Laws & Regulations

Presidential Decree No. 38

The Anti-money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China, adopted upon revision at the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on 8 November 2024, is hereby promulgated, effective 1 January 2025.

Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

8 November 2024

Anti-money Laundering Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on 31 October 2006, and revised at the 12th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress on 8 November 2024)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1  The present Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution with a view to preventing money laundering activities, restraining money laundering and related crimes, strengthening and regulating anti-money laundering, and maintaining the financial order, social public interests and state security.

Article 2  For the purpose of the present Law, "anti- money laundering" refers to the act of adopting the related measures in accordance with the provisions of the present Law to prevent the money laundering activities of concealing and covering up by various means the sources and nature of the proceeds and income generated from drug-related crimes, organized crimes in the nature of criminal syndicates, crimes of terrorism, crimes of smuggling, crimes of corruption and bribery, crimes of disrupting the financial management order, crimes of financial frauds and other crimes.

The present Law shall apply to the prevention of terrorist financing activities; if there are separate provisions in any other law, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 3  It is imperative to comply with the guidelines, principles, policies, decisions and arrangements of the Party and the State, adhere to the outlook of overall state security, improve the supervision and administration systems and mechanisms, and perfect the risk prevention and control system in anti-money laundering.

Article 4  Anti-money laundering work shall be carried out in accordance with the present Law to ensure that anti-money-laundering measures are commensurate with money-laundering risks, to safeguard normal financial services and the smooth flow of funds, and to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of entities and individuals.

Article 5  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council is responsible for the anti-money laundering supervision and administration throughout the country. The related departments of the State Council shall, within their respective scope of duties, fulfill their duties relating to anti-money laundering supervision and administration.

The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council, the related departments of the State Council, the supervisory organs and the judicial organs shall cooperate with each other in the anti-money laundering work.

Article 6  The financial institutions established within the territory of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as "within the territory of China") and the specific non-financial institutions that shall perform the obligations of anti-money laundering according to the present Law shall adopt relevant prevention and control measures under law, establish sound internal control for anti-money laundering and fulfill such other obligations as the customer due diligence, preserve the identity materials of customers and the transaction records, report of large-value transactions and doubtful transactions, and take special preventive measures against money laundering, among others.

Article 7  The anti-money laundering information such as customers' identity materials and transaction information and information on anti-money laundering investigations, etc., acquired in the performance of anti-money laundering duties or obligations in accordance with the present Law, shall be kept confidential, and shall not be made available to any organization or individual except in accordance with the present Law.

The anti-money laundering authority and other departments with the duties relating to anti-money laundering supervision and administration under law may use the customer identity data and transaction information acquired in the performance of their anti-money laundering duties only for the anti-money laundering supervision and administration and administrative investigations.

Any customer identity information and transaction information acquired by judicial organs in accordance with the present Law shall only be used in the relevant criminal proceedings for the purpose of anti-money laundering.

When using anti-money laundering information, the relevant organs of the State shall protect state secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy and personal information in accordance with law.

Article 8  The institutions that perform the anti-money laundering obligations and their staff are legally protected for their submission of reports on large-value transactions and suspicious transactions and other jobs in accordance with law.

Article 9  The anti-money laundering authority shall, in conjunction with the relevant organs of the State, carry out anti-money laundering publicity and education activities by various means, publicize to the general public the illegality, harmfulness and manifestation forms etc. of money laundering activities, and enhance the precautionary awareness and recognition capacity of the general public against money laundering activities.

Article 10  No entity or individual may engage in money laundering activities or provide convenience for money laundering activities and shall cooperate with financial institutions and specific non-financial institutions in the due diligence on customers legally conducted thereby.

Article 11  Any entity or individual that finds any money laundering activity has the right to blow whistle to the anti-money laundering authority, the public security organ or any other state organ concerned. The organ that accepts the whistleblowing shall keep confidential the information of the whistleblower as well as the whistleblowing.

Entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the anti-money laundering work shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state.

Article 12  Where money laundering and terrorist financing activities carried out outside the territory of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "outside the territory of China") endanger the sovereignty and security of the People's Republic of China, infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations of the People's Republic of China or disrupt domestic financial order shall be dealt with and investigated for legal liability in accordance with the present Law and other relevant laws.

