Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Minors
Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Minors
(February 18, 2022)
No. 106
(Adopted at the 16th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on November 25, 2004; amended according to the Decision on Revising the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Minors adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on December 27, 2013; revised at the 39th Session of the Standing Committee of the 15th Shanghai Municipal People’sCongress on February 18, 2022)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
With a view to protecting the physical and mental health of minors, safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests, promoting their all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor education, and training them to be builders of and successors to the socialist cause with lofty ideals, moral integrity, better education and a good sense of discipline, and fostering them to be a new generation to undertake the task of national rejuvenation, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors and other relevant laws and administrative rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.
Article 2
Following the principle of best interest for minors, this Municipality shall, in accordance with law, guarantee minors’right to life, right to development, right to being protected and right to participation.
Minors shall enjoy all the lawful rights equally according to law, and shall not be discriminated against owing to their own or their parents or guardians' ethnic status, race, gender, census register, profession, religious belief, education, family background, and physical and mental conditions.
Article 3
The government, society, schools and families shall educate minors in ideals, morality, science, culture, sports, aesthetics, labor, national security, rule of law, and health, further educate them in the history of the Chinese Communist Party, patriotism, collectivism, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, foster among them the social ethics of loving the country, the people, work, science and socialism, fight against the corrosive influences of capitalism, feudalism and other decadent ideologies, and guide them in establishing and practicing the core socialist values.
The government, society, schools and families shall educate and help minors to protect their lawful rights and interests, and enhance their awareness and capability of protecting themselves.
Article 4
The government, society, schools and families shall establish a correct outlook of becoming talents, strive to optimize and perfect assessment concepts, foster among them healthy physique, personality and characters, and create a good environment where everyone can become useful and use their talent.
Article 5
Parents or other guardians of minors shall assume their guardianship duties for minors in accordance with the law.
The people’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall take measures to guide, support, assist and supervise parents or other guardians of minors in performing their guardianship duties.
Article 6
The municipal and district people’s governments shall incorporate the protection of minors into the national economic and social development plans and annual work plans at the corresponding levels, and incorporate the relevant expenses into the fiscal budgets at the same level.
Article 7
The municipal and district people’s governments shall set up the minors protection committees to perform the following duties in accordance with the law:
1. planning as a whole, coordinating, urging and guiding the relevant departments, lower-level minors protection committees and relevant units and organizations to effectively complete the protection of minors within the scope of their respective duties, and jointly implement laws, rules and regulations on the protection of minors;
2. establishing and improving a work mechanism for the protection of minors, and strengthening the building of minors-protection teams;
3. studying the protection of minors, and providing comments and suggestions to the relevant state authorities;
4. accepting requests for help, complaints, tip-offs and relevant comments and suggestions involving the protection of minors, and transmitting them to a relevant department and urging it to handle them; and
5. other duties determined by the people’s government at the same level.
The offices of the municipal and district minors protection committees shall be set up in the civil affairs departments at the same levels, and undertake the routine work of the committees.
Town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall set up minors protection committees to implement the protection of minors within their respective administrative areas.
Article 8
The Communist Youth Leagues, women's federations, trade unions, disabled person’s federations, offspring care committees, youth federations, students’ federations, Young Pioneers, Red Cross Society and other people’s organizations and relevant social organizations shall, in accordance with their respective functions and responsibilities, assist the people’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments, the people’s procuratorates, and the people’s courts in properly protecting minors and safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests.
Article 9
Any organization or individual shall, upon discovering acts detrimental to the physical and mental health of minors or infringing upon their legitimate rights and interests, have the right to dissuade or stop such acts, or report such acts to the relevant departments of public security, civil affairs, or education, or accuse them with the aforesaid departments.
Where state authorities, neighborhood committees, villagers’ committees, and units and their employees in close contact with minors find in their work that minors' physical and mental health has been harmed, is suspected of being harmed, or is facing other dangers, they shall immediately report to the relevant departments of public security, civil affairs, or education.
When receiving a tip-off, an accusation or a report involving minors, the relevant department shall accept and handle the case in a timely manner in accordance with the law, and notify the relevant unit and person of the handling results in an appropriate manner.
Article 10
This Municipality shall establish and improve the statistics and investigation system for minors. The Office of Municipal Minors Protection Committee shall regularly organize and conduct statistics, investigations and analyses of minors’ health and education, and release relevant information on their protection.
Article 11
Organizations and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in protecting minors shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality.
Chapter II Family Protection and Minors’ Self-Protection
Article 12
The parents or other guardians of minors shall foster a correct family education concept, conscientiously acquire family education knowledge, master scientific family-education methods, improve their family-education ability, create a good family environment, and educate, influence and protect minors with sound ideology, proper words and deeds, and appropriate methods.
Parents or other guardians of minors shall participate actively in the public-welfare family-education guidance and practice organized by schools, kindergartens, infant and child care service institutions, and communities, and cooperate closely with them to jointly promote the healthy growth of minors.
Article 13
The parents or other guardians of minors shall perform guardianship duties in accordance with the law, and shall not conduct acts that violate the minors’ physical and mental health and their property rights and interests, or fail to perform their obligations to protect minors in accordance with the law.
Parents or other guardians of minors shall educate and guide minors to develop good living and study habits, learn to manage their time independently, and enhance their self-care and self-discipline abilities.
The parents or other guardians of minors shall prevent and stop minors from committing bad behaviors and illegal and criminal acts, and shall immediately look for the minors if they find that the minors play truant, do not return home at night for no reason, or run away from home; and shall immediately report to the public security department when finding persons suspected of inducing, coercing, or instigating minors to violate the law and commit crimes.
