Don't get dragged down: law and property

Mainland China only 31 tips

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

• 🚗Stop, help the injured and call the police after a traffic accident; do not flee

  If you flee, you are presumed to be fully at fault for the accident. Your driver's license is revoked and you can never apply for one again. There is also a more practical side: collision insurance (车损险) and third-party liability insurance (三者险) pay nothing when the driver flees, so compensation of several hundred thousand CNY (几十万) falls entirely on you. Staying to help and to call the police costs an hour or two at most.

• 🏦Call 110 or 96110 right away to have the money stopped when you find you were scammed; don't investigate on your own first

  The short stretch right after the money leaves your account is the only window. During this time the police can issue an emergency payment stop and a quick freeze, and the bank must cooperate. Once the money has been moved on through layer after layer of accounts and split up, it is almost impossible to get back. So call 110 or 96110 (the national anti-fraud warning hotline) first, and don't start looking into it or asking around on your own. When 96110 calls you, it is the police trying to talk you out of a transfer, so pick up.

• ⚖️Get a lawyer first if you are accused or summoned; don't settle privately and don't delete records

  You can ask for a lawyer from the first time you are called in for questioning. When the lawyer asks to see you, the detention center (看守所) must arrange it within 48 hours at the latest, and the conversation is not monitored. You may decline to answer questions unrelated to the case.

• 🏛️Go and explain yourself if something happens: turning yourself in (自首) can cut a sentence by up to 40%, and for lighter offenses can reduce it more or even waive punishment; "outwaiting the statute of limitations" is a dead end

  Turning yourself in (自首) can cut a sentence by up to 40%, and for a lighter offense you may not be punished at all. Telling the truth only after the authorities come to you can still cut it by up to 20%. Running away or flatly denying everything gets you none of this. Hoping to hide for a few years until the case expires does not work either: once a case has been filed, the time you spend in hiding does not count toward the limitation period.

• 💳Don't lend your bank card, SIM card or payment account to anyone; moving other people's money for pay (跑分) is not a part-time job

  Renting, lending or selling your bank card, SIM card or payment account to someone else is illegal in itself. The fine is 1 to 10 times the illegal gains, up to 200,000 CNY if there are no gains, and 15 days of detention (拘留) in serious cases. You will also be put on your credit record and have your account functions restricted. If you knew the other side was using it for crime and still helped collect and move money, that is the crime of aiding information network criminal activity (帮信罪), with a sentence of up to 3 years.

• 📋Check your own credit report for free twice a year for loans and cards you didn't take out

  You can check your own credit report online for free twice a year, and it takes about ten minutes. Use the website of the People's Bank of China Credit Reference Center (人民银行征信中心) or your mobile banking app, and not a third-party "check your credit" app, because those apps are collecting your information. A negative record stays for 5 years from the day the matter ended, and should be deleted after that. If you disagree with something, you can file an objection, and you must get a written answer within 20 days.

• 🛡️You may fight back against an attack you can't avoid, but hit only the person who is attacking, and stop when he stops

  When someone is attacking you or another person and you act to stop it and injure him, you bear no criminal liability. If the person is committing violent assault, murder, robbery, rape or kidnapping, injuring or killing him is not counted as excessive either. But you may hit only the person who is attacking, and you stop when he stops. Even if in the end the case is found to be on your side, you may first be put under investigation and held for a few days.

• ⚖️When you have a grievance with someone, such as unpaid wages, being fired or being cheated of money, use complaints, arbitration or a lawsuit, and don't go settle scores

  Taking the legal route, the worst result is that you don't get the money back. Taking revenge, the result is still that you don't get the money back, and you also pay with your own life. In the Wuxi case, Xu Moujin (徐某金) did not get his graduation certificate and was unhappy with his internship pay; he attacked people with a knife, killing 8 and injuring 17, and was sentenced to death and executed. For unpaid wages, go through complaints and arbitration: in 2024 this route recovered 8,650,000,000 (86.5亿) CNY for 654,000 (65.4万) people nationwide.

