The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has prepared the following flowchart and its accompanying annotations to illustrate the prior restraints and censorship measures that Chinese authorities employ to restrict freedom of expression and ensure that China's citizens do not publish material that the Communist Party or the government might find objectionable.

The chart assumes that the hypothetical author's book does not contain information that was obtained illegally or that has been clearly designated and treated by the government as classified.  The chart also does not address copyright or trade secret issues, nor does it take into account certain types of speech that are generally not granted protection in most countries, such as obscenity, defamation, or incitements to or threats of violence.

Those interested in seeing how China's system differs from the United State's can view a flow chart illustrating the choices and consequences facing authors in the United States.

 The CECC has also prepared a Chinese language version of this chart and its appendix.

Appendix to

"Choices and Consequences Faced by Authors in the China" Flowchart

Get government authorization to
publish your book yourself

Article 1 of the Notice Regarding Striking Hard Against Illegal Publishing Activities (1987.07.06) states that, except for those publishing units approved by the State, no unit or individual may publish to society for open distribution any book, periodical or audio/visual publication.

Article 55 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that anyone who engages in the publishing, printing, copying, importing, or distribution of a publication without government authorization may be subject to fines, confiscation of property, and criminal sanctions.

Start your own publishing house
to publish your book

Article 9 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that all books published in China must be published by "publishing units."

Article 9 of the Regulations on the Administration of Printing Enterprises (2001.08.02) states that individuals may not engage in book-printing.

Article 15 of the Regulations on the Administration of Printing Enterprises (2001.08.02) states that printers may only print books published by publishing units.

Can you get a business license
from the government?

Article 11 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that publishing units must be incorporated.

Article 15 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states after registering, each publishing unit must take its "Publishing Permit" to the executive agency for industry and commerce to register and acquire a business license.

Article 8 of the Regulations on the Administration of Printing Enterprises (2001.08.02) states that printers must be incorporated.

Article 36 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that wholesale and retail book distributors must be incorporated.

Do you have RMB 300,000?

Article 11 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that anyone establishing a publishing unit must have a registered capital of at least RMB 300,000.  That is equivalent to about US$35,000.  According to the People's Daily , in 2002 the average urban Chinese made US$477.

Article 13 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that publishers must inform the government of the source of their funding.

Are you well-connected?

Article 11 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that publishing units must have a sponsoring unit and a managing unit recognized by the State Council's publishing administration agency.

Article 5 of the Interim Provisions on the Functions of the Sponsoring Unit and the Managing Unit for Publishing Units (1993.06.29) states that the "Sponsoring Unit" must be a government agency of relatively high level.

Article 6 of the Interim Provisions on the Functions of the Sponsoring Unit and the Managing Unit for Publishing Units (1993.06.29) states that the publishing unit must answer to its Sponsoring Unit/Managing Unit.

Are you a Chinese citizen?

Publishing is listed under the "forbidden" category in China's "Catalog for Guiding Foreign Investment in Industries." This means that foreigners are not allowed to invest in publishers. China's WTO obligations do not require the country to open its publishing industry to foreign investment.

Article 34 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) also states that all publications written by foreigners must be submitted to the government for review.

Can you get a publishing unit
license from the government?

Article 1 of the Notice Regarding Resolutely Clamping Down on Illegal Publishing Activities (1996.01.25) states that no entity or individual may engage in publishing, printing, copying or distributing books, newspapers, periodicals or audio-visual publications without authorization from the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Article 9 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that all books published in China must be published by "publishing units."

Article 11 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that anyone establishing a publishing unit must, in addition to being incorporated, having RMB 300,000 and government sponsorship, possess the following qualifications:

• Employ "editorial publishing specialists" whose qualifications conform to national prescriptions; and 
• Conform to the nation's plans for the quantity, organization and distribution of publishing units.

Article 12 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that the Sponsor Unit, not the author, files the application to establish a publishing unit with the department in charge of publishing at the provincial, autonomous region, or independent municipality level.  If that department approves, it then submits the application to General Administration of Press and Publication.

Can you get a book
number from the government?

Article 29 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that all books published in China must have a book number.

Section 1, Article 2 of the Notice Regarding Strengthening of the Macro-economic Regulation of the Amount of Book Numbers (1998-12-02) states that publishing units must apply to the government for book numbers.

Article 22 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that book numbers may not be sold or otherwise transferred to another publishing unit.

Can you get a printers license
from the government?

