Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is formulated in order to prevent infectious diseases from spreading into or out of the country, to carry out frontier health and quarantine inspection and to protect human health.

Article 2 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall be set up at international seaports, airports and ports of entry at land frontiers and boundary rivers (hereinafter referred to as “frontier ports”) of the People’s Republic of China. These offices shall carry out the quarantining and monitoring of infectious diseases, and health inspection in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Health administration departments under the State Council shall be in charge of frontier health and quarantine work throughout the country.

Article 3 Infectious diseases specified in this Law shall include quarantinable infectious diseases and infectious diseases to be monitored.

Quarantinable infectious diseases shall include plague, cholera, yellow fever and other infectious diseases determined and announced by the State Council.

Infectious diseases to be monitored shall be determined and announced by health administration departments under the State Council.

Article 4 Persons, conveyances and transport equipment, as well as articles such as baggage, goods and postal parcels that may transmit quarantinable infectious diseases, shall undergo quarantine inspection upon entering or exiting the country. No entry or exit shall be allowed without the permission of a frontier health and quarantine office. Specific measures for implementation of this Law shall be stipulated in detailed regulations.

Article 5 On discovering a quarantinable infectious diseases or a disease suspected to be quarantinable, a frontier health and quarantine office shall, in addition to taking necessary measures, immediately notify the local health administration department; at the same time, it shall make a report to the health administration department under the State Council by the most expeditious means possible, within 24 hours at the latest. Post and telecommunications departments shall give priority to transmissions of reports of epidemic diseases.

Messages exchanged between the People’s Republic of China and foreign countries on the epidemic situation of infectious diseases shall be handled by the health administration department under the State Council in conjunction with other departments concerned.

Article 6 When a quarantinable infectious disease is prevalent abroad or within China, the State Council may order relevant sections of the border to be blockaded or adopt other emergency measures.