Chapter II Anti-Money Laundering Supervision and Administration

Article 13  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall organize and coordinate the anti-money laundering work throughout the country, take charge of monitoring the funds involved in anti-money laundering, formulate, by itself or jointly with the related department of finance of the State Council, provisions concerning the administration of anti-money laundering by financial institutions, supervise and inspect the performance of anti-money laundering obligations by financial institutions, investigate into doubtful transactions within the scope of its duties, and fulfill other duties relating to anti-money laundering as prescribed by laws and by the State Council.

The offices dispatched by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall, within the scope as authorized by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council, carry out supervision and examination on the performance of anti-money laundering obligations by financial institutions.

Article 14  The related department of finance of the State Council shall take part in the formulation of provisions concerning the administration of anti-money laundering of financial institutions under their respective supervision and administration and fulfill other duties relating to anti-money laundering as prescribed by laws and by the State Council.

The related department of finances shall implement the requirements for anti-money laundering examination during the market access of financial institutions and, when finding out in their supervision and administration any violation of the anti-money laundering provisions committed by a financial institution, refer clues to the anti-money laundering authority and cooperate with the latter in dealing with the case.

Article 15  The anti-money laundering regulations for specific non-financial institutions shall be formulated by the related authority under the State Council for specific non-financial institutions or by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council jointly with the former.

The related authority for specific non-financial institutions shall supervise and examine the performance of anti-money laundering obligations by specific non-financial institutions, deal with the anti-money laundering supervisory and administrative suggestions proposed by the anti-money laundering authority and fulfill other duties relating to anti-money laundering as prescribed by laws and by the State Council. The related authority for specific non-financial institutions may, in light of the needs, request the anti-money laundering authority to assist it in supervision and inspection.

Article 16  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council has established an anti-money laundering monitoring and analysis agency to carry out anti-money laundering fund monitoring, to take charge of receiving and analyzing the reports of large-value transactions and suspicious transactions, to refer the analysis results, to report the relevant information to the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council as required, and to fulfill other duties as prescribed by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council.

The anti-money laundering monitoring and analysis agency may, in light of the needs to fulfill its duties under law, require the institutions fulfilling anti-money laundering obligations to provide the relevant supplementary information concerning large-value transactions and doubtful transactions.

The anti-money laundering monitoring and analysis agency shall improve its monitoring and analysis system, conduct monitoring and analysis in the light of the actual situations of money laundering risks, provide feedback on the use of doubtful transaction reports to the institutions fulfilling anti-money laundering obligations as required and continuously improve its monitoring and analysis level.

Article 17  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council may acquire the necessary information from the related organs of the State in order to fulfill its duties of anti-money laundering and the related organs of the State shall provide such information according to law.

The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall, on a regular basis, brief the information on anti-money laundering to the relevant organs of the State, and shall, in accordance with law, provide the necessary anti-money laundering information to the relevant organs of the State that perform their duties of supervision and administration, administrative investigations, supervisory investigations, and criminal litigations, etc. relating to anti-money laundering.

Article 18  Persons entering or leaving the country who carry cash, bearer payment certificates, etc., in excess of the prescribed amount shall make a declaration to the Customs in accordance with the regulations. If the Customs finds that cash, bearer payment certificates, etc., carried by individuals entering or leaving the country exceed the prescribed amount, it shall promptly brief to the anti-money-laundering authority.

The scope of declaration, monetary criteria and reporting mechanism, etc. as prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be determined by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council and the foreign exchange control authority under the State Council according to their respective duties, in concert with the General Administration of Customs of China.

Article 19  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall, in concert with other departments concerned of the State Council, establish an information management system for beneficial owners of legal persons and unincorporated organizations.

Legal persons and unincorporated organizations shall retain and promptly update information of beneficial owners, and truthfully submit and promptly update information of beneficial owners to the registration agency as required. The anti-money laundering authority and the registration agency shall administer the information of beneficial owners in accordance with the relevant provisions.

The anti-money laundering authority and any relevant organs of the State may, as required for performing their duties, use the information of beneficial owners pursuant to the law. Financial institutions and specific non-financial institutions shall, when fulfilling their anti-money laundering obligations, enquire and verify the information of beneficial owners pursuant to the law; and shall provide feedback as required if the information of beneficial owners is found to be erroneous, inconsistent or incomplete. Information security shall be protected in the use of information of beneficial owners pursuant to the law.