• 🤝However much you hate, don't go after people who have nothing to do with it: ramming a crowd with a vehicle or attacking people in a public place is convicted as endangering public safety by dangerous means, starting at 3 years, and at 10 years or up to death if someone dies

  Ramming a crowd with a vehicle or attacking people in a public place is convicted as the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means (以危险方法危害公共安全罪). Even if no one is hurt, the sentence starts at 3 years. If someone dies, it is 10 years or more, life imprisonment or death. In the Zhuhai case, Fan Weiqiu (樊维秋), unhappy with the division of property in his divorce, drove into a crowd exercising at a sports center, killing 35 and injuring 43, and was sentenced to death and executed.

• 🚨Don't dismiss it as talk when someone close to you says "no one will have it easy" or "I'll take the child with me": close relatives can take him straight to be examined, and the police must act on a report

  When a family member says "no one will have it easy" or "I'll take the child with me," close relatives (近亲属) can take him straight to a hospital, and the hospital may not refuse to examine him. If he has already used violence, or something is about to happen, hospitalization does not need his own consent. If you can't tell whether it is just talk or real, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline) and ask first, or call 110 and have the police come. Covering for him is not helping him.

• ⏳Rights have deadlines: 3 years for the limitation period in civil lawsuits, 1 year for labor arbitration, and after that the other side only has to say "it's past the limitation period"

  The limitation period for civil lawsuits (民事诉讼时效) is 3 years, counted from the day you learn your rights were harmed. After it runs out, the court will not raise it on its own, but the other side only has to say "it's past the limitation period" in court, and the money is still owed but you can't get it back. A message demanding payment that leaves a trace can restart the 3 years from the beginning. Labor disputes are a separate system, with an arbitration limitation period of 1 year.

• 🏛️When you are sued or an enforcement order is issued, report your assets honestly, repay what you can, and don't transfer your house or money to relatives, friends or a company

  Putting a house under a company's name or transferring money to relatives and friends is exactly the situation written into the crime of refusing to carry out a court judgment or order (拒执罪), with a sentence of up to 3 years, and 3 to 7 years in especially serious cases. The relatives, friends and companies that helped hide or transfer the assets are treated as accomplices, and the money is recovered anyway. Refusing to report assets or reporting falsely can bring an individual a fine of up to 100,000 CNY and 15 days of detention (拘留). Truly having no money is not this crime.

• 📋If you are restricted from spending or put on the dishonest-debtor list, first find out under which provision you were placed, and apply for correction where it can be corrected

  First work out whether you are under a consumption restriction (限制消费) or on the dishonest-debtor list (失信名单). They are two different things. Only six situations allow someone to be put on the dishonest-debtor list, and the term is 2 years. In seven situations, such as having already fully performed the obligation, the court should remove the entry within 3 working days. The high-consumption restriction (限高) bans nine categories of spending, and riding a G-class high-speed train is included. If something is necessary for living or for business, you can apply case by case.

• 🎁Think before handing over a large gift while dating or in a marriage; once delivered, it generally can't be taken back

  Once the money is handed over, in principle you can't get it back. A gift can be freely revoked only before it has been transferred into the other person's name. After the transfer is complete, it can be revoked only in three situations: the other person seriously harms you or your close relatives, fails to support you when obliged to, or fails to perform an agreed obligation. So before a large transfer, think clearly about whether it is a loan or a gift.

• 💍Pay the bride price (彩礼) by transfer with a note, and keep the chat records; money demanded under the pretext of marriage can be recovered

  Demanding money or property under the pretext of marriage is prohibited by law, and the courts support its return. You can demand the return if the marriage was never registered, if it was registered but the couple truly never lived together, or if the bride price was paid before marriage and left the paying side in financial hardship. If the marriage was registered and the couple lived together, it is generally not returned. So pay the bride price, the three gold items (三金) and the "change of address" money (改口费) by transfer with the purpose noted, and whoever gave the money keeps the evidence, men and women alike.

• 🏠Don't worry about premarital property; put in writing who is added to the title of a home and how the parents' contribution is treated

  Property you owned before marriage is your own, and does not turn into shared property because the marriage has lasted many years. A couple can agree in writing that property from before and after the marriage belongs to each of them separately. One point to watch: if you agreed to add the other person's name to a home, you can still change your mind before the change of registration, and once it is registered it belongs to the other person. At divorce, a spouse who hid, transferred or squandered money or forged debts can be given a smaller share or none.

