§9 · 26 tips

Legal red lines ordinary people trip over

Which “side jobs” and casual favors can turn an ordinary person into a criminal defendant?

Tips from this section that apply in the United States. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer.

Don't forward disaster, epidemic or police-incident messages in group chats when you don't know if they are true, and don't edit photos or use AI to fake a scene

If you forward a message about a disaster, epidemic or police incident while knowing it is false, you are punished as heavily as if you had made it up. It is the same even if you did not make it up: detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) and a fine of 1,000 CNY. If you seriously disturb social order, the sentence is up to 3 years, and 3 to 7 years if the consequences are serious. Photoshopped images and AI-made fake scene images both count as making it up yourself.

High value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Turn down any "part-time job" that asks you to receive money, withdraw cash or transfer funds with your own card, no matter how big the fee

These part-time jobs earn a few hundred CNY, and the price is a criminal record. One person took his ID card and 1 bank card to a designated place, helped with transfers and withdrawals, and earned more than 500 CNY. The procuratorate did not prosecute him, but the police still detained him for 10 days and fined him 1,000 CNY. Another person handed his own and other people's bank cards and SIM cards to a gang to receive and withdraw money, and was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months and fined 22,000 CNY (2.2万).

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't withdraw money with a bank card you find, and contact the owner or hand to the police any phone or wallet you find; don't pocket it

Keeping a found item for your own use, once the value reaches "a relatively large amount" and you refuse to hand it over, brings up to 2 years, and 2 to 5 years for a huge amount. Withdrawing money from an ATM with a found bank card is heavier, counted as fraudulent use of someone else's credit card: a relatively large amount brings up to 5 years and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 CNY (2万到20万). For the withdrawal, the police open a case directly, and the owner doesn't have to sue.

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't throw anything out of a balcony or window, and that includes cigarette butts, garbage bags and bottles

Throwing things downstairs can bring 5 days of detention (拘留) and a fine of 1,000 CNY even if no one is hit, and 10 to 15 days of detention in serious cases. Hitting someone changes the charge: a man on the 21st floor, after drinking, threw empty bottles and glasses down onto a school playground, seriously injured a 13-year-old student and was sentenced to 10 years. Another person threw 8 bricks from the 32nd floor and killed 1 person, and in 2024 the death sentence was approved.

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't secretly film other people, and don't install cameras in rental rooms, guesthouse rooms or hotel rooms

Secretly filming, peeping at or spreading other people's private matters brings detention of up to 5 days (拘留) or a fine of up to 1,000 CNY, and detention of 5 to 10 days in more serious cases. Using special equipment for secret filming and causing serious consequences brings up to 2 years. Two people installed equipment in rooms in three hotels to film remotely, and were sentenced to 1 year 3 months and 1 year. A camera at your own home doesn't count, but one in a room someone else stays in does.

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't eat wild game, and don't buy, sell or keep protected animals as pets

Eating animals under key state protection brings confiscation and a fine of 2 to 20 times their value. Buying, transporting or selling rare and endangered animals brings up to 5 years, and 5 to 10 years in serious cases. Captive-bred animals traded as pets are generally not a crime: someone sold more than 40 captive-bred parrots and was not prosecuted. Animals caught in the wild or of unknown origin are not covered by this.

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't lend your ID card, don't use someone else's, and don't use another person's documents to register, open a card or buy a ticket

Lending, renting or transferring your ID card to someone else brings a warning and a fine of up to 200 CNY. Using someone else's ID card, or using one obtained by deception, brings a fine of 200 to 1,000 CNY or detention of up to 10 days (拘留). Using a forged document or someone else's document where real names are required, such as buying a train ticket or checking into a hotel, brings, in serious cases, criminal detention (拘役) or public surveillance (管制).

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Work out the bill before you hit someone: detention, paying money, a prison sentence

The bill for one blow: detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) plus a fine of 500 to 1,000 CNY. Causing a minor injury (轻伤) makes it a criminal case with up to 3 years, and a serious injury (重伤) brings 3 to 10 years. Money is counted separately: one person broke three of the other person's ribs and paid 113,000 CNY (11.3万) in a settlement, and so was not prosecuted. Another person broke the other's radius bone, paid nothing, and was sentenced to 10 months.

High value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't stage accidents or exaggerate losses to cheat on a claim: this is the crime of insurance fraud, and the people who testify for you, repair your car or assess your loss are convicted with you

Making up an accident or exaggerating losses to cheat on a claim is the crime of insurance fraud (保险诈骗罪): a relatively large amount brings up to 5 years and a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 CNY (1万到10万). People who testify for you, or who assess or appraise property and knowingly issue false certificates, are convicted as accomplices together with you. In a case in Xuancheng, Anhui, 8 people were sentenced to 2 to 4 years and each fined 10,000 CNY (1万).