For the purpose of the present Law, the term "beneficial owner of a legal person or unincorporated organization" refers to the natural person who ultimately owns or actually controls the legal person or unincorporated organization, or the natural person who enjoys the final benefits of the legal person or unincorporated organization. The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council, formulate the specific standards for the determination of a beneficial owner.

Article 20  Where the anti-money laundering authority and other departments legally charged with the duty of anti-money laundering supervision and administration discover any suspected money laundering and other related illegal and criminal transactions, they shall refer the clues and relevant evidentiary materials to the organ of jurisdiction for handling. The organ that accepts the referral shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions, make feedback on the handling result.

Article 21  For the purpose of fulfilling the duties of supervision and administration according to law, the anti-money laundering authority may require a financial institution to submit information on its performance of anti-money laundering obligations, conduct risk monitoring and assessment of the financial institution, and make assessment on the implementation of the present Law and other relevant administrative provisions by the financial institution. Where necessary, the anti-money laundering authority may, pursuant to the relevant provisions, interview the directors, supervisors, senior executives and the person directly in charge of anti-money laundering of the financial institution, requiring the said persons to provide explanation of the relevant matters; and remind the financial institution of the problems encountered in its performance of anti-money laundering obligations.

Article 22  The anti-money laundering authority may, when conducting supervision and inspection of a financial institution, adopt the following measures:

(1) entering into the financial institution to conduct the inspection;

(2) inquiring the employees of the financial institution about the relevant information and requiring them to make explanations on the relevant inspected items;

(3) consulting and copying the documents and materials of the financial institution relating to any inspected item, and sealing up the documents and materials that may be transferred, concealed or destroyed; and

(4) examining the computer network and information system of the financial institution and retrieving and saving the relevant data and information in the computer network and information system thereof.

The supervision and inspection as mentioned in the preceding paragraph are subject to the approval of the head of the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or the dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned. The number of inspectors shall be no less than 2, and the inspectors shall show their law enforcement documents and notices of inspection. In case that the number of inspectors is less than 2 or the inspectors fail to show their law enforcement documents and notices of inspection, the financial institution concerned is entitled to refuse the inspection.

Article 23  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall, in collaboration with the relevant organs of the State, evaluate the money laundering risks that the State and the industry are confronted with, promulgate guidelines on money laundering risks, intensify the guidance to the institutions fulfilling the obligation of anti-money laundering, support and encourage technical innovations in the field of anti-money laundering, timely monitor the new money laundering risks relating to new fields and new business forms, optimize the allocation of resources and improve the supervision and administration measures in light of the actual situation of money laundering risks.

Article 24  With respect to any country or region with any serious money laundering risk, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council may, upon soliciting the opinions of the relevant organs of the state and upon the approval of the State Council, list it as a country or region with high money laundering risk and take corresponding measures.

Article 25  The institutions that perform the obligation of anti-money laundering may establish an anti-money laundering self-regulatory body under law, which shall, jointly with the related industrial self-regulatory organizations, carry out self-regulatory management in the field of anti-money laundering.

The anti-money laundering self-regulatory body is subject to the guidance of the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council.

Article 26  The institutions providing such services as consultation, technical and professional ability appraisal on anti-money laundering, etc. as well as the employees thereof shall diligently perform their duties in providing services and shall properly deal with the data and information acquired due to their provision of services according to law so as to ensure the security of the data and information.

The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall intensify the guidance for the aforesaid institutions in their services relating to anti-money laundering.

Chapter III Anti-Money Laundering Obligations

Article 27  Financial institutions shall, according to the provisions of the present Law, establish a sound internal control system for anti-money laundering, set up a special body or designate an internal body to take the lead to take charge of the anti-money laundering work, have corresponding personnel in light of their business scale and the money laundering risks, and carry out anti-money laundering trainings and publicities as required.

Financial institutions shall assess the situations of money laundering risks on a regular basis and formulate corresponding risk management systems and procedures and establish related information systems in light of the needs thereof.

A financial institution shall, by internal audit or public audit, supervise the effective implementation of its internal control system for anti-money laundering.

The head of the financial institution is responsible for the effective implementation of the internal control system of the financial institution for anti-money laundering.

Article 28  Financial institutions shall establish the due diligence system for customers as required.

Financial institutions shall not provide any service to or conduct any transaction with unidentified customers, open anonymous or pseudonymized accounts for customers, or open accounts for customers who are fraudulently using the identity of someone else.