Article 14
The parents or other guardians of minors shall pay attention to their physical and mental health, and seek medical treatment in a timely manner when necessary; pay attention to the emotional needs and mentality of the minors, communicate with them in a timely manner and give correct guidance; encourage and support them to participate in housework and various positive and healthy cultural and sports activities and social interaction activities, and lead them in social welfare activities.
Article 15
Parents or other guardians of minors shall provide minors with a safe family living environment by promptly eliminating potential safety risks that may cause injuries, such as fires, electric shocks, burns, poisoning, sharp objects, and falls.
Parents or other guardians of minors shall raise their awareness of outdoor safety protection for minors, and shall not allow minors to swim, play or engage in other risky activities in rivers, reservoirs and other dangerous waters, so as to protect the minors from drowning, animal attacks, missing and other accidents.
Article 16
Parents or other guardians of minors shall take the following measures to prevent minors from being injured in traffic accidents:
1. Minors shall be educated to abide by traffic codes and enhance their awareness of traffic safety;
2. When carrying minors under the age of four in a family car, child safety seats shall be equipped and used correctly; when carrying minors under the age of 12 in a family car, they shall not be seated on the front passenger seat; minors under the age of 12 shall not be seated on the back of motorcycles or mopeds;
3. Minors under the age of 12 shall not be allowed to ride bicycles on the road; minors under the age of 16 shall not be allowed to ride electric bicycles on the road; and
4. Minors riding electric bicycles or motorcycles shall be instructed to wear safety helmets properly.
Article 17
The parents or other guardians of minors shall not leave minors unattended if they are under the age of eight or if they need special care due to physical or psychological reasons, shall not leave them in the temporary care of persons with no or limited capacity for performing civil juristic acts, persons with serious infectious diseases, or other unsuitable persons; minors under the age of 16 shall not be allowed to live alone without guardianship.
If the parents or other guardians of minors are unable to fully perform their guardianship duties within a certain period of time due to reasons such as going out to work, they shall entrust a person with full capacity for performing civil juristic acts to take care of them on their behalf; without justifiable reasons, they shall not entrust others to take care of them on their behalf.
Article 18
Minors shall abide by laws, rules, regulations and social ethics, have self-respect, self-love, self-discipline and self-improvement, take the initiative to participate in social activities, have the courage to deal with difficulties and challenges, strengthen their awareness and capacity of resisting disasters and injuries, dealing with setbacks and pressures, distinguishing right from wrong, protecting themselves, and conscientiously resist the temptation or harms from various bad behaviors and illegal and criminal acts.
Article 19
If minors discover that others have violated their personal rights, property rights and other legitimate rights and interests, they may report to the relevant competent departments such as the public security, civil affairs and education departments through their parents or other guardians, their schools, or neighborhood committees or villagers’ committees, or they can report by themselves to the aforesaid departments.
Where minors are abandoned or abused by their parents or other guardians, they may request protection from the public security department, civil affairs and education departments and other relevant competent departments, as well as from the minors’ school, neighborhood committee, villagers’ committee, Communist Youth League, or women’s federation. The aforesaid departments and organizations shall not refuse or shrink from the requests, and shall take necessary relief measures in accordance with the actual circumstances.
Chapter III Protection by Schools
Article 20
Schools shall fully implement the education policy of the State, ensure that education performs its fundamental mission of strengthening moral education and cultivating people, follow the laws of education and the laws of physical and mental development of minor students, improve the ideological, moral, scientific, cultural and health quality of minor students, and cultivate their cognitive capability, cooperation capability, innovation capability and practical capability, and promote their comprehensive development.
A school shall establish a work system for minors protection with its principal as the first person responsible, and designate one of the school leaders to be responsible for minors protection.
Article 21
Teachers shall abide by professional ethics, influence and educate minors with their good morals, words and deeds, combine imparting knowledge with nurturing sentiments and developing good behavior habits, and guide minors' all-around moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and hard-work-spirit development.
Teaching and administrative staff shall respect the personal dignity of minors, safeguard their lawful rights and interests, and shall not subject them to abuse, corporal punishment or corporal punishment in a disguised form, or commit any other act that humiliates the personal dignity of minors.
Article 22
Schools shall care for and protect the minor students, and equally protect their lawful rights and interests. Special care should be given to students with family difficulties or physical or mental disabilities. Students with abnormal behaviors or learning difficulties should be educated and helped patiently. Schools shall not discriminate against such students, suspend their education without authorization, and shall not, in violation of state provisions, expel them or expel them in a disguised form from school.
Before the school punishes a minor student, it shall communicate with the student and his/her parents or guardians, give him/her an opportunity to defend, and give a written reply to the content of his/her defense.
Schools shall cooperate with the civil affairs, the education, and other relevant departments to establish information files of minors who are left behind by parents and minors in difficulty, and provide them with care and assistance.
Article 23
Schools shall establish parent committees and parent schools, strengthen home education guidance, improve the home-visit system, and keep in close contact with the parents or other guardians of minor students. The parents or other guardians of minor students shall cooperate with the school to maintain the teaching order and teaching management.
When finding a student has abnormal behavior or is absent from class without reason, the school shall contact his/her parents or other guardians in time to find out the reason. If a student of a boarding school goes out without authorization or does not return to the dormitory at night without reason, the school shall promptly look for him/her and notify his/her parents or other guardians, and report to the public security department when necessary.