Article 32 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that no one may engage in book printing without permission from the government.  This application is separate from the application to establish a publishing unit.

Article 7 of the Regulations on the Administration of Printing Enterprises (2001.08.02) states that no unit or individual may engage in printing activities unless they have obtained a Printer Operating License.

Does your book avoid addressing
sensitive political issues?

Article 2 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders (1990.05.05) states that the publication and distribution of books and essays about Communist Party and national government leaders must be solemn and discreet, and their point of view must conform with the spirit of Party's "Decision Regarding Certain Historical Problems," "Decision Regarding Certain Historical Problems Since the Establishment of the Party" and related Party documents. Anything that does not conform to the above mentioned requirements may not be published and distributed.

Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that publishers shall adhere to the path of serving the people and serving socialism, adhere to the guidance of Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory.

Chinese authorities sometimes declare that specific subjects are off-limits to all but a select group of publishers.  For example, in the Notice Demanding that Book Publishing Work Welcome the 16th Party Congress in a Practical Manner, issued 18 March 2002 by the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department and the General Administration on Press and Publication , the Communist Party and the Chinese government declared that only specified publishing houses could publish "guidance documents" with respect to the 16th Party Congress.

Is your publisher authorized to
publish books on politically
sensitive issues?

Article 1 of the Notice Regarding Further Strengthening the Administration Relating to Publications (1998.08.24) states that publications dealing with "important topics" may only be published by publishing houses specifically approved by the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Article 3 of the Urgent Notice Regarding Reaffirming the Strengthening of the Administration of Books Reflecting the Work and Life Circumstances of the Major Leaders of the Party and the Nation (1997.01.24) states that books reflecting on the work and life situation of the Party's and the nation's primary leaders may only be published by publishing houses that specialize in publishing work within this scope designated by the State, and it is absolutely forbidden for other publishers to arrange for such publications.

Article 3 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders (1990.05.05) states that the publication of books and essays about Communist Party and national government leaders may be done only by the People's Publishing House, the Central Historic Documents Publishing House, the Communist Party Historical Materials Publishing House, the Communist Party School Publishing House, the Communist Youth Publishing House, the Liberation Army Publishing House, and the People's Publishing Houses for the provinces, autonomous regions and independent municipalities. No other publishing houses may arrange for their publication.

Can you get permission from
the State Secrecy Bureau?

Article 53 of China's Constitution states that all Chinese citizens are responsible for protecting state secrets.

Article 3 of the Notice Regarding Preventing State Secrets from Being Divulged in Publications (1994.03.12) states that any publication having the following contents must strenuously implement a system for submission for examination and approval: important national policies, Party documents and files, the national defense establishment and military might situation, the nation's foreign policy and foreign propaganda work, statistics and data regarding the national economy and social development, materials for advanced technology and scientific achievements, surveys and maps, national security activities and the prosecution of criminal activities, any other important issues that government agencies and industries should not publicize, and any other issue that the publishing unit is unable to determine might be a state secret.

Article 111 of the Criminal Law (1997.03.04) makes it a crime to supply state secrets or intelligence to a foreign government.

Article 1 of the Explanation of Certain Issues Regarding the Specific Laws to be Used in Adjudicating Cases of Stealing or Spying to Obtain, or Illegally Supplying, State Secrets or Intelligence for Foreigners (2000.11.20) defines "intelligence" as "items which involve the security and interests of the nation, but which are not public or which, according to relevant regulations, should not be made public."

Article 5 of the Explanation of Certain Issues Regarding the Specific Laws to be Used in Adjudicating Cases of Stealing or Spying to Obtain, or Illegally Supplying, State Secrets or Intelligence for Foreigners (2000.11.20) states that any person who knows, or should know, that an item which is not marked secret relates to the security and interests of the nation and supplies it to a foreigner shall be prosecuted and punished under the provisions of Article 111 of the Criminal Law.

Article 4 of the Measures for the Implementation of the Law on the Protection of State Secrets (1990.04.25) states that anything that might harm the political or economic interests of China with respect to the outside world shall be deemed a state secret.

