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

Cost

Free, and it takes no time. The hard part is those few seconds before you strike.

What you get

Hitting someone or intentionally injuring them brings detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) and a fine of 500 to 1,000 CNY. Hitting in a group, hitting a disabled person, a pregnant woman, an elderly person or a child, hitting repeatedly or hitting several people at once brings detention of 10 to 15 days and a fine of 1,000 to 2,000 CNY. Causing a minor injury (轻伤) is the crime of intentional injury (故意伤害罪), with up to 3 years of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention (拘役, short-term custody) or public surveillance (管制, not locked up but with restricted movement). Causing a serious injury (重伤) brings 3 to 10 years. In civil terms you must also pay medical expenses, lost-wage compensation (the pay lost by missing work), nursing fees, transport costs, hospital meal subsidies and nutrition fees. If the person is left disabled, disability compensation is paid on top. Disability compensation is calculated as the previous year's per capita disposable income of urban residents where the trial court sits, multiplied by 20 years. For an injured person aged 60 or older, one year is deducted for each year over 60, and for those aged 75 or older it is calculated as 5 years. In 2022 procuratorates nationwide accepted more than 70,000 (7万余) minor-injury cases, most of them caused by marital, family or neighbor disputes or by chance incidents. Typical cases of the Supreme People's Procuratorate: Lu Mou (卢某) broke three of the other person's ribs (level-2 minor injury), reached a settlement by paying 113,000 CNY (11.3万), and so was not prosecuted. Shi Mou (石某) broke the other person's radius bone (level-2 minor injury), paid nothing, and was sentenced to 10 months of fixed-term imprisonment (China; Public Security Administration Punishments Law (治安管理处罚法) in effect since January 1, 2026)

Notes

For how to avoid conflict, why the one who strikes first comes off worse and where the limits of justified self-defense lie, see §8.10 (conflict and justified self-defense). For the bill for attacking someone out of anger, see §8.11, §8.12, §8.13, §8.14. A fight that arises from a civil dispute and is of a lighter nature can be mediated by the police. If a minor injury has been caused, reaching an agreement on compensation with the other person and truly paying can lead to a lighter sentence or even no prosecution, but the compensation is not reduced by a single yuan. How severe an injury must be to count as a minor injury is set by the forensic assessment standard, which this section has not verified. Lost-wage compensation and nursing fees are calculated from actual income and the days lost, and there is no uniform figure.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 全国人大常委会 (2025). 治安管理处罚法（2025 年修订，第九、五十一条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml
2. 全国人大 (1997). 刑法（第二百三十四条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180206_364975.shtml
3. 最高人民法院 (2022 修正). 关于审理人身损害赔偿案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2022〕14 号，第六至十二、十五条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/357071.html
4. 最高人民检察院、公安部 (2023). 关于依法妥善办理轻伤害案件的指导意见. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/xwfbh/wsfbt/202303/t20230302_604352.shtml
5. 最高人民检察院 (2023). 检察机关依法妥善办理轻伤害案件典型案例. https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/dxal/202303/t20230302_605116.shtml

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 9, tip 19. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer