The “Measures for the Administrative Punishment of Illegal Acts in Work Safety” shall come into force on February 1, 2026

With the successive revisions of the “Administrative Punishment Law” and the “Work Safety Law” in recent years, the administrative punishment measures and rules related to work safety need to be updated simultaneously. On November 27, 2025, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued the “Measures for the Administrative Punishment of Illegal Acts in Work Safety” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”), which shall come into force on February 1, 2026. The following are the key revisions related to enterprises.

  1. To add 4 punishment measures

The Measures add 4 types of administrative punishments for illegal acts in work safety, namely, circular of criticism, reduction of relevant qualifications, restriction on conducting production and business activities, and restriction on employment.

  1. To further specify the jurisdiction over illegal acts

In response to the previous situation where multiple emergency management departments with jurisdiction either competed for jurisdiction or shirked responsibility, the Measures clearly stipulate that the department that files the case first shall have jurisdiction.

  1. Administrative law enforcement procedures are more open and transparent

This is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

  • Information such as the authority implementing the administrative punishment, the basis for filing the case, the implementation procedures, and the channels for remedy shall be publicly announced in accordance with the law.
  • In terms of protecting the rights of the parties, the emergency management department shall promptly inform the parties of the facts of the violation and their rights to make statements, defend themselves, and request a hearing, and provide convenience for the parties to inquire, make statements, and defend themselves.
  • The entire process of administrative law enforcement shall be recorded in the form of text, audio, video, etc., and archived for preservation.
  • Stricter requirements are put forward for the seizure and detention, including the need for approval by the person in charge of the emergency management department; in case of emergency, actions may be taken first, but approval by the person in charge of the emergency management department shall be obtained within 24 hours; the time limit for seizure and detention and the extension of such time limit shall be strictly restricted.
  • During the administrative law enforcement process, state secrets, trade secrets, or personal privacy shall be protected.
  • The conditions for filing a case under the ordinary procedure shall be clearly defined to avoid artificial “facilitating case filing” or “blocking case filing”.
  • Requirements for collecting and obtaining various types of evidence have been clarified. For example, electronic evidence shall have the original carrier, and if necessary, experts may be invited to assist in obtaining electronic evidence; or evidence of illegal acts may be collected and fixed by using the Internet, etc.
  • To add more circumstances which are applicable to the hearing procedure, such as the confiscation of a relatively large amount of illegal gains. At the same time, the definitions of “relatively large amount” and “relatively large value” have been revised. That is, if there are no local regulations, the fine amount for enterprises shall be increased from CNY50,000 to CNY100,000. In addition, an avoidance mechanism is added to the hearing procedure.