Article 24
Schools shall provide guidance on social life, mental health counseling, adolescence education, life education and gender education in accordance with the characteristics of minor students’ physical and mental development.
Schools shall offer mental health courses with at least one mental health education teacher, and may set up psychological counseling rooms to strengthen mental health counseling for minor students. If minor students are found to be abnormal in their psychology or behavior, schools shall intervene and notify their parents or other guardians in a timely manner; if there are serious mental health problems, schools shall report to the education, health and other departments in time.
Schools shall keep the information of students with abnormal psychology or behavior confidential, and must not use students’ mental health status as a reference for their comprehensive evaluation and further education.
Article 25
The school shall cooperate with the parents or other guardians of the minor students to reasonably arrange their study time and guarantee their time for rest, entertainment, physical exercise, extracurricular activities and social practice.
Schools shall carry out teaching activities in accordance with the curriculum plan and curriculum standards, explore and improve educational methods, and implement the provisions of the State and this Municipality on reducing the excessive learning burden on minor students.
At the stage of compulsory education, schools shall not hold or hold in a disguised form any selection exams or tests linked to admissions; shall not publish a ranking list of students’ test scores; and shall not sell or sell in a disguised form teaching materials such as workbooks and problem sets.
Article 26
Schools shall ensure minor students have access to cultural and sports facilities and sites. During national holidays, rest days and winter and summer vacations, the cultural and sports facilities and sites of schools shall be open to minors in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Municipality.
Article 27
Schools and kindergartens shall designate specific personnel to be responsible for the management of daily cleaning, establish and improve the systems for preventing and controlling infectious diseases and for reporting epidemics, develop infectious-disease emergency response plans, and organize activities such as health checks, cleaning and disinfection, and health promotion.
When finding patients with infectious diseases or suspected infectious diseases, schools and kindergartens shall report to the disease prevention and control agencies in the areas where the said schools and kindergartens are located or to the community health service s in a timely manner, implement relevant prevention and control measures in accordance with the provisions, and cooperate in the epidemiological investigations and other work.
Article 28
Schools and kindergartens shall establish and improve the safety management system involving security service, fire protection, facilities and equipment, and food and drugs, as well as the safety education system so as to conduct regular safety checks, eliminate potential safety hazards, and safeguard the personal and property safety of minors in the schools and kindergartens, educate minors on cherishing life and taking safety precautions, and carry out safety training as required to improve the ability of minors to protect and rescue themselves.
While minors are in schools and kindergartens, schools and kindergartens shall be managed in a closed manner, and extraneous people shall be prohibited from entering the campus. The canteens, dormitories, guard rooms and other places of schools and kindergartens shall be staffed with personnel in compliance with the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality. The facilities and equipment for physical and technical defense shall be strengthened, and the level of intelligent management shall be improved.
Schools and kindergartens shall provide minors with safe facilities for their learning and living. The food, medicine, student uniforms, teaching aids, tableware, sports equipment and other items for learning, living and activities provided to the minors shall meet the relevant state and municipal standards, and the purchases of the aforesaid items shall be made known to the parents, minors, and staff.
Article 29
Schools and kindergartens shall, in accordance with state provisions, obtain school-bus use permits and establish and improve the school-bus safety management system. School buses shall meet the national standards and be driven by qualified drivers.
When a school bus carries minors, it shall follow the prescribed route and be staffed with a bus attendant. The school bus attendant shall perform his/her duties in accordance with the law to ensure the safety of minors on the school bus.
Schools and kindergartens shall conduct safety inspections on school buses on a regular basis, provide safety education for school bus drivers and attendants, explain to minors the knowledge of safe riding on school buses, and cultivate minors’ skills of emergency response to school-bus safety accidents.
Article 30
Schools and kindergartens shall develop plans for responding to natural disasters, disastrous accidents, public health incidents and other emergencies and accidental injuries, be equipped with necessary emergency rescue facilities and equipment, provide emergency knowledge education, and conduct emergency drills on a regular basis.
Where a personal injury accident happens to a minor in the school or kindergarten or in an extracurricular activity or an after-kindergarten activity organized by the school or kindergarten, the school or kindergarten shall immediately conduct rescue, handle the accident appropriately, notify the parents or other guardians of the minor in a timely manner, and report to the education department.
The organizers of schools and kindergartens shall purchase the corresponding liability insurance in accordance with the provisions. Parents or other guardians of minors are encouraged to purchase personal accident insurance for minors.
Article 31
Schools and kindergartens shall organize minors to participate in public welfare activities commensurate with their age, and physical and mental health. No school or kindergarten shall organize minors to participate in any commercial activities directly or in a disguised manner, promote any commodity or service among minors and their parents or other guardians, or require them to purchase designated commodities or services.
Schools or kindergartens shall be prohibited from enrolling students in collaboration with an after-school tutoring institution, from linking the tutoring results of the said institution with their enrollment, and from cooperating with the said institution to provide minors with paid course tutorship.
Article 32
Schools shall establish a student-bullying prevention and control work system, and provide education and training on student-bullying prevention and control for faculty members and students, and open channels for minors to report bullying and seek help.
Schools shall immediately stop bullying behavior of minor students, and notify the parents or other guardians of both the bullying and bullied minor students so that the said parents or other guardians can participate in the identification and handling of the bullying behavior. The schools shall provide psychological counseling, education and guidance for relevant minor students in a timely manner; and provide necessary family education guidance for the said parents or other guardians.
