GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE CIVIL LAW OF PRC

BR>　　Any person who pollutes the environment and causes damage to others in violation of state provisions for environmental protection and the prevention of pollution shall bear civil liability in accordance with the law.
　　Article 125
　　Any constructor who engages in excavation, repairs or installation of underground facilities in a public place, on a roadside or in a passageway without setting up clear signs and adopting safety measures and thereby causes damage to others shall bear civil liability.
　　Article 126
　　If a building or any other installation or an object placed or hung on a structure collapses, detaches or drops down and causes damage to others, its owner or manag, er shall bear civil liability, unless he can prove himself not at fault.
　　Article 127
　　If a domesticated animal causes harm to any person, its keeper or manager shall bear civil liability. If the harm occurs through the fault of the victim, the keeper or manager shall not bear civil liability; if the harm occurs through the fault of a third party, the third party shall bear civil liability.
　　Article 128
　　A person who causes harm in exercising justifiable defence shall not bear civil liability. If justifiable defence exceeds the limits of necessity and undue harm is caused, an appropriate amount of civil liability shall be borne.
　　Article 129
　　If harm occurs through emergency actions taken to avoid danger, the person who gave rise to the danger shall bear civil liability. If the danger arose from natural causes, the person who took the emergency actions may either be exempt from civil liability or bear civil liability to an appropriate extent. If the emergency measures taken are improper or exceed the limits of necessity and undue harm is caused, the person who took the
　　emergency action shall bear civil liability to an appropriate extent.
　　Article 130
　　If two or more persons jointly infringe upon another person s rights and cause him damage, they shall bear joint liability.
　　Article 131
　　If a victim is also at fault for causing the damage, the civil liability of the infringe may be reduced.
　　Article 132
　　If none of the parties is at fault in causing damage, they may share civil liability according to the actual circumstances.
　　Article 133
　　If a person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct causes damage to others, his guardian shall bear civil liability. If the guardian has done his duty of guardianship, his civil liability may be
　　appropriately reduced.
　　If a person who has property but is without or with limited capacity for civil conduct causes damage to others, the expenses of compensation shall be paid from his property. Shortfalls in such expenses shall be appropriately compensated for by the guardian unless the guardian is a unit.
　　Section 4 Methods of Bearing Civil Liability
　　Article 134
　　The main methods of bearing civil liability shall be:
　　(1) cessation of infringements;
　　(2) removal of obstacles;
　　(3) elimination of dangers;
　　(4) return of property;
　　(5) restoration of original condition;
　　(6) repair, reworking or replacement;
　　(7) compensation for losses;
　　(8) payment of breach of contract damages;
　　(9) elimination of ill effects and rehabilitation of reputation; and
　　(10) extension of apology.
　　The above methods of bearing civil liability may be applied exclusively or concurrently. When hearing civil cases, a people s court, in addition to applying the above stipulations, may serve admonitions, order the offender to sign a pledge of repentance, and confiscate the property used in carrying out illegal activities and the illegal income obtained therefrom.

　　It may also impose fines or detentions as stipulated by law.

　　Chapter VII Limitation of Action
　　Article 135
　　Except as otherwise stipulated by law, the limitation of action regarding applications to a people s court for protection of civil rights shall be two years.
　　Article 136
　　The limitation of action shall be one year in cases concerning the
　　following:
　　(1) claims for compensation for bodily injuries;
　　(2) sales of substandard goods without proper notice to that effect;
　　(3) delays in paying rent or refusal to pay rent; or
　　(4) loss of or damage to property left in the care of another person.
　　Article 137
　　A limitation of action shall begin when the entitled person knows or should know that his rights have been infringed upon. However, the people s court shall not protect his rights if 20 years have passed since the infringement. Under special circumstances, the people s court may extend the limitation of action.
　　Article 138
　　If a party chooses to fulfil obligations voluntarily after the limitation of action has expired, he shall not be subject to the limitation.
　　Article 139
　　A limitation of action shall be suspended during the last six months of the limitation if the plaintiff cannot exercise his right of claim because of force majeure or other obstacles. The limitation shall resume on the day when the grounds for the suspension are eliminated.
　　Article 140
　　A limitation of action shall be discontinued if suit is brought or if one party makes a claim for or agrees to fulfillment of obligations. A new limitation shall be counted from the time of the discontinuance.
　　Article 141
　　If the law has other stipulations concerning limitation of action, those stipulations shall apply.

