Criminal act, also called criminal activity, means any act that is expressly stipulated under the Penal Code of the People’s Republic of China that constitutes a crime. That means, any act not covered by the explicit stipulations of the Penal Code, even if it is immoral or unethical or deemed as an offense or felony under the laws of other countries, is not a criminal act and shall not be punished as a crime.
According to the Penal Code of the People’s Republic of China, an act may be deemed as a criminal act only if all the material elements are proven, i.e., actor (the person who commits the criminal act), actus reus (the criminal act committed), mens rea (the state of mind at the time of committing the criminal act), and harm and causation.
All the elements must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt before an act is deemed as a criminal act or crime.
