Chinese nationality law
| Nationality law of the People's Republic of China | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 中華人民共和國國籍法 | ||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 中华人民共和国国籍法 | ||||||
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guójí Fǎ |
The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China regulates nationality of the People's Republic of China. Chinese nationality is usually obtained either by birth when at least one parent is of Chinese nationality or by naturalization.
The constitution of the People's Republic of China states that all persons holding nationality of the People's Republic of China are citizens of the People's Republic of China. Although in practice, the citizenship of Mainland China is the hukou, while the two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau, each has their own rules on the rights of abode in these territories.
In theory, the Chinese Nationality Law is de jure applicable to Chinese nationals residing in all three constituents of the People's Republic of China, namely Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR. Due to the complex history of Hong Kong and Macau SARs, however, special "explanations" of the Nationality Law were made in place by the National People's Congress before the Handover of Hong Kong and Macau. These interpretations, applicable only to permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau, have created a separate class of Chinese nationality unique to those two SARs, which differs vastly, especially with the acquisition and loss of nationality, from the Chinese nationality of Mainland Chinese residents with hukou.
The law was adopted at the Third Session of the Fifth National People's Congress and promulgated by Order No. 8 of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and effective as of September 10, 1980.
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