Article 29  Financial institutions shall carry out due diligence on any customer under any of the following circumstances:

(1) establishing business relationship with the customer or providing the customer with one-off financial service above the prescribed amount;

(2) having reasonable grounds to suspect that the customer or its transaction is involved in money laundering; or

(3) having any doubt on the authenticity, validity, completeness of the customer's identity materials previously obtained.

The due diligence on a customer shall include identifying and taking reasonable measures to verify the identities of the customer and the beneficial owner(s) thereof, understanding the purposes of establishing the business relationship and making the transactions by the customer, as well as the sources and purposes of the related funds where a relatively high risk of money laundering is involved.

Financial institutions shall conduct customer due diligence based on the characteristics of customers and the nature and risk profile of transaction activities and shall simplify customer due diligence as appropriate for those involving a lower risk of money-laundering.

Article 30  During the period in which the business relationship exists, financial institutions shall continuously pay attention to and assess the overall status and the transactions of a customer and understand the money laundering risks of the customer. Where any transaction of the customer is found to be inconsistent with the identity, risk profile and other information of the customer as known by financial institutions, financial institutions shall further verify the relevant information on the customer and the transactions thereof; if necessary, restrictions may be imposed on the transaction manner, amount or frequency of transactions, the type of business, the refusal to process businesses therewith, the termination of the business relationship and other money-laundering risk management measures, in the event of a high-risk situation for money-laundering.

Financial institutions shall take money laundering risk management measures within the scope of their business authority in accordance with the requirements and procedures of relevant management regulations, balance the relationship between the management of money laundering risks and the optimization of financial services, and shall not take measures that are obviously inconsistent with money laundering risk profiles, in order to ensure the basic and essential financial services relating to medical care, social security, public utility services and other services.

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Article 31  Where a customer is represented by another person for business purpose, the financial institution concerned shall verify the agency relationship, and identify and verify the identity of the agent as required.

Where a financial institution concludes a contract on life insurance or trust etc. with a customer and the beneficiary of the contract is not the customer himself/herself, the financial institution concerned shall identify and verify the identity of the beneficiary.

Article 32  Where a financial institution relies on a third party to conduct customer due diligence, it shall assess the third party's risk profile and its ability to fulfil its anti-money-laundering obligations. If third party has a higher risk profile or does not have the ability to fulfil its anti-money-laundering obligations, the financial institution shall not rely on it to conduct customer due diligence.

The financial institution shall ensure that the third party has taken customer due diligence measures that comply with the requirements of the present Law. If the third party fails to take customer due diligence measures that comply with the requirements of the present Law, the financial institution shall bear the legal liability for failing to fulfil its customer due diligence obligations.

The third party shall provide necessary information on customers to the financial institution and cooperate with the financial institution in conducting customer due diligence on an ongoing basis.

Article 33  When conducting customer due diligence, financial institutions may verify customer identity and other relevant information in accordance with the law through the anti-money laundering authority as well as the authorities of public security, market supervision and administration, civil affairs, taxation, immigration and telecommunications administration, etc., and the relevant authorities shall give support according to law.

The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall coordinate and promote the relevant authorities to provide necessary convenience for financial institutions to conduct customer due diligence.

Article 34  Financial institutions shall establish a preservation system for the identity materials and transaction records of customers as required.

During existence of business relationship, any customer's identity information that changes shall be updated in a timely manner.

Upon termination of business relationship, the identity materials or transaction information of customers shall be preserved for at least ten years.

Where a financial institution is dissolved, revoked or declared bankrupt, it shall hand over the identity materials and the transaction information of customers to the agency designated by the relevant department of the State Council.

Article 35  Financial institutions shall implement the system on reporting large-value transactions as required. Where a single transaction or the accumulative transactions within a certain term of a customer exceed the prescribed amount, the financial institution concerned shall report to the anti-money laundering monitoring and analyzing agency.

Financial institutions shall implement the system on reporting doubtful transactions as required, formulate and incessantly optimize the monitoring criteria, effectively identify and analyze doubtful transactions and timely submit reports on doubtful transactions to the anti-money laundering monitoring and analyzing agency. The information under a report on doubtful transactions submitted shall be kept confidential.

Article 36  Financial institutions shall, under the guidance of the anti-money laundering authority, focus on and evaluate the money laundering risks brought about by using new technologies, new products and new business operations, etc., and take corresponding measures to reduce the money laundering risks in light of the specific conditions.

