achievements in survey and drawing shall be non- gratuitous. The procedures and the rate of fees for the non-gratuitous provision of achievements in survey and drawing shall be stipulated separately, after consultation with the administrative department for the achievements in survey and drawing in question, by the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the State Council in conjunction with the competent authorities for the administration of commodity prices.

Article 13 Achievements in survey and drawing shall not be duplicated, transferred or lent out without permission. Where it is truly necessary to duplicate, transfer or lend out achievements in survey and drawing, the approval from the department that is to provide the needed achievements in survey and drawing must be obtained; where the classified achievements in survey and drawing are duplicated, they must be subjected to the administration corresponding to the original security class. As regards achievements in survey and drawing made through entrustment by unit, the trustee unit may not duplicate, reprint, transfer, or publish the said achievements without the permission of the entrusting unit.

Article 14 When a department concerned under the State Council provides a foreign party with achievements in survey and drawing of the People's Republic of China that have not yet become open, the said department must submit the case, for approval, to the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing. When a local department or unit concerned provides a foreign party with achievements in survey and drawing of the People's Republic of China that have not yet become open, the said department or unit must submit the case, for approval, to the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the people's government of a province, an autonomous region, or a municipality directly under the Central Government. In order to safeguard the security and secrets of important military installations, the specific measures for all units which submit for examinations any achievements in survey and drawing to be provided for the use of a foreign party and that have not yet become open shall comply with the pertinent provisions of the State Council.

Article 15 The important geographical data (including position, altitude, depth, area, and length) collected in the territory of the People's Republic of China and in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, shall be submitted, for examination and verification, to the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing under the State Council, and then to the State Council for approval before they are published by the State Council or by its authorized agencies.

Article 16 Units and individuals that have made great contributions to, or achieved remarkable results in, the administration of achievements in survey and drawing shall be commended or rewarded.

Article 17 If the inferior quality of the achievements in survey and drawing has resulted in losses on the part of the user, the unit that has undertaken the said survey and drawing shall compensate for the direct economic losses mentioned above, and be responsible for conducting supplementary survey and drawing; if the case is serious, the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing shall impose a fine on the said unit or revoke its corresponding qualifications for survey and drawing.

Article 18 Any unit that has committed one of the following acts shall be given administrative sanctions in accordance with the following provisions:

(1)   with respect to a unit which, in violation of the state provisions on the rate of fees for the provision of achievements in survey and drawing, has raised and collected without authorization the charges for achievements in survey and drawing, the illegal gains of the said unit shall be confiscated in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Control of Prices, and a fine equal to 3 to 5 times the said illegal gains may be imposed concurrently;

(2)   with respect to a unit which has been held responsible for a major divulgence of classified achievements in survey and drawing, the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing shall issue a circular criticizing the said unit, and the responsibilities of the person-in-charge of the said unit shall be investigated in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of these Provisions;

(3)   with respect to a unit which has duplicated, transferred, or lent out achievements in survey and drawing without the approval from the department that provides the said achievements, the competent authorities for the administration of achievements in survey and drawing shall issue a circular criticizing the said unit, and a fine may also be imposed concurrently.

Article 19 An individual who has committed any of the following acts shall be given administrative sanction by the unit where he/she works, or by its higher competent authorities; if the act has constituted a crime, the criminal responsibilities of the offender shall be investigated by judicial organs according to law:

(1)   an individual who has lost classified achievements in survey and drawing, or who is held responsible for the divulgence of secret achievements in survey and drawing;

(2)   an individual who, in violation of the stipulation in Article 14 of these Provisions regarding the procedures for examination and approval, has provided without permission a foreign party with achievements in survey and drawing that have not yet become open;

(3)   the administrative personnel who have failed to carry out their duties in safeguarding achievements in survey and drawing and caused great losses or damage to the achievements in survey and drawing; or they have provided, without permission, those achievements that have not yet become open;

(4)   an individual who has lost achievements in survey and drawing or divulged secrets in this regard and caused serious consequences, and the person-in-charge of the unit who fails to investigate and deal with such incidents.

Article 20 If a party concerned refuses to accept the decision on administrative sanction, he/she may, within 15 days from the next day of the receipt of the notification on the administrative sanction, apply for reconsideration to the competent administrative department at a higher level than the department that has made the said administrative sanction; if the said party does not accept the decision made after the reconsideration, he/she may, within 15 days from the next day of the receipt of the reconsideration decision, bring a suit before a people's court; the party concerned may also directly bring a suit before a people's court within 15 days beginning from the second day of the receipt of the sanction decision; if the party concerned neither brings a suit before the court, nor carries out the sanction decision, the competent administrative department that made the sanction decision shall apply to the people's court for compulsory enforcement.

Article 21 The people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the departments concerned under the State Council, and the armed forces may formulate rules for the implementation of these Provisions in accordance with these Provisions and in the light of their respective conditions.

Article 22 The rights to interpret these Provisions shall reside in the competent authorities for the administration of survey and drawing under the State Council.

Article 23 These Provisions shall go into effect on May 1, 1989.