中华人民共和国邮政法 POSTAL LAW OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA

d expires shall be returned to the remitters by postal enterprises or branch offices. Returned remittances which are unclaimed for a period of ten months， counting from the date of delivering the return-remittance notice to the remitter， shall be turned over to the state treasury.

　　Article 25 In posting and delivering postal materials， postal codes shall be adopted gradually， and specific pertinent measures shall be formulated by the competent department of postal services under the State Council.

　　Chapter V Transportation， Customs Examination and Quarantine Inspection of Postal Materials

　　Article 26 Transportation units operating railways， highways， waterways and airlines shall all have the responsibility of carrying and transporting postal materials， and shall ensure priority to transporting postal materials at preferential freight charges.

　　Article 27 When postal enterprises transfer postal materials in railway stations， airports and ports， transportation units concerned shall make coordinated arrangement of space and in-and-out passageways for loading and unloading postal materials.

　　Article 28 Ships with special postal marks， postal vans and postal staff shall be given priority in entering and departing ports and crossing on ferries. Postal vehicles with special postal marks which need to pass through a lane closed to traffic or to stop in no-parking sections of the road shall be verified and approved by the competent department concerned for passing or parking.

　　Article 29 When transported by sea， postal materials shall not be included in arrangements for sharing common sea losses.

　　Article 30 Postal enterprises shall not post or deliver international postal articles that are not examined and allowed to pass by the Customs. The Customs shall supervise the entry and exit， opening， sealing and dispatching of international mailbags. Postal enterprises shall inform the Customs of their business hours in advance， and the Customs shall promptly send officials to supervise on-the-spot checking and examination.

　　Article 31 Postal materials that are subject to health and quarantin

e inspections or animal and plant quarantine inspections according to law shall be sorted out and quarantined under the charge of quarantine offices； no transportation and delivery shall be conducted by postal enterprises without a permit from a quarantine office.

　　Chapter VI Compensation for Losses

　　Article 32 Users may present receipts and inquire， within one year counting from the date of the posting or remitting， about vouchered postal materials and remittances which they handed in for posting or remitting at the postal enterprises or their branch offices that took in the postal materials or accepted the remittances. Postal enterprises or branch offices shall inform inquirers of the results of inquiry within the time limit set by the competent department of postal services under the State Council. If no result is found within the time limit for responding to the inquiry， postal enterprises shall make compensation first or take remedial measures. Within a year counting from the date of making such compensation， if it is ascertained that the circumstance for which the compensation was made conforms with either Item （2） or Item （3） of Article 34 of this Law， the postal enterprises shall have the right to recall the compensation.

　　Article 33 For loss， damage， destruction or missing contents of vouchered postal materials， postal enterprises shall make compensation or take remedial measures according to the following stipulations：

　　（1） For registered mail， compensation shall be made according to standard amounts formulated by the competent department of postal services under the State Council.

　　（2） For insured postal materials which are lost or totally damaged or destroyed， compensation shall be made according to the insurance coverage. For missing contents or partial damage or destruction of insured postal materials， compensation shall be made according to the actual losses of the postal materials， based on the ratio between the insurance coverage and the whole value of the postal materials.

　　（3） For uninsured postal parcels， compensation shall be made according to the actual damage due to loss of such postal parcels， but the maximum compensation shall not exceed the amount formulated by the competent department of postal services under the State Council.

　　（4） For other types of vouchered postal materials， compensation shall be made or remedial measures taken according to the measures provided for by the competent department of postal services under the State Council.

　　Article 34 Postal enterprises shall not be held liable for compensation if one of the following situations occurs：

　　（1） losses of ordinary postal materials；

　　（2） losses of vouchered postal materials caused by the user or due to some characteristic of the posted articles per se；

　　（3） losses of vouchered postal materials， other than postal remittances and insured postal materials， caused by force majeure； and

　　（4） users failing to inquire about or demand compensation at the end of one year， counting from the date of handing in or posting the vouchered postal materials or making the remittance.

　　Article 35 If disputes over compensation for losses occur between users and postal enterprises， users may request the competent department of postal services at higher levels to settle； users who refuse to accept the settlement thereof may file lawsuits with the people's court； users may also file lawsuits with the people's court directly.

　　Chapter VII Penalty Provisions

　　Article 36 Persons who infringe upon the citizens' right to freedom of correspondence by concealing， destroying， discarding or illegally opening mail of another person， where circumstances are serious， shall be investigated for criminal liability according to the provisions of Article 149 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China； those whose acts are not serious

enough for criminal punishment shall be punished according to the provisions of Article 22 of Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties for Public Security.

　　Article 37 Postal personnel who without permission open or conceal， destroy or discard postal materials shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with Paragraph 1 in Article 191 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Those who commit the crime specified in the preceding provision and also steal property therein shall be given a heavier punishment for the crime of embezzlement in accordance with Paragraph 2 in Article 191 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 38 Persons who intentionally damage or destroy public postal facilities such as mailboxes， where such acts are not serious enough for criminal punishment， shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 25 of Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties for Public Security； where circumstances are serious， such persons shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of Article 156 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 39 Postal personnel who refuse to handle postal business which should be handled according to law or who intentionally delay the delivery of postal materials shall be given administrative disciplinary sanction. Postal personnel who are derelict in their duties and bring about great loss to public property and the interests of the state and the people shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 40 Persons who， in violation of provisions of Article 8 of this Law， handle the business of posting and delivering mail or articles with characteristics of mail shall be ordered by industrial and commercial administrative authorities to return the mail and other articles and the postal fees they have obtained from the senders， and a fine shall be imposed on them. Parties concerned who refuse to obey the decision of punishment may bring suit to the people's court within 15 days of receiving the penalty notice. If parties concerned neither bring suit to the people's court nor implement the decision before the time limit expires， the industrial and commercial administrative authorities shall apply to the people's court for mandatory enforcement.

　　Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions

　　Article 41 The meanings of the following terms used in this Law are：

　　（1） postal materials： referring to mail， printed matter， postal parcels， money orders， newspapers， periodicals， etc.， posted and delivered by postal enterprises.

　　（2） mail： referring to letters and postcards.

　　（3） ordinary postal materials： referring to the postal materials that postal enterprises and their branch offices do not issue receipts for upon acceptance and posting， and do not request recipients to sign for on delivery.

　　（4） vouchered postal materials： referring to postal materials such as registered mail， postal parcels， insured postal materials， etc.， that the postal enterprises and their branch offices issue receipts for upon acceptance and posting， and for which recipients are requested to sign on delivery.

　　（5） international postal articles： referring to printed matter and postal parcels posted and delivered between users of the People's Republic of China and users of foreign countries or regions.

　　（6） special postal articles

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