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Don't sell your own organs and don't help anyone find a donor: a kidney that earns the seller just over 20,000 CNY is resold for 200,000 CNY, and the money is confiscated and a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount is imposed

Living organs can only be donated to a spouse, a direct blood relative or a collateral blood relative within three generations, and buying and selling them is illegal. In a Beijing case, the person who sold a kidney got only a little over 20,000 CNY (2万多), while the same kidney sold to a patient for 180,000 to 220,000 CNY (18万到22万). The money received is confiscated and a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount is imposed. For what removing a kidney costs your body, see §1.35 (the one remaining kidney does the work of two).

Top value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Localizing comics, reposting films and TV, sharing cloud-drive files and pirated e-books is infringement even without charging; running ads or collecting membership fees can lead to a prison sentence

Translating and posting someone else's work without permission, or uploading it online, is infringement even if you charge nothing, and you must take it down and pay damages. Once you run ads or collect membership fees, it counts as being for profit. Earning 30,000 CNY (3万), spreading 500 works or reaching 1,000 members is enough for a prison sentence, up to 10 years at the heaviest. The boss of the Renren Film and TV subtitle group (人人影视字幕组) was sentenced to 3 years 6 months.

High value
Evidence A
Keeps you free

Mainland China only 15 tips

These tips describe mainland-China rules and do not apply in the United States; they are here for people living in China.