For the bullying minor students, schools shall strengthen discipline in accordance with the law and in light of the nature and extent of the bullying behavior. Schools shall not conceal serious bullying behavior, and shall report to the public security department and education administrative departments in a timely manner, and cooperate with the relevant departments in handling the bullying in accordance with the law.
Article 33
Schools and kindergartens shall establish a system for preventing sexual abuse and sexual harassment of minors, shall not employ persons with criminal records of sexual abuse or sexual harassment, and shall strengthen relevant education and management of the teaching staff.
Schools and kindergartens shall not conceal illegal and criminal acts such as sexual abuse and sexual harassment of minors, and shall report to the public security department and education departments in a timely manner, and cooperate with relevant departments in handling them in accordance with the law.
Schools and kindergartens shall provide age-appropriate sex education for minors, and improve minors’ self-protection awareness and ability to prevent sexual abuse and harassment. Schools and kindergartens shall adopt relevant protective measures in a timely manner for minors who have suffered sexual abuse and harassment.
Article 34
Schools are encouraged to set up specialized technical posts in social work or bring in professional social workers to participate in family education guidance, minor students’ psychological or behavioral intervention, and education for their transformation, and provide them with specialized and personalized guidance and services.
Article 35
Infant and child care service institutions, early education service institutions, after-school training institutions, and after-school care institutions shall provide service and training related to minors in accordance with laws, rules and regulations, and do a good job of protecting minors with reference to the relevant provisions of this Chapter and in accordance with the developmental characteristics and patterns of minors at different ages, thus safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of minors.
Chapter IV Social Protection
Article 36
The whole society shall foster sound values of caring for and loving minors, protect minors’ legitimate rights and interests, and optimize their growth environment.
The Municipality shall encourage, support and guide people’s organizations, enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, other organizations, and individuals to carry out social activities and provide services conducive to the healthy growth of minors.
Article 37
Neighborhood committees and villagers’ committees shall set up special posts to be responsible for the protection of minors, assist the relevant government departments in publicizing laws, rules and regulations on the protection of minors, and guide, help and supervise minors’ parents or other guardians in performing guardianship duties in accordance with the law, create information files of minors who are left behind by parents and minors in difficulty, provide care and assistance for them, and assist the relevant government departments in supervising the entrusted care of minors in accordance with the law.
Neighborhood committees and villagers’ committees shall assist the relevant departments in organizing and directing the minors to carry out cultural and sports activities and social practice that are conducive to their physical and mental health after class and during their spare time.
Article 38
Public places, public transport stations, and tourist sites, among others, shall actively promote the allocation of convenient service facilities, and shall, in accordance with the relevant standards and criteria, set up for minors and their families mother-and-baby rooms, baby care stations, all-gender restrooms, and toilets, wash basins and other sanitary facilities that are convenient for young children.
Article 39
The public cultural and sports facilities and related service items shall be available to minors free of charge or on a preferential basis in accordance with the relevant state and municipal provisions.
This Municipality shall encourage public cultural and sports facilities, according to their own functions and features, to launch special sessions for minors to provide targeted services in themed education, social practice, and physical exercise, among others.
Article 40
This Municipality shall encourage the creation, publication, distribution, exhibition, performance, and broadcast of books, newspapers, periodicals, films, television programs, entertainment programs, audio and video recordings, electronic publications and other cultural works conducive to the physical and mental health of minors.
Units and individuals that provide cultural works to minors shall be responsible for the content of the works, and shall not provide or display to minors content that may affect their physical and mental health.
Article 41
No organization or individual may disclose the personal privacy of minors. Issuing, reposting, and disseminating news reports and other information involving minors shall be objective, prudential and appropriate, shall not fabricate, exaggerate, or distort relevant content, and shall not illegally disclose minors’ names, addresses, units, photos, images, or other information that may identify a minor.
Any organization or individual processing the personal information about minors under the age of 14 shall obtain the consent of their parents or other guardians in accordance with the law. The parents or other guardians of the minors shall make prudent decisions in accordance with the principle of best interest for the minors, and fully consider the purpose, method and scope of the information processing as well as the minors’true wishes.
Article 42
When emergencies such as natural disasters, disastrous accidents, public health incidents occur, priority shall be given to the rescue of minors, and minors shall not be organized or arranged to engage in emergency rescue work.
Article 43
When accepting minors to check in or accepting minors and adults to check in together, hotel operators and other accommodation operators shall inquire about the contact information of the minors’ parents or other guardians, the relationship of the persons checking in, and other circumstances, and shall register in accordance with relevant provisions; and those who find suspicious illegal and criminal acts shall immediately report to the public security department and contact the minors’ parents or other guardians in a timely manner.
Where other places or individuals accommodate a minor, they shall obtain the consent of his/her parents or other guardians, or notify his/her parents or other guardians and his/her school in a timely manner, and report to the public security department when necessary.
Article 44
No commercial entertainment venues, bars, business premises of Internet access services or other sites inappropriate for minors shall be set up within the 200 meters’ distance around primary and middle schools or within a certain range of kindergartens. The certain range of kindergartens shall be determined by the municipal department of culture and tourism, jointly with the municipal departments of civil affairs, education, and market regulation.
Operators of commercial singing and dancing entertainment venues, bars, Internet-access-service business premises, and other sites inappropriate for minors shall not allow minors to enter; electronic game equipment installed in amusement and entertainment venues shall not be provided for minors except on national statutory holidays. Operators shall set up uniform signs of prohibition and restriction of entry for minors at conspicuous places at the entrances.