Article 37  A financial institution that has established a branch or controls other financial institutions at home and abroad or a financial holding company shall make an overall arrangement for the anti-money laundering work at the level of its headquarters or group. Where necessary anti-money laundering information is shared within the company or among the group members for fulfilling the anti-money laundering obligations, the information sharing mechanism and procedures shall be specified. The anti-money laundering information shall be shared in accordance with the relevant legal provisions on information protection, and it shall be ensured that the relevant information will not be used for any purpose other than anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing.

Article 38  The entities and individuals in business relationship with a financial institution shall cooperate with the financial institution in conducting customer due diligence by providing authentic and valid identity documents or other identity certificates, filling in identity information accurately and completely, and faithfully providing materials relating to transactions and funds.

Where an entity or individual refuses to cooperate with the financial institution in taking reasonable measures for customer due diligence according to the present Law, the financial institution may take money laundering risk management measures such as limiting or refusing to handle business, and terminating business relationship under the prescribed procedures, and submit a report on doubtful transactions in the light of the situation.

Article 39  The entity or individual with an objection to the money laundering risk management measures adopted by the financial institution may bring forward its objection to the financial institution. The financial institution shall deal with the objection within 15 days and notify the party concerned of the handling result. Where any basic and necessary financial service for a customer is involved, the financial institution shall deal with the case timely and notify the party concerned. If the entity or individual fails to receive the reply within the prescribed time limit, or is not satisfied with the handling result, it/he may make a complaint to the anti-money laundering authority.

Where an entity or individual as prescribed in the preceding paragraph that objects to the money laundering risk management measure adopted by the financial institution may also directly lodge a lawsuit to the people's court.

Article 40  Any entity or individual shall, in accordance with the requirements of relevant organs of the State, take the special preventive measures against the objects as listed below:

(1) the name list of terrorist organizations and terrorists as determined by the national leading body for anti-terrorism efforts and announced by the said body's office;

(2) the name list of organizations and personnel involved in the targeted financial sanctions in the notice issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for implementing the resolution of the UN Security Council; and

(3) the name list of organizations and personnel who are of major money laundering risks and may cause serious consequences if no measures are taken against them, as determined by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or by the anti-money laundering authority jointly with the relevant organs of the state.

For any objection to the name list as provided for in Item (1) of the preceding paragraph, the party concerned may apply for re-examination in accordance with the Anti-terrorism Law of the People's Republic of China. For any objection to the name list as prescribed in Item (2) of the preceding paragraph, the party concerned may file an application for removal therefrom under the relevant procedures. For any objection to the name list as prescribed in Item (3) of the preceding paragraph, the party concerned may apply for administrative reconsideration to the authority that has determined the name list and may lodge an administrative lawsuit if it/he is dissatisfied with the decision of administrative reconsideration.

The special preventive measures for anti-money laundering include forthwith ceasing to provide financial and other services or funds or assets to the objects listed and the agents thereof, the organizations and personnel instigated thereby, and the organizations directly or indirectly controlled thereby, and forthwith imposing restrictions on the transfer of relevant funds and assets.

The objects listed as prescribed in Paragraph 1 may, under relevant provisions, apply to the relevant organ of the state for using restricted funds and assets for the basic expenditure of entities and individuals as well as other necessary expenses. The adoption of special preventive measures for anti-money laundering shall protect the legitimate rights and interests of any bona fide third party, who may carry out right remedies under law.

Article 41  Financial institutions shall identify and evaluate the related risks, formulate corresponding systems, obtain the name lists as prescribed in Paragraph 1 of Article 40 hereof in a timely manner, verify their customers and transaction objects, take corresponding measures and report to the anti-money laundering authority.

Article 42  When engaging in a prescribed particular business, a specific non-financial institution shall, by referring to the relevant provisions of this Chapter on the performance of anti-money laundering obligations by financial institutions, fulfill its anti-money laundering obligations in light of the industrial features, business scale and money laundering risk profiles.

Chapter IV Anti-Money Laundering Investigations

Article 43  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or the dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may, if finding out any suspicious transaction suspected of money laundering or any other act in violation of the provisions hereof, issue a notice of investigation to the financial institution or the specific non-financial institution so as to carry out anti-money laundering investigations upon approval of the head of the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or of the dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city.

Where a specific non-financial institution is involved in an anti-money laundering investigation, the anti-money laundering authority may request the competent authority for the specific non-financial institution to provide assistance when necessary.

