(Adopted at the Third Session of the Fifth National
People’s Congress, promulgated by Order No.8 of the
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People’s Congress on and effective as of September 10,
1980)
Article 1 This Law is applicable
to the acquisition,
loss and restoration of
nationality of the People's Republic of
China.
Article 2 The People's Republic of
China is a unitary multinational state; Persons belonging to
any of the nationalities in China shall have Chinese
nationality.
Article 3 The People's
Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for
Any Chinese national.
Article 4 Any
person born in China whose parents are both Chinese
nationals and one of whose parents is a Chinese national
shall have Chinese nationality.
Article
5 Any person born abroad whose parents are both
Chinese nationals and one of whose parents is a Chinese
national shall have Chinese nationality. But a person whose
parents are both Chinese nationals and have both settled
abroad, or one of whose parents is a Chinese
national and has settled
abroad, and who has acquired foreign nationality at birth
shall not have Chinese
nationality.
Article 6 Any person born in
China whose parents are
stateless or of Uncertain
nationality and have settled in China shall have Chinese
nationality.
Article 7 Foreign nationals
or stateless persons who are willing to abide by China's
Constitution and laws and who meet one of the following
conditions may be naturalized upon approval of their
applications: (1) they are near relatives of Chinese
nationals; (2) they have settled in China;
or (3) they have other legitimate
reasons.
Article 8 Any person who applies
for naturalization as a
Chinese national shall acquire Chinese
nationality upon approval of his
application; a person whose
application for naturalization as
a Chinese national
has been approved shall not retain foreign
nationality.
Article 9 Any Chinese
national who has settled abroad and who has been
naturalized as a foreign national or has acquired foreign
nationality of his own free will shall automatically lose
Chinese nationality.
Article 10 Chinese
nationals who meet one of the following conditions
may renounce Chinese nationality upon approval of
their applications: (1) they are near relatives of
foreign nationals; (2) they have settled abroad;
or (3) they have other legitimate
reasons.
Article 11 Any person who
applies for renunciation of Chinese nationality shall lose
Chinese nationality upon approval of his
application.
Article 12 State
functionaries and military personnel on active
service shall not renounce Chinese
nationality.
Article 13 Foreign
nationals who once
held Chinese nationality
may apply for restoration of Chinese
nationality if they have legitimate reasons; those whose
applications for restoration
of Chinese nationality
have been approved shall not retain foreign
nationality.
Article 14 Persons who wish
to acquire, renounce or restore Chinese nationality, with
the exception of the cases provided for in Article 9, shall
go through the formalities of application.
Applications of persons under the age of
18 may be filed on
their behalf by
their parents or
other legal representatives.
Article
15 Nationality applications at home shall be handled
by the Public Security Bureaus of the
municipalities or counties where the applicants reside;
nationality applications abroad shall be handled
by Chinese diplomatic representative
agencies and consular offices.
Article
16 Applications for naturalization as Chinese
nationals and for renunciation or restoration of Chinese
nationality is subject
to examination and approval by the
Ministry of Public Security of the People's
Republic of China. The Ministry of
Public Security shall issue a certificate
to any person whose application has been
approved.
Article 17 The nationality
status of persons who have
acquired or lost Chinese
nationality before the promulgation of this Law shall remain
valid.
Article 18 This Law shall come
into force on the day of its promulgation.
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