• 🪪Check the other person's marital status before you marry; cheating someone out of money under the pretext of marriage is prosecuted as fraud

  A bigamous marriage is void. Marrying while you already have a spouse, or marrying someone knowing that they have a spouse, brings a sentence of up to 2 years. Cheating someone out of money under the pretext of marriage is prosecuted as the crime of fraud (诈骗罪): a relatively large amount brings up to 3 years, a huge amount 3 to 10 years, and an especially huge amount 10 years or more or life imprisonment. Before you register, look at the marital status on the other person's ID card and household register (户口簿).

• 🏢Don't be a figurehead legal representative (挂名法人), and don't lend your ID card to someone to register a company

  The law presumes that the legal representative (法定代表人) is the person who runs the company, and "I was only a name on paper and knew nothing" is not a reason to be excused. When a legal representative causes harm to others in carrying out duties, the company pays first, and after paying it can come back to recover from you if you were at fault. If you are already listed, the Company Law (公司法) allows you to resign, and the company must name a new legal representative within 30 days.

• 🐕Keep your dog on a leash: if something happens to an unleashed dog, liability is no-fault (you pay whether or not you were at fault), all the way. Dogs also need rabies vaccines on schedule and dog registration

  When a dog hurts someone, you generally have to pay whether or not you were at fault, and you can pay less only if you prove the other person acted intentionally or with gross negligence. For an unleashed dog, only "the other person acted intentionally" can reduce your liability, and in more serious cases you may also be detained (拘留). If a dog has not had the rabies vaccine as required, the owner will be ordered to correct it and may be fined. If a banned fierce breed hurts someone, there is no excuse that reduces liability.

• 🔒If, after sex or a nude video chat, the other side demands money by threatening to call the police, post photos or tell your employer, pay not a cent, delete not a record, and call the police directly

  Using threats like "I'll go to the police" or "I'll send the photos to your employer" to make you pay is extortion (敲诈勒索). Pay not a cent, delete not a record, and call the police right away, because once you pay the first time there will be a second. If the other side really does send the photos out, that is one more crime on their part. Extorting 2,000 to 5,000 CNY or more brings up to 3 years, and 30,000 to 100,000 CNY or more brings 3 to 10 years.

• ⚖️If someone makes up facts to report you, you can demand that they be held accountable: at least 5 days of detention when it merits a public security punishment, up to 3 years when it is a crime

  Making up facts to falsely accuse and frame another person, in order to have them held criminally liable or given a public security punishment, is itself illegal. This brings detention of up to 5 days (拘留) or a fine of up to 1,000 CNY, and in more serious cases detention of 5 to 10 days. When it reaches the level of a crime, it is the crime of false accusation and framing (诬告陷害罪), with a sentence of up to 3 years. But a mistaken memory or a mistaken report does not count, and to hold the other person accountable you have to show that they framed you on purpose.

• ⚖️Where evidence is insufficient the verdict should be not guilty, and confessions extracted by force should be excluded; after a verdict there are still petitions and retrials

  The threshold for conviction is written into the Criminal Procedure Law (刑事诉讼法): the evidence on which a verdict rests must be verified as true through legal procedure, and, looking at all the evidence in the case, reasonable doubt must be ruled out. If that can't be done, the verdict should be not guilty. Confessions obtained by torture and testimony obtained by violence or threats should be excluded and cannot be used as the basis of a judgment. After a judgment takes effect, you, your legal representative and your close relatives can still file a petition (申诉).

• 🏛️If, after being held in custody, the case is dropped, not prosecuted or ends in a not-guilty verdict, apply for state compensation, calculated by the day

  If you were detained (拘留) or arrested (逮捕) and the case was then dropped, not prosecuted or ended in a not-guilty verdict, you can apply for state compensation (国家赔偿). Days in custody are compensated by the day, at 495.94 CNY a day from May 18, 2026, about 180,000 CNY (18万) a year. In cases with serious consequences, compensation for emotional distress is added. There is no compensation if you did commit the act and were simply not prosecuted because it was minor, if the limitation period had passed, if you were under the age of liability, or if you gave a false confession yourself.