Article 45
No tobacco (including electronic cigarettes), alcohol or lottery sales outlets may be set up around schools and kindergartens within a certain range. The certain range shall be determined by the tobacco monopoly department, market regulatory department, civil affairs department, sports department and other competent departments.
It is prohibited to sell cigarettes, alcohol, or lottery tickets to minors, or redeem lottery prizes for minors. Operators of tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets shall set up signs of not selling tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets to minors at prominent places.
No one may smoke or drink alcohol in schools, kindergartens, areas near school gates and other public places where minors concentrate.
Article 46
No organization or individual may illegally conduct a transaction with minors that is incompatible with their age and intelligence, or provide them with tattoo services; medical cosmetic services shall not be provided to minors without the consent of their parents or other guardians.
Where operators of places that are inappropriate for minors, operators of tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets, and other relevant organizations or individuals perform their obligations specified in Paragraph 2 of Article 44, Paragraph 2 of Article 45 and Paragraph 1 of this Article, they shall require customers to show their identity cards if it is difficult to determine whether they are minors.
Article 47
When recruiting staff members, a unit in close contact with minors shall check with the public security department and the people's procuratorate to see whether an applicant has any illegal or criminal record of sexual assault, abuse, human trafficking, and violent injury, among others; and shall not recruit any person found to have records of the aforesaid conducts.
A unit in close contact with minors shall check whether its staff members have the aforesaid illegal or criminal records annually on a regular basis. If it, through checking or other means, finds a staff member guilty of one of the aforesaid conducts, it shall dismiss him/her in a timely manner.
Chapter Ⅴ Network Protection
Article 48
The government, society, schools and families shall strengthen the publicity and education of minors’ network literacy, cultivate and improve minors’ network literacy, enhance their awareness and capacity of scientific, civilized, safe and reasonable use of the Internet, and protect the lawful rights and interests of minors in cyberspace.
Article 49
The cyberspace department is responsible for planning as a whole and coordinating network protection of minors, and relevant supervision and administration.The departments of public security, education, culture and tourism, the press and publication, radio, film and television, and health shall effectively complete the work of network protection of minors in accordance with their respective duties.
The relevant departments shall supervise the content and means of the online products and services by the providers in accordance with the law, guide the providers to carry out obligations of cyberbullying prevention, information processing, acceptance of complaints and tip-offs, prevention of minors’ addiction to the Internet and prevention of infringement upon minors' lawful rights and interests, and investigate and deal with the relevant illegal acts in a timely manner.
The health department shall guide relevant professional institutions to provide prevention and intervention services for minors’addiction to the Internet.
Article 50
Schools shall incorporate content such as safe and rational use of the Internet into education or teaching activities, and guide students to use intelligent terminal products in a scientific and standardized manner, develop sound habits of using the Internet, enhance their awareness of cybersecurity and improve their capacity of analyzing and judging network information.
Article 51
The education department shall organize the development of online education and teaching resources, innovate education and teaching methods, provide students with free learning resources such as specific thematic education and discipline education through the online education and teaching resource platform and the school online platform, and organize teachers to conduct free online communications and mentoring.
Schools shall strengthen publicity, promotion and use of the aforesaid resources, and guide students to reasonably use high-quality Internet education and teaching resources.
Article 52
Minors' parents or other guardians shall improve their network literacy, regulate their own use of the Internet, and strengthen their guidance and supervision of the minors' use of the Internet.
Minors' parents or other guardians shall enhance their cybersecurity awareness, supervise minors in using their real identity information for identity verification when playing cyber games, and prevent them from using adults’ online payment accounts or cyber game registered accounts for online consumption or contact with the cyber games that are unsuitable for minors.
Article 53
Network product and service providers shall set the corresponding time management, authority management, consumption management and other functions for minors’ use of their products and services.
Network product and service providers shall establish mechanisms for information review, self-inspection assessment, and complaints acceptance involving minors, conduct inspections on the contents of their products and services on a regular basis, or activate assessment at a proper time on relevant contents in accordance with the complaints; and where a product or service is found to induce minors to be addicted to the Internet, endanger their physical and mental health, or infringe upon their lawful rights and interests, , the providers shall take necessary measures to delete, block, or amend relevant contents, functions or rules, prevent the spread of information harmful to minors, keep relevant records, and report to the cyberspace, public security, and other departments.
Network product and service providers shall improve the rules of network community and user conventions, and regulate and guide minors' use of the Internet, shall not induce minors to idolize stars and spend money blindly by methods such as tip ranking and false publicity; minors are strictly prohibited from participating in activities such as indecent online performance and bad online social networking.
Network product and service providers are encouraged to develop corresponding protective usage modes based on the physical and mental features of minors of different age groups, and guide minors to use network products and services in such modes.
Article 54
Online game service providers shall, in accordance with relevant state provisions, limit the time period and duration of minors' participation in online games, and shall not provide online game services to minors in any form beyond the specified time period and duration.
Online game service providers shall regulate the provision of paid services for minors, and restrict minors from using paid services inconsistent with their capacity for performing civil juristic acts. No organization or individual shall provide minors with online game account rental and sale services in any form.
Online game service providers shall use electronic identification and other technologies to identify the identities of minors participating in online games, and shall not provide online game services in any form to minors who have not registered and logged in with their real names.
Chapter VI Government Protection and Judicial Protection
Article 55
The municipal and district civil affairs departments shall specify relevant internal institutions and specialized personnel to be responsible for the protection of minors.
Town/township people's governments and sub-district offices shall set up minors protection workstations or designate specialized personnel to handle minors-related affairs promptly, and carry out work such as rule-of-law publicity, policy consultation, case handling, and service referrals; support and guide neighborhood committees and villagers’ committees to set up special posts for special personnel to protect minors.