　　Chapter VIII Application of Law in Civil Relations with Foreigners
　　Article 142
　　The application of law in civil relations with foreigners shall be determined by the provisions in this chapter.
　　If any international treaty concluded or acceded to by the People s Republic of China contains provisions differing from those in the civil laws of the People s Republic of China, the provisions of the international treaty shall apply, unless the provisions are ones on which the People s Republic of China has announced reservations. International
　　practice may be applied to matters for which neither the law of the People s Republic of China nor any international treaty concluded or acceded to by the People s Republic of China has any provisions.
　　Article 143
　　If a citizen of the People s Republic of China settles in a foreign country, the law of that country may be applicable as regards his capacity for civil conduct.
　　Article 144
　　The ownership of immovable property shall be bound by the law of the place where it is situated.
　　Article 145
　　The parties to a contract involving foreign interests may choose the law applicable to settlement of their contractual disputes, except as otherwise stipulated by law. If the parties to a contract involving foreign interests have not made a choice, the law of the country to which the contract is most closely connected shall be applied.
　　Article 146
　　The law of the place where an infringing act is committed shall apply in handling compensation claims for any damage caused by the act. If both parties are citizens of the same country or have established domicile in another country, the law of their own country or the country of domicile may be applied.
　　An act committed outside the People s Republic of China shall not be treated as an infringing act if under the law of the People s Republic of China it is not considered an infringing act.
　　Article 147
　　The marriage of a citizen of the People s Republic of China to a foreigner shall be bound by the law of the place where they get married, while a divorce shall be bound by the law of the place where a court accepts the case.
　　Article 148
　　Maintenance of a spouse after divorce shall be bound by the law of the country to which the spouse is most closely connected.
　　Article 149
　　In the statutory succession of an estate, movable property shall be bound by the law of the decedent s last place of residence, and immovable property shall be bound by the law of the place where the property is
　　situated.
　　Article 150
　　The application of foreign laws or international practice in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall not violate the public interest of the People s Republic of China.

　　Chapter IX Supplementary provisions
　　Article 151
　　The people s congresses of the national autonomous areas may formulate separate adaptive or supplementary regulations or provisions in accordance with the principles of this Law and in light of the characteristics of the local nationalities. Those formulated by the people s congresses of autonomous regions shall be submitted in accordance with the law to the Standing Committee of the National People s Congress for approval or for
　　the record. Those formulated by the people s congresses of autonomous prefectures or autonomous counties shall be submitted to the standing committee of the people s congress in the relevant province or autonomous region for approval.
　　Article 152
　　If an enterprise owned by the whole people has been established with the approval of the competent authority of a province, autonomous region or centrally administered municipality or at a higher level and it has already been registered with the administrative agency for industry and commerce, before this Law comes into force, it shall automatically qualify as a legal person without having to re-register as such.
　　Article 153
　　For the purpose of this Law, "force majeure" means unforeseeable, unavoidable and insurmountable objective conditions.
　　Article 154
　　Time periods referred to in the Civil Law shall be calculated by the Gregorian calendar in years, months, days and hours.
　　When a time period is prescribed in hours, calculation of the period shall begin on the prescribed hour. When a time period is prescribed in days, months and years, the day on which the period begins shall not be counted as within the period; calculation shall begin on the next day.
　　If the last day of a time period falls on a Sunday or an official holiday, the day after the holiday shall be taken as the last day.
　　The last day shall end at 24:00 hours. If business hours are applicable, the last day shall end at closing time.
　　Article 155
　　In this Law, the terms "not less than," "not more than," "within" and "expires" shall include the given figure; the terms "under" and "beyond" shall not include the given figure.
　　Article 156
　　This Law shall come into force on January 1, 1987.

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