• 🧾When you are the victim and seek compensation, use 12315, a lawsuit or a lawyer; don't go alone to meet the other side, and don't tie "pay me" and "I won't expose you" into one sentence

  As a victim, seeking compensation from the party who wronged you has a legal basis, and does not automatically become extortion (敲诈勒索) because you asked for a high amount. But the cost can be heavy: Guo Li (郭利) was first sentenced to five years for extortion and was only later found not guilty on retrial. So use channels that leave a record, don't go alone to a place the other side picked to talk, and don't say out loud a condition that ties "pay me" to "then I won't expose you."

• 🛡️If you are cyberbullied: turn on protections and preserve evidence first, then choose among the platform, an injunction and the police

  On the spot, do three things first: turn on the platform's protection settings, use quick evidence capture to save the content, and report it through the quick-access entry. After that, you can apply to the court for an injunction (禁令) to make the person stop first. You can also sue in court yourself, and if collecting evidence is difficult you can ask the public security organs to help. When the consequences are especially serious and the impact is bad, the procuratorate prosecutes, and you don't have to prove the case yourself.

• 📵"Buy someone insurance, then act" is a dead end from the start in law: you get not one cent, and the crime is intentional homicide plus insurance fraud with the sentences combined

  All four doors are closed. Buying a death-benefit insurance policy on someone behind their family's back makes the contract void. If the policyholder intentionally causes the insured's death, the insurer does not pay. Anyone who intentionally kills the person from whom they would inherit loses the right of inheritance. The Criminal Law (刑法) also lists this kind of insurance fraud as a separate item, with sentences combined with that for intentional homicide, up to death. You do not get one cent.

• 📄Get a case-acceptance receipt on the spot when you report to the police, and a written notice if they decline to open a case: you can apply for reconsideration within 7 days and review within another 7, and the procuratorate can direct the police to open the case

  When you report to the police, get a case-acceptance receipt (受案回执) on the spot. It is your only proof that you reported. If the public security organ decides not to open a case, it must give you a written notice of non-filing (不予立案通知书). If you disagree, you can apply for reconsideration within 7 days, and if you still disagree, apply for review within another 7 days. You can also go to the procuratorate and ask it to supervise the police on filing the case.

• 🛡️Don't send money or cards to people handling your case or enforcing the law: bribing is a crime for you too, and bribing supervisory, law-enforcement or judicial personnel is punished more heavily

  "Spend a little money to smooth it over" is a separate crime in the Criminal Law (刑法), and the person who paid is arrested too, not only the one who took the money. Bribery brings up to 3 years. In serious cases it is 3 to 10 years, and in especially serious cases 10 years or more or life imprisonment. Bribing supervisory, administrative law-enforcement or judicial personnel is expressly in the heavier tier. If you were extorted into paying and did not obtain any improper benefit, it is not bribery.

• 🎙️Record phone calls and in-person talks that might turn sour: for a conversation you take part in yourself, you don't need the other side's consent first

  With loans, debts, compensation, refunds and labor disputes, if you settle things on the phone and nothing is left behind, a few months later each side may tell a different story. You can record a conversation you take part in yourself, and not telling the other side beforehand does not, on that ground alone, make it unusable as evidence. What you must not do is wiretap, spy on other people's private matters, break into someone's home to record secretly, or threaten the other person into speaking.

• 🏠If you are experiencing domestic violence: call the police first so a record of the response is made, then apply to the court for a personal safety protection order, with no need to divorce first and no fee

  Of the women killed worldwide, more than one-third were killed by a partner, often the end of long-term domestic violence. Among women who are beaten in the same way, those who have been strangled are more than 7 times as likely to be killed later as those who have not. So call the police when you are hit, then go to the court to apply for a protection order (人身安全保护令). The court generally has to give an answer within 72 hours.

• 🎲When someone in your family has gambling debts, don't rush to pay them: gambling debts are not protected by law, and money borrowed to gamble is not a joint debt of the couple

  Money owed at the gambling table is not protected by the courts. If a lender knew the person was borrowing to gamble and lent anyway, the courts do not protect that money either. Money one spouse borrowed to gamble cannot be counted as a debt the couple owe together. Without a trial, a court cannot make the spouse who did not borrow take responsibility for it.