(Selected from the translated work titled The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, authored by Robert Zhang and Steve Li, criminal defense lawyers registered in Shanghai, China.)
Article 153 [Smuggling Ordinary Goods or Articles] A person who smuggles goods or articles other than those specified in Articles 151, 152, and 347 of this Law shall, depending on the severity of the circumstances, be sentenced to:
imprisonment of not more than three years or custody and a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the amount of the evaded tax if the tax evaded by smuggling reaches a large amount or the smuggling occurs after a second administrative penalty for smuggling has been imposed within one year after the date of the last administrative penalty for smuggling;
imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the amount of the evaded tax if the tax evaded by smuggling reaches a significant amount or the offense is committed under other serious circumstances; or
imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the amount of the evaded tax or forfeiture of property if the tax evaded by smuggling reaches a particularly significant amount or the offense is committed under other particularly serious circumstances;
Where an entity commits any of the offenses stipulated in the preceding paragraph, and the directly responsible chief and other directly responsible individuals shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or custody, or to imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years if the offense is committed under serious circumstances, or to imprisonment of not less than ten years if the offense is committed under particularly serious circumstances.
A person who smuggles for multiple times and remains unpunished therefor shall be punished based on the accumulated amount of the tax evaded by smuggling.