Article 56
This Municipality shall incorporate family-education guidance services into the basic public service system.
The education department and the women’s federation shall, together with the departments of health and civil affairs, and relevant social organizations, carry out family-education guidance services, form and train teams that know how to guide family education, and formulate rules of family education guidance service.
Article 57
For minor students who have not completed the compulsory education, the education department or the town/township people’s government shall order their parents or other guardians to send them to schools for the compulsory education.
Where a school refuses to accept qualified students, or expels students or expels students in a disguised form in violation of the state provisions, the education department shall take immediate actions.
Article 58
The education department shall implement the requirements for the reform of the education system, promote high-quality and balanced development of the compulsory education, improve the quality of classroom teaching, and strengthen the main role of school education.
The education department shall establish a scientific education evaluation system, and take measures to urge schools to reduce the overburden of learning on minor students, and shall not take the enrollment rate as an indicator for evaluating school work.
Article 59
The Municipality shall develop an inclusive childcare service system, and support non-governmental sectors to set up infant care service institutions in accordance with the law.
The Municipality shall establish and improve a reasonably distributed urban and rural public service system for preschool education.
The education department shall cultivate and train the care and education personnel of infant care service institutions and kindergartens, and improve their professional ethics and professional proficiency, in order to provide safe and high-quality care and education for infants.
Article 60
The education department shall instruct schools to integrate vocational experience, vocational enlightenment, and career education into education and teaching activities, and promote vocational colleges to open up and share their education and teaching resources such as training venues, courses, and teachers with all schools.
The human resources and social security department, the education department, and the public employment service agencies of town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall provide information on vocational training for minors who have completed compulsory education but are unable to continue their studies, and provide assistance for their participation in training.
Article 61
The education department shall ensure that disabled minors who have the ability to receive general education and adapt to campus life can receive education in general schools and kindergartens nearby, and priority shall be given to the enrollment of disabled minors under the same conditions; disabled minors without the ability to receive general education shall be guaranteed to receive education in special education schools (classes) and kindergartens.
The education department and other relevant departments shall guarantee the conditions for running special education schools (classes) and kindergartens, guide the schools and kindergartens to strengthen the construction of barrier-free environments, and encourage and support social forces to run special education schools (classes) and kindergartens.
The Disabled Persons' Federation shall improve the guarantee mechanism of rehabilitation services for disabled minors. The departments of health and civil affairs and the Disabled Persons’ Federation shall, in accordance with their respective functions and duties, strengthen the supervision and administration of rehabilitation service institutions, in order to guarantee disabled minors rehabilitation service.
Article 62
The education department shall strengthen the building of a safety risk prevention and control system at school, and guide and supervise, in conjunction with the public security department and the emergency management department, the schools and kindergartens to implement their responsibilities for safety management at school.
The education department shall strengthen the integrated emergency response jointly with the departments of public security, emergency management, health, and meteorology, establish and improve the reporting, handling and coordination mechanisms for emergencies, and take relevant measures in a timely manner for prevention and control in the event of emergencies that may affect school safety.
The education department shall incorporate safety, emergency response and other relevant knowledge and skills into the training for principals and teachers and into the public safety education in primary and secondary schools in order to improve the schools’ awareness and ability of safety and precaution.
Article 63
Town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall set in motion comprehensive improvement of the environment around schools, and coordinate with relevant departments to strengthen the management and supervision of relevant business service sites and business activities.
The public security department shall strengthen public security administration around schools, and when finding people holding up minors, forcibly extorting their property, or insulting and beating them, shall stop such acts in a timely manner and handle the cases in accordance with the law.
The traffic management section of the public security department shall better maintain the traffic order around schools when minors go to and from schools, and ensure their personal safety.
Article 64
The health department shall guide disease control and prevention institutions and medical institutions to provide minors with vaccination, as well as other health care services such as prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, common and frequently-occurring diseases, and mental diseases, and to improve the physical and mental health of minors.
The education department shall guide schools to strengthen the mental health education for minor students, regulate the assessment and monitoring of the students’ mental health, and improve early detection and timely intervention.
The education and health departments that have received reports from schools about minor students’ serious mental problems shall promptly guide relevant institutions to make effective intervention, diagnosis and treatment.
Article 65
The civil affairs department shall, in conjunction with the departments of education, health, and human resources and social security as well as people’s organizations and social organizations such as disabled persons’ federations, establish and improve the care service system for minors with autism, and foster the development of social organizations and professional teams that provide services for minors with autism.
Article 66
This Municipality shall promote the building of a child-friendly community, and relevant departments shall formulate and improve relevant standards and norms for the building, evaluation, and acceptance.
Town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall strengthen and optimize the allocation of places and facilities for minors’ activities, integrate community resources, carry out activities and service projects that are suitable for minors’ physical and mental characteristics and take into account the growth needs of minors of different ages, and build a child-friendly community.
Article 67
Based on the 12345 service hotline for residents, this Municipality has established a hotline for the protection of minors. Relevant departments shall promptly accept complaints and reports that are related to the violation of the legal rights and interests of minors or transfer them to other departments, collect opinions and suggestions, and provide minors with consultations and help to protect them. Based on the 12355 youth service hotline and its online platform, this Municipality will provide minors with consulting services in mental health, legal rights protection, and safety protection.
Article 68
The public security department, the people's procuratorate, the people’s court, and the judicial administrative department shall perform their duties in accordance with the law to protect the legal rights and interests of minors.