Don't post or forward images, memes and comments that insult heroes and martyrs (英烈), and don't joke about the national flag or anthem
Joking about heroes and martyrs, the national flag or the national anthem brings, in light cases, detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) or a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 CNY. In heavier cases, detention of 10 to 15 days. When it amounts to a crime, the sentence is up to 3 years. Someone posted 2 messages slandering Yuan Longping in a 499-member village WeChat group and was sentenced to 6 months of public surveillance (管制), which means he was not locked up but his movements were restricted.
Close what you see on overseas websites; don't screenshot it, forward it, bring it into group chats or echo it in comment sections
These provisions punish passing things on, not looking. Forwarding, bringing material into a group, or echoing it in a comment section all count as spreading when a case is handled. Spreading that reaches the level of inciting subversion or inciting separatism brings up to 5 years, and 5 years or more for ringleaders. Books and audio-video material on terrorism and extremism are an exception: knowingly keeping them in your possession, in serious cases, brings up to 3 years.
What you watch of pornographic videos is your own business, but don't send them to groups, don't sell "resources," and don't set up groups
Watching on your own is not covered by the penalty provisions. Sending one to a group counts as spreading it to the whole group, with detention of 10 to 15 days (拘留) and a fine of up to 5,000 CNY, and up to 2 years in serious cases. Selling "resources" (资源) for money brings up to 3 years, and up to life imprisonment at the heaviest. Setting up a distribution group of 30 or more people, and whoever sets it up, serves as an administrator or posts most into it, are treated as committing a crime.
Don't take part when someone invites you to "package your documents" for a loan and pays you a fee based on the loan amount
Helping people "package their documents" (包装材料) to get loans and taking a cut is handled as fraud. A gang of 126 people packaged jobless people as "high-quality customers" and cheated more than 80 banks out of more than 30,000,000 (3000多万) CNY in loans. The people who appeared and signed took a fee of 30% of the loan amount, and of the 80 people sentenced so far, 76 got 1 year 4 months to 6 years 6 months. Whoever's name the loan is in, the debt is theirs.
Claim discounts under your own real identity, don't buy virtual numbers to register many throwaway accounts, and don't claim repeatedly through loopholes
Claiming a coupon once per account under your own real identity is outside the scope of punishment. Registering fake users in bulk, or placing an order and taking the delivery yourself to claim more, is handled as fraud: cheating out of 3,000 CNY can bring up to 3 years, and 30,000 CNY (3万) brings 3 to 10 years. A delivery rider used virtual numbers at 0.1 CNY each to farm coupons and cashed out more than 90,000 (9万余) CNY, and all 12 people in the same case were sentenced.
Don't buy realistic replica guns, steel-ball guns or air guns online, and don't buy "toy guns" of unknown origin
A steel-ball gun or air gun bought online is classified as a firearm once its muzzle specific kinetic energy reaches 1.8 joules per square centimeter. Holding one without a permit brings up to 3 years, and 3 to 7 years in serious cases. A couple sold "toy guns," and 18 of the 43 were assessed as firearms; they were not prosecuted only because it could not be proved that they knew.
Register a drone under your real name after buying it, don't fly near airports, in military zones or in controlled urban airspace, and don't crack the height limit
Flying without real-name registration brings a fine of up to 200 CNY, and 2,000 to 20,000 CNY (2万) in serious cases. Flying in controlled airspace without approval brings a fine of up to 500 CNY, and in serious cases the drone is confiscated and a further fine of 1,000 to 10,000 CNY (1万) is imposed. In more serious cases there can also be detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留). One person paid to crack the height limit, flew close to 3,000 meters to film clouds and posted it online, and was detained for 5 days.
Mahjong and cards are fine, but don't take a cut, act as the banker, organize games for a fee, or play online gambling
Small-stakes card playing among relatives and friends is not the law's business. Taking a cut from the game (抽头), acting as the banker (当庄) or organizing games for a fee changes its nature: taking part in gambling with relatively large stakes brings detention of up to 5 days (拘留) or a fine of up to 1,000 CNY. Gathering people to gamble or living off gambling brings up to 3 years, and running a gambling den brings up to 5 years. How much counts as "relatively large stakes" is set by each locality, and there is no single national figure.
When collecting a debt, don't hold or lock up a person, and don't follow them home and refuse to leave
Even if the money really is owed to you, you cannot hold or lock up the person. The statute says so specifically: holding or locking someone up to collect a debt is still handled as unlawful detention (非法拘禁). In light cases, detention of 10 to 15 days (拘留) and a fine of 1,000 to 2,000 CNY. The crime of unlawful detention (非法拘禁罪) brings up to 3 years, 3 to 10 years if the person is seriously injured, and 10 years or more if the person dies. To collect a debt, sue in court.
Cooperate when the police stop you or take you away: don't push, hit or grab the body camera, and hold back even more if you have been drinking
Obstructing law enforcement on the spot brings a warning or a fine of up to 500 CNY, and detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) in serious cases. Using force on the police is a separate tier: biting, slapping, kicking, hitting, body-slamming or throwing things, causing a minor injury (轻微伤) or worse, counts as violent assault on the police (暴力袭警), with a sentence of up to 3 years. Using a firearm or a controlled knife, or ramming with a vehicle, brings 3 to 7 years. Ordinary resistance such as pulling your arm away or breaking free does not count.
Don't have sex with anyone under 14, and "she agreed" is no defense
If the other person is under 14, whether or not she agrees, it is handled as rape with a heavier sentence, and the basic sentence is 3 to 10 years. If the other person is under 12, you are always found to "have been supposed to know." For ages 12 to 14, if from her development, behavior and clothing it can be seen that she may be a girl under 14, and you went ahead anyway, you are found to have "known." The courts examine a claim that you truly did not know very strictly.
If you can't raise a child you have had, the only lawful way out is civil affairs registration: giving the child to someone for money can be punished as child trafficking, and abandoning the child is the crime of abandonment
If you can't raise the child, there is a way out, but only one lawful way: go to the civil affairs department (民政部门) to register an adoption, and the adoption relationship takes effect only from the day of registration. Privately giving a child to someone, especially for money, can turn from "placing for adoption" into the crime of trafficking children (拐卖儿童罪), which starts at 5 years or more. Abandoning a child or refusing to support one, in egregious cases, is the crime of abandonment (遗弃罪), with up to 5 years.
Don't pay for sex: the default penalty is detention of 10 to 15 days, not just a fine
Being caught does not end with paying a small fine. The default tier in the statute is detention (拘留) of 10 to 15 days, and a further fine of up to 5,000 CNY. Only in lighter cases is it detention of up to 5 days or a fine of up to 1,000 CNY. In addition, paying for sex while knowing you have syphilis or gonorrhea is a crime, with a sentence of up to 5 years.
Before publishing or selling fan fiction or derivative works, get the original author's permission, or replace the borrowed characters' names and relationships with your own
Even if fan fiction borrows only the characters' names, personalities and relationships, publishing it can be found to be infringement. Jiang Nan's (江南) "The Boys in This Town" (《此间的少年》) borrowed more than 60 of Jin Yong's characters, and on appeal he was ordered to pay 1,680,000 CNY (168万) plus 200,000 CNY (20万) in expenses. The case dragged on for 9 years and ended in mediation, in which he agreed not to reissue it as it was. For fan fiction written for free for fun, the court said it must be analyzed case by case.
Don't buy a baton, stun device, dagger or pepper spray for self-defense and carry it; leaving it in the car counts as carrying
Daggers, spring knives, batons and stun devices, if found on you when you go out, can bring detention of up to 5 days (拘留). Taking them into a station, a mall or a bus brings detention of 5 to 10 days. Actually using one can also backfire: someone was punched by an unarmed man and then stabbed him with a knife he had hidden beforehand, and was sentenced to 4 years for excessive defense (防卫过当).