Examples of state secrets and intelligence include:

• Charcoal drawings for a school examination - A case tried in Hubei province provides an excellent example of the absurd breadth of what PRC authorities consider state secrets. In that case two people were found guilty of illegally obtaining state secrets after they bribed a school official to allow them to take pictures of charcoal drawings that were going to be used in test questions in an upcoming provincial high school entrance examination (China News Service, 10 October 2002);
• Garbage - In 2002 the online edition of the People's Daily published a warning to readers that anyone from Internet users to garbage collectors can run afoul of China's state secrets legislation; and 
• The existence of a worker demonstration - Shanghai lawyer Zhang Enchong has been sentenced to three years imprisonment, based in part on the charge that he informed foreigners of a public demonstration by workers in Shanghai.

For an in-depth discussion of how Chinese authorities exploit state secrets laws to chill free expression, see these discussions on Prior Restraints and State Secrets Laws.

Can you get permission from
the Communist Party?

Article 4 of the Notice Regarding Strengthening and Improving the Work of Recording Important Topics (1999.03.09) states that in the recording of important topics, the publishing administration agencies shall consult the opinion of the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party.

Article 4 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders (1990.05.05) states that when arranging for the publication of books and essays about Communist Party and national government leaders, local publishing houses must receive approval from the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department .

Can you get permission from the
General Administration for Press and Publication?

Article 1 of the Urgent Notice Regarding Reaffirming the Strengthening of the Administration of Books Reflecting the Work and Life Circumstances of the Major Leaders of the Party and the Nation (1997.01.24) states that any book that reflects upon the work or life situation of a current or former member of the Party Politburo Standing Committee, the National Chairman, Vice Chairman, Premier of the State Council, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or the Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference must be specifically reported and approved.

Article 4 of the Urgent Notice Regarding Reaffirming the Strengthening of the Administration of Books Reflecting the Work and Life Circumstances of the Major Leaders of the Party and the Nation (1997.01.24) states that the publishing of books reflecting on the work and life situation of the Party's and the nation's primary leaders must strictly implement the system of reporting the topic and applying for authorization.

Article 4 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders (1990.05.05) states that when arranging for the publication of books and essays about Communist Party and national government leaders, local publishing houses must provide drafts to their local Press and Publication Office, which shall read and evaluate the manuscript and offer their opinions.

Article 20 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that anyone planning to publish a book dealing with an "important topic" must inform the government in advance of their plans.

Article 2 of the Notice Regarding Strengthening and Improving the Work of Recording Important Topics (1999.03.09) states that requests to publish books on "important topics" must be recorded with the central government.

Article 4 of the Measures on the Recording of Important Topics of Books, Periodicals, Audio/Visual Productions and Electronic Publications (1997.10.10) states that anyone wishing to publish a book on an "important topic" must submit the manuscript to the General Administration for Press and Publication.

Article 3 of the Measures on the Recording of Important Topics of Books, Periodicals, Audio/Visual Productions and Electronic Publications (1997.10.10) states that "important topics" refers to any selections whose contents relate to such matters as national security and social stability or which shall produce a relatively large influence on such things as the nation's government, economy, culture or military matters, and shall specifically include:

(i) topics concerning documents or literature of the Party or the nation;
(ii) works and literature concerning any former or current leaders of the party or the nation, and selections concerning the circumstances of their lives or work;
(iii) topics which deal with Party or state secrets;
(iv) topics which compile introductions of the structure of government entities or the circumstances of party or state leaders;
(v) topics which deal with nationality problems or religious problems;
(vi) topics which deal with the building of national defense and the battles, combat, work or lives of important figures of China's military in any historical period;
(vii) topics which deal with the "Cultural Revolution";
(viii) topics which deal with any significant historical matters or important historical figures in the history of the Chinese Communist Party;
(ix) topics which deal with top level figures in the Republican Party and any other top level objectives of the united front;
(x) topics which deal with the Soviet Union, eastern Europe and all other party brothers and nationally significant matters and primary leaders;
(xi) topics which deal with maps of China's borders;
(xii) topics which deal with books on the Hong Kong Special Administration Zone, Macao and the Taiwan region;
(xiii) topics of large scale translations of ancient texts into modern Chinese (equal to or greater than 5,000,000 characters);
(xiv) topics of imported animated reading material; and
(xv) selections whose contents are any type of directory of entity names or communication addresses.

Is the subject of your book dead?

Can you get permission from the
subject of your book?

Article 4 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders (1990.05.05) states that publishers of manuscripts written about major Party and national leaders who are currently living must solicit the opinions of that person prior to submitting it to the General Administration for Press and Publication for approval.

Has the government decided your
book is creating political problems?