Shanghai Municipality has established a linkage mechanism for judicial protection of minors. The people’s procuratorate, the people’s court, the public security department, the departments of judicial administration, civil affairs, and education as well as relevant people’s organizations shall hold regular consultations to study and solve major and difficult problems in judicial protection of minors, and strengthen information sharing and work cooperation.
Article 69
Legal aid agencies, the public security department, the people’s procuratorate, the people’s court, and the judicial administrative department shall provide legal aid or judicial assistance to minors in need according to the law.
Legal aid agencies shall establish a pool of lawyers specialized in handling legal aid cases involving minors, and designate lawyers familiar with the physical and mental characteristics of minors to provide them with legal aid.
Legal aid agencies and Shanghai Bar Association shall provide guidance and training for lawyers handling legal aid cases involving minors.
Article 70
The people’s procuratorate shall, through litigation supervision and prosecutorial suggestion, supervise the protection work involving minors in accordance with the law.
Where the lawful rights and interests of minors are infringed upon and the relevant organizations and individuals have not instituted lawsuits on their behalf, the people's procuratorate may urge them to initiate lawsuits or support them in initiating lawsuits by helping them apply for legal aid, providing them with consulting services, submitting their written opinions, assisting them in investigation and evidence collection, and other means. Where public interests are involved, the people’s procuratorate has the right to institute public interest litigations.
Article 71
The public security department, the people’s procuratorate and the people’s court that handle cases involving sexual abuse or violent injury of a minor shall, in accordance with law, inquiry the minor victim and witness in a special interview site or other appropriate sites with synchronous video and radio recordings, and try to complete the procedures at one time, so as to protect the minor. This procedure shall be conducted by female staff if the minor victim or witness is female.
The public security department, the people’s procuratorate, and the people’s court may, as needed, notify social workers, psychological counselors and other relevant professionals to come to the site and use methods such as interviews or covert observations to understand and assess the psychological status of the minor victims, and assist in the protection of the minors involved in the case.
Article 72
The principle of “education first, punishment second” shall be applied to minors who have broken the law or committed crimes.
After the minors who break the law or commit crimes are punished in accordance with law, they shall not be discriminated against in terms of further education and employment. The relevant criminal records shall be sealed for eligible minors in accordance with law.
Article 73
The public security department, the people’s procuratorate, the people’s court, and the judicial administrative department, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality, may designate public officials to serve as school vice-principals in charge of the rule of law and off-campus counselors in charge of the rule of law so as to assist schools in carrying out legal education, crime prevention and rights protection for minors, and in protecting school security. The vice-principal of the rule of law shall provide no less than four hours of legal education for teachers and students every school year.
Article 74
State authorities may introduce social professional forces such as social organizations, social workers, and experts, through purchase of services, expert consultation, etc.,to improve the professional level of minors protection work.
Relevant social organizations, social workers, and volunteers are encouraged and supported to participate in minors protection by state authorities, to provide professional services for minors such as psychological intervention, legal services, legal aid, case assistance, social investigation, social observation, education and correction, community corrections, family education guidance, family guardianship competence evaluations, and adoption evaluations.
Chapter VII Special Protection
Article 75
If both parents or other guardians have the problem of lack of guardianship at the same time, or if one party conducts improper guardianship that results in the minor being left unattended or threatened with personal safety, then the minor shall be granted special protection in accordance with the law.
The lack of guardianship referred to herein includes the following situations:
1. the guardian’s inability to perform guardianship duties owing to death, disappearance, loss of contact, severe disability, serious illness, execution of penalties and measures restricting personal freedom, revocation of the guardianship qualifications, deportation (expulsion), etc.;
2. the guardian's inability to perform guardianship duties because of receiving treatment, being quarantined, or participating in relevant emergency response work; and
3. other circumstances prescribed by law.
Improper guardianship referred to herein includes the following situations:
1. sexually assaulting, selling, abandoning, abusing, or violently harming minors;
2. indulging, instigating or utilizing minors to commit illegal and criminal acts;
3. coercing, enticing, or utilizing minors to beg;
4. the guardian’s refusal or failure to perform the guardianship duties, resulting in the minor being left unattended; and
5. other circumstances as prescribed in laws.
Article 76
Where neighborhood committees, villagers’committees, or the civil affairs departments find any lack of guardianship or receive relevant reports, they shall help eligible minors apply for corresponding social assistance or security, and take necessary care or guardianship measures.
Where the public security department finds improper guardianship or receives relevant reports, it shall immediately dispatch the police to deal with it, stop the ongoing injurious acts, conduct an investigation thereof, criticize and educate, in accordance with the law, the parents or other guardians with the perpetrating acts, issue warnings to them, give them public security administration punishment among other measures, and notify the local neighborhood committee, villagers’ committee or civil affairs department; and such parents and guardians shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law where the violations constitute crimes. In the process of handling, where the minor is found injured, or needs to be sent to an assistance and protection institution or child welfare institution for temporary guardianship, the minor shall first be sent to the medical institution designated by the health department for treatment or physical examination.
Article 77
Neighborhood committees, villagers’committees or civil affairs departments that perform temporary guardianship duties in accordance with the law may adopt temporary life care methods such as entrusting relatives to raise the minors, family foster care, etc., or send them to minors’ assistance and protection institutions or child welfare institutions for adoption and fostering.