Financial institutions and specific non-financial institutions shall be cooperative in the anti-money laundering investigation by faithfully providing the relevant documents and materials within the prescribed time limit.

An anti-money laundering investigation shall be conducted by at least two investigators, who shall present their law enforcement documents and the notice of investigation. The financial institution or the specific non-financial institution under investigation has the right to refuse the investigation if the number of investigators is less than two or the investigators fail to present their law enforcement documents and the notice of investigation.

Article 44  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or the dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may take the following measures when carrying out an anti-money laundering investigation:

(1) inquiring the relevant personnel of a financial institution or a designated non-financial institution about the relevant information, and requiring them to make explanations about the relevant information;

(2) consulting and copying the account information, transaction records, and other relevant materials of the object under investigation; and

(3) sealing up the documents and materials that may be transferred, concealed, tampered with or destroyed for safekeeping.

A record shall be made for an inquiry. The record shall be checked by the person being inquired. In case of any omission or error in the record, the person being inquired may request for supplementation or correction. After the person being inquired confirms the record as error-free, he/she shall affix his/her signature or seal thereon, so shall the investigators.

When sealing up the documents and materials for safekeeping, the investigators shall, together with the staff members of the financial institution or the specific non-financial institution, check them issue a checklist in duplicate on the spot, subject to signature or seal by the investigators and the staff members of the financial institution or the specific non-financial institution, with one copy to be given to the financial institution or the specific non-financial institution, and the other to be attached to the case file for future reference.

Article 45  Where the suspicion of money laundering cannot be eliminated or other illegal or criminal clues have been found after investigation, the case shall be referred to the organ with jurisdiction in a timely manner. The organ that accepts the referral shall make feedback on the result of handling as required.

If the customer transfers the funds from the account involved in the investigation, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council may, when deeming it necessary, take temporary freezing measures upon the approval of its head.

The organ that accepts the referral shall, after receiving the clue, timely decide whether to continue freezing the funds that are temporarily frozen according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. If the organ that accepts the referral deems it necessary to continue freezing the funds, it shall take freezing measures as required of laws; if it deems it unnecessary to continue freezing the funds, it shall forthwith notify the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council. The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall forthwith notify the financial institution to lift the freezing measure.

The temporary freeze shall not exceed 48 hours. If the financial institution hasn't received the notice from the relevant organ of the state on continuing freezing the funds within 48 hours after it takes temporary freezing measure as required by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council, it shall forthwith lift the freezing measure.

Chapter V International Cooperation on Anti-Money Laundering

Article 46  The People's Republic of China shall, according to the international treaties that China has concluded or acceded to or according to the principles of equality and reciprocity, carry out the international cooperation on anti-money laundering.

Article 47  Upon the authorization of the State Council, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council is responsible for organizing and coordinating the international cooperation on anti-money laundering, participating in the activities of relevant international organizations on behalf of the Chinese government, cooperating on anti-money laundering with relevant overseas organizations, and exchanging the anti-money laundering information according to law.

The relevant organs of the state shall, within the scope of their respective duties, carry out the international cooperation on anti-money laundering according to law.

Article 48  Mutual legal assistance involving the prosecution of money-laundering offences shall be handled in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on International Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and the provisions of relevant laws.

Article 49  During lawful investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing activities, the competent organs of the state may, under the principle of reciprocity or with the consensus of the State concerned, request for the cooperation of the overseas financial institutions that have opened correspondent bank accounts within the territory of China or that have other close financial ties with China.

Article 50  Where a foreign country or organization, in violation of the principles of reciprocity and consensus, directly requests a domestic financial institution to submit customers' identity data and transaction information, or to seize, freeze or transfer domestic funds or assets, or to take any other action, the financial institution shall not carry out such request without authorization, and shall promptly report the case to the relevant department of finance of the State Council.

In addition to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, where a foreign country or organization requires a domestic financial institution to provide summary compliance information and business information as needed for compliance supervision, the domestic financial institution may provide such information or cooperate after reporting to the relevant department of finance of the State Council and the relevant organs of the state.

Where the materials and information prescribed in the two preceding paragraphs involve important data or personal information, the relevant provisions on data security management and personal information protection of the State shall also be complied with.