You may be punished

Even if the Chinese government permits a book to be published, it can at any time declare that the book is banned. For example, in October, 2003 Chinese authorities announced they were banning the sale of 19 dictionaries. See Chinanews.com.cn.

The government may also revoke a publishing house's license. See Articles 56 through 66 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25).

Ban orders and license revocations are done by administrative fiat, and the CECC is not aware of any instance where an author or publishing house has successfully fought such an order in court.

Authors who arrive at this point without having published their book through authorized official channels are subject to criminal prosecution. For example:

• Article 1 of the Notice Regarding Striking Hard Against Illegal Publishing Activities (1987.07.06) states that except for those publishing units approved by the State, no unit or individual may publish to society for open distribution any book, periodical or audio/visual publication. Violators shall be deemed to engage in illegal publishing activities.
• Article 11 of the Supreme People's Court's Explanation Regarding Certain Questions About the Specific Laws to be used in Adjudicating Criminal Cases of Illegal Publications (1998.12.17) states that anyone who violates national regulations and publishes, prints, copies or distributes illegal publications may be sentenced to prison terms of five years or more for the crime of illegally conducting business.
• Chinese authorities may also exploit China's vague and overbroad national security and state secrets laws to imprison authors who publish their works without authorization.

Have someone else publish your
book without breaking any laws

Can you find a government licensed
publisher to publish your book?

Article 1 of the Notice Regarding Resolutely Clamping Down on Illegal Publishing Activities (1996.01.25) states that no entity or individual may engage in publishing, printing, copying or distributing books, newspapers, periodicals or audio-visual publications without authorization from the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Article 9 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that all books published in China must be published by "publishing units."

Are you willing to accept the changes
the publisher will make to your book
to remove politically sensitive contents?

For example, in September 2003 the publisher of the Chinese edition of former U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton's memoirs censored several politically sensitive passages in the book. One of these was a reference to Chinese dissident Harry Wu, a human rights activist who spent 19 years in Chinese work camps before being allowed to go to the United States. Wu returned to China in 1995, and was arrested by Chinese authorities. In the Chinese translation, Wu is not named and simply described as "a person wanted for espionage and detained awaiting trial."

Can you find a government licensed
printer to print your book?

Article 32 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that publishing units may only use government licensed printers.

Can you find a government licensed
distributor to sell your book?

Article 38 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that a publishing unit may distribute books that it publishes.

Article 36 of the Regulations on the Administration of Publishing (2001.12.25) states that no one may distribute books (either wholesale or retail) that it has not published without a license from the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Publish your book yourself
without government authorization

Are you willing to stand
trial for subversion or
disclosing state secrets?

See above:

• You may be punished

Do you only want to
give away a few copies
of your book?

Authors who only give away a few copies of their work to family members, close friends, or neighbors may fall below the radar of Chinese authorities.

Note that this will not affect the foregoing choice regarding standing trial for subversion or disclosing state secrets.

Are you willing to break
the law by stamping your
book as "Internal"?

Authors who wish to sell their works, or distribute copies beyond the boundaries of their immediate friends and family often resort to stamping their publications as "internal," as Chinese law provides for limited exceptions to the licensing requirement for publications that are not intended to be sold or distributed to the public (for example, an internal company or agency publication). This is done most often with periodicals, and provides more psychological comfort than actual legal protection if Chinese authorities determine a publication represents a political threat.

Are you willing to break the
law by publishing a book
with an illegal serial number?

See above:

• Can you get a book number from the government?

Are you willing to break the
law by engaging in
publishing without a license?

See above:

• Do you have RMB 300,000?
• Are you well-connected?
• Are you a Chinese citizen?
• Can you get a publishing unit license from the government?

Does your book avoid
addressing sensitive
political issues?

See above:

• Does your book avoid addressing sensitive political issues?

Are you willing to break the
law by publishing on
"important topics"
without permission?

See above:

• Is your publisher authorized to publish books on politically sensitive issues?
• Can you get permission from the Communist Party?
• Can you get permission from the General Administration for Press and Publication?
• Can you get permission from the subject of your book?

Your book cannot
be published in China.

China's extensive administrative barriers to publishing means that most Chinese are too intimidated to attempt to publish their works in mainland China. To avoid prosecution, some authors get their books published in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. For example, the "Tiananmen Papers" and "Zhou Enlai's Final Years" have been published in Chinese outside of China. The Chinese government has not only banned the publication of these books in mainland China, but also prohibited their importation into mainland China and forbidden mainland media from discussing them.