Institutions and individuals undertaking temporary guardianship duties shall, in accordance with relevant provisions, effectively complete the work of life-caring, medical treatment and vaccination, education, psychological counseling, and emotional comfort to protect the personal safety of minors; the institutions and individuals can apply, on behalf of the minors, for a personal protection order from the people’s court if necessary.
If it is necessary for the public security department to find the parents or other guardians of a minor, the public security department shall search for them immediately; if it cannot find them within six months, the public security department shall provide the neighborhood committee or the villagers'committee, or the civil affairs department with the final search conclusion, and coordinate the follow-up handling work.
Generally, the term of temporary guardianship generally does not exceed one year.
Article 78
For families with lack of guardianship or improper guardianship, the civil affairs department, the public security department, the people’s court, and the people’s procuratorate shall, as needed, carry out family guardianship capability assessment for the parents or other guardians of minors in accordance with relevant standards and norms. The result of the assessment serves as a reference for the determination of guardianship capacity, guardianship intervention assistance, or the restoration of guardianship qualifications.
The specific provisions for family guardianship capacity assessment shall be developed separately by the municipal civil affairs department in conjunction with the municipal public security department, the Municipal Higher People’s court, and the Municipal People’s Procuratorate.
Article 79
Where, during the period of temporary guardianship, a guardian is re-qualified for performing the guardianship duties through the family guardianship capability assessment, the civil affairs department or the neighborhood committee or the villagers’ committee may send the minor back to the guardian for fostering.
After the guardian takes back the minor, the civil affairs department shall report the relevant situation to the school where the minor is located, as well as the local public security department and the neighborhood committee or the villagers’ committee, and the relevant departments and units shall keep the contents of the report confidential.
The neighborhood committee or the villagers' committee shall follow up on the guardian's guardianship and the minor's study and life.
Article 80
For families with guardianship willingness but lack guardianship capability, the civil affairs department may, together with the town/township people's government, sub-district office and social work service agency, refer to the results of the family guardianship capability assessment and provide minors and their families with support services such as guardianship guidance, medical treatment, psychological counseling, and behavior modification.
For families with improper guardianship, the public security department, the people’s procuratorate, the people’s court, women’s federation, the civil affairs department and the education department can refer to the results of the family guardianship assessments, provide family education guidance services for minors and their families, and carry out family guardianship interventions.
Article 81
Relevant organizations and individuals may, according to the written recommendations of the people’s procuratorate and the results of the family guardianship capability assessment, apply to the people’s court for revocation of the guardianship qualifications for the parents or other guardians of minors with statutory circumstances.
Where there are statutory circumstances that require a guardian to be appointed for a minor, the neighborhood committee or the villagers’committee, the civil affairs department or the people's court shall respect the will of the minor in accordance with the law, follow the principle of best interest for the minor, and select a guardian from among legally qualified guardians. In the absence of any legally qualified guardian, the guardian shall be the civil affairs department, or the neighborhood committee or the villagers’ committee in the minor’s domicile place if the committee meets the conditions for performing guardianship duties, and the said department or committee shall perform long-term guardianship duties.
Article 82
For a minors who needs long-term guardianship, the civil affairs department, or the neighborhood committee or the villagers' committee that meets the conditions for performing guardianship duties shall perform guardianship duties in accordance with the law to protect the lawful rights and interests of the minor under guardianship.
The civil affairs department shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, strengthen the protection of orphans who have lost their parents, make proper arrangements for orphans, implement systems to guarantee their basic living needs, medical treatment and rehabilitation, education, and, after their adulthood, support their employment and entrepreneurship, and guarantee their housing, so as to safeguard the lawful rights and interests of orphans.
Article 83
Where the civil affairs department undertakes the duties of temporary guardianship or long-term guardianship, the departments of finance, education, health, and public security shall cooperate according to their respective duties.
The municipal and district people's governments and their civil affairs departments shall set up minors rescue and protection agencies and child welfare agencies that are staffed with specialized personnel, that are responsible for taking in and raising minors under the guardianship of the civil affairs department, and that provide them with care and protection.
Qualified minors rescue and protection agencies and child welfare agencies are encouraged to expand their social service functions, to provide temporary care, rehabilitation training, special education and other services for rural left-behind children, children in difficulty, orphans scattered in society, disabled children, and autistic children.
Chapter VIII Legal Liability
Article 84
In the case of violations of the provisions of these Regulations, if laws or administrative rules have provided otherwise, these provisions shall apply; those who infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of minors and cause personal, property or other damage shall bear civil liability according to law; if a crime is constituted, the person shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law.
Article 85
Where a minor’s parents or other guardians fail to perform their guardianship duties according to law or infringe upon the minor’s lawful rights and interests, the neighborhood committee or the villagers’ committee of their domicile shall dissuade and stop them; under serious circumstances, the neighborhood committee or the villagers’ committee shall report to the public security department in a timely manner.
Where the public security department receives a report that, or the public security department, the people’s procuratorate, or the people’s court finds, when handling a case, that the parents or other guardians of a minor falls under one of the aforesaid circumstances, it shall reprimand them, and order them to receive family education guidance by issuing a warning letter, a supervision and guardianship order, or a family education guidance order, and urge them to perform their guardianship duties.
Article 86
Where state authorities and their staff members fail to perform their duties to protect minors in accordance with the law, the unit they serve or the higher-level competent department shall order them to take corrective actions; those who neglect their official duties, abuse their official powers, or practice favoritism or make falsification shall be subject to disciplinary action according to law; if a crime is constituted, the wrongdoer shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities according to law.
Chapter IX Supplementary Provision
Article 87
These Regulations shall be effective as of March 1, 2022.