Chapter VI Legal Liability

Article 51  Any staff member of an anti-money laundering authority or of any other department undertaking the supervisory and administrative duties relating to anti-money laundering according to law who commits any of the following acts shall be punished according to law:

(1) conducting inspection or investigation or taking any temporary freezing measure in violation of the relevant provisions;

(2) divulging any state secret, trade secret, personal privacy or personal information known in the process of anti-money laundering;

(3) imposing any administrative punishment on any organization or person in violation of the relevant provisions; or

(4) any other act failing to perform duties in accordance with the Law.

Any staff member of any other state organ who commits the act as prescribed in Item (2) of the preceding paragraph shall be subject to punishment according to law.

Article 52  With regard to any financial institution involving any of the following circumstances, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit; if the circumstances are serious, the financial institution shall be given a warning or be imposed upon a fine of not more than 200,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious or no corrections are made within the prescribed time limit, the financial institution shall be imposed upon a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 2 million yuan, and the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may, as the case may be, restrict or prohibit its relevant businesses of the financial institution within the scope of its duties or suggest the relevant department of finance to do so:

(1) failing to formulate or improve the internal control system and rules for anti-money laundering as required;

(2) failing to establish a specialized body or designate an internal body to take the lead in the anti-money laundering work as required;

(3) failing to allocate corresponding personnel in light of its business scale and money laundering risk profiles as required;

(4) failing to carry out money laundering risk assessment or improve the corresponding risk management system as required;

(5) failing to formulate and improve the criteria for monitoring suspicious transactions as required;

(6) failing to carry out the internal audit or public audit of anti-money laundering as required;

(7) failing to carry out anti-money laundering trainings as required;

(8) failing to establish the relevant anti-money laundering information system that shall be established, or failing to improve the relevant anti-money laundering information system as required; or

(9) failing to effectively perform the anti-money laundering duties by the head of the financial institution.

Article 53  With regard to any financial institution committing any of the following acts, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit, and may give it a warning or impose upon it a fine of not more than 200,000 yuan; if the circumstance is serious or the financial institution fails to make corrections within the prescribed time limit, the financial institution shall be imposed upon a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 2 million yuan:

(1) failing to conduct customer due diligence as required;

(2) failing to keep the customer identity information and transaction records as required;

(3) failing to report any large-value transaction as required; or

(4) failing to report any suspicious transaction as required.

Article 54  With regard to any financial institution committing any of the following acts, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit and impose upon it a fine of not more than 500,000 yuan, or impose upon it a fine of not less than 500,000 but not more than 5 million yuan if the circumstance is serious, and the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council may, depending on the circumstances, restrict or prohibit the financial institution from developing the relevant business within the scope of its duties, or suggest the relevant department of finance to do so:

(1) providing unidentified customers with services or conducting transactions with them, or opening anonymous accounts or pseudonymized accounts for customers, or opening accounts for customers who falsely use the identity of someone else;

(2) failing to adopt corresponding money laundering risk management measures for high-risk money laundering circumstances as required;

(3) failing to adopt special preventive measures against money laundering as required;

(4) consulting or divulging relevant information by violating the provisions on confidentiality;

(5) refusing or impeding the anti-money laundering supervision, administration or investigation, or intentionally providing any false material;

(6) tampering with, forging or deleting without justifiable reasons customer identity materials or transaction records; or

(7) intentionally evading the anti-money laundering obligation by splitting transactions by itself or by assisting customers in doing so.

Article 55  With regard to a financial institution that commits any of the acts prescribed in Article Articles 53 and 54 hereof, leading to the covering up or concealment of any criminal gain or the proceeds thereof through the institution or the occurrence of terrorist financing consequence, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit; if the amount involved is less than 10 million yuan, a fine of 500,000 up to 10 million yuan shall be imposed upon it; if the amount involved is more than 10 million yuan, a fine of 20% up to 2 times of the amount involved shall be imposed; and if the circumstance is serious, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may, as the case may be, restrict or ban the financial institution's relevant businesses, order it to suspend business for rectification, revoke its business license or impose other penalties upon it within the scope of its duties, or suggest the relevant department of finance to do so.

Article 56  When punishing a financial institution in accordance with Articles 52 to 54 hereof, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may also give a warning to or impose a fine of not more than 200,000 yuan upon the financial institution's directors, supervisors, senior executives or other staff member directly held liable depending on the circumstances; and if the circumstances are serious, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may, as the case may be and within the scope of its duties, cancel the appointment qualifications of the aforesaid persons and banning them from engaging in the relevant financial work, or suggest the relevant department of finance to do so.

When punishing a financial institution in accordance with Article 55 hereof, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may also impose a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 1 million yuan upon the financial institution's directors, supervisors, senior executives or other staff member directly held liable depending on the circumstances; and if the circumstances are serious, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned may, as the case may be and within the scope of its duties, cancel the appointment qualifications of the aforesaid persons and banning them from engaging in the relevant financial work, or suggest the relevant department of finance to do so.

Where the directors, supervisors, senior executives or other persons directly held liable of a financial institution as mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs can prove that they have taken anti-money laundering measures diligently and dutifully, they may be exempted from punishment.

Article 57  With regard to any financial institution in violation of Article 50 hereof by taking actions without approval, the financial administrative department of the State council shall impose a fine upon it of not more than 500,000 yuan. If the circumstances are serious, the financial institution shall be imposed a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 5 million yuan. If any loss is caused, the financial institution shall be imposed a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the direct economic loss. For the directors, supervisors, senior executives or other persons directly held liable depending on the circumstances, the financial administrative department of the State Council may give them a warning or impose upon them a fine of not more than 500,000 yuan.

With regard to any overseas financial institution in violation of Article 49 hereof by refusal to cooperate in investigation conducted by the relevant organ of the state, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall punish it in accordance with Article 54 or 56 hereof and include it into the name list as mentioned in Item (3) of Paragraph 1 of Article 40 hereof, depending on the circumstances.

Article 58  With regard to any specific non-financial institution in violation of the provisions hereof, the competent authority for the specific non-financial institution shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit; if the circumstance is relatively serious, the specific non-financial institution shall be given a warning or be imposed upon a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan; if the circumstance is serious or the specific non-financial institution fails to make corrections within the prescribed time limit, it shall be imposed upon a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan; and the relevant person in charge may be given a warning or imposed upon a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan.

Article 59  With regard to any entity or individual other than a financial institution or a specific non-financial institution, who fails to perform its/his obligations of taking special prevention measures for anti-money laundering according to Article 40 hereof, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of the districted city concerned shall order it/him to make corrections within a prescribed time limit; if the circumstance is serious, the entity shall be given a warning or be imposed upon a fine of not more than 200,000 yuan, and the individual shall be given a warning or be imposed upon a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan.

Article 60  With regard to any legal person or any unincorporated organization that fails to submit the information of beneficial owners to the registration agency as required, the registration agency shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit; if it refuses to make corrections, a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan shall be imposed upon it. If any false or untrue information of beneficial owners is submitted to the registration agency, or the information of beneficial owners is not timely updated as required, the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council or its dispatched office at or above the level of a districted city concerned shall order it to make corrections within a prescribed time limit, and impose upon it a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan if it refuses to make corrections.

Article 61  The anti-money laundering authority under the State Council shall formulate the relevant discretion benchmarks for administrative penalties according to the present Law by comprehensively considering the financial institutions' operation scale, the implementation of internal control systems, the diligence degree, the duration of the illegal acts, the harm degree, the rectification progress, and other factors.

Article 62  Where any violation of the present Law constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with law.

Whoever commits the criminal offence of money laundering by taking advance of a financial institution or a specific non-financial institution or through any illegal channel shall be subject to criminal liability according to law.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 63  The following institutions established within the territory of China shall perform the anti-money laundering obligations of financial institutions as prescribed herein:

(1) financial institutions in the banking industry, the securities, fund and futures industries, the insurance industry and the trust industry;

(2) non-banking payment institutions; and

(3) other institutions engaged in financial business as determined and announced by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council.

Article 64  The following institutions established within the territory of China shall perform the anti-money laundering obligations of specific non-financial institutions as prescribed herein:

(1) real estate development enterprises or real estate intermediaries providing housing sales, housing purchase and sale brokerage services;

(2) accounting firms, law firms and notary organs that are entrusted to deal with the purchase and sale of real estate for their customers, to manage funds, securities or other assets on a commission basis, to manage bank accounts and securities accounts on a commission basis, to raise funds for the establishment and operation of enterprises, or to act as an agent for the purchase and sale of business entities;

(3) dealers that engage in the spot trading of precious metals or precious stones whose value is above the prescribed amount; and

(4) other institutions that shall perform the anti-money laundering obligations as determined by the anti-money laundering authority under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council depending on money laundering risk profiles.

Article 65  The present Law shall come into force as of January 1, 2025.