The Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (amendment, 2021) will come into force on September 1, 2021. In the amended maritime safety law there are ten chapters consisting of 122 articles, which are enacted to improve the system design in terms of advocating ex ante prevention, strengthening interim and ex post supervision ，and enhancing emergency response, to fully implement the safety management requirements, so as to provide strong legal support for building a maritime power, promoting the development of the marine economy, and protecting the safety of people and property on the sea.

In the amended maritime safety law, provisions on marine and ecological protection, maritime traffic safety, and maritime traffic modernization have been added to optimize maritime traffic conditions and improve the level of safety protection.

It is to strengthen the management of ships and crew, improve the maritime search and rescue mechanism, and regularize the maritime traffic behaviors. It has added legal stipulations concerning management of shipping companies in safety and pollution prevention, ship security, protection of rights and interests of crew members when working on ships, as well as early warning of overseas emergencies and emergency response for crew members. It has also improved the legal stipulations on crew management, safety management in cargo and passenger transportation, maintenance of maritime rights and interests, maritime search and rescue, and investigation on and handling of traffic accidents.

In addition, the new maritime safety law has also considered the obvious international and foreign-related specialties of maritime transportation and maritime law enforcement. It clarifies that international treaties shall prevail in the case of conflicts between the domestic law of the People's Republic of China and the international treaties, except for clauses of reservations declared by the People's Republic of China.

Among them, the regulations concerning ships with foreign nationalities (foreign ships for short) are as follows:

I. Relevant regulations on pilotage for foreign ships.

A foreign ship which is to navigate, berth or shift berth in the pilotage zone delineated by the competent department of transportation under the State Council shall apply to a pilotage agency for such service, except for those have been submitted by such competent department to the State Council and approved by the latter (Article 30).

II. Regulations on entry and exit of foreign ships into and from ports.

An international navigation ship shall, in accordance with the law, apply for permission for entering or leaving a port from the maritime administrative agency and accept the supervision and inspection of the agency and other port inspection agencies. The maritime administrative agency shall make a decision in either approval or disapproval within five working days from the date of acceptance of the application. A foreign ship which is to temporarily enter non-open waters shall obtain permission in accordance with the provisions of the State Council on entry and exit of ships. (Article 46)

A foreign ship shall not enter any internal waters of the People's Republic of China unless it has obtained permission for entry in accordance with the provisions of the new maritime safety law. However, a ship can enter such waters without permission when it encounters emergency situations such as a mechanical failure, acute illness or death, and storm. A foreign ship that enters the internal waters of the People's Republic of China due to the emergency as specified in the preceding sentence shall make an emergency report to the maritime administrative agency and accept the instructions and supervision of the maritime administrative agency. The maritime administrative agency shall immediately notify the maritime police agency in jurisdiction of the sea area, the nearest entry-exit frontier inspection office, the local public security office, the customs and other competent departments. (Article 55)

If an international navigation ship enters or exits a port without permission, the maritime administrative agency shall impose a fine not less than 3,000 yuan but not more than 30,000 yuan on the owner, operator, or manager of the unlawful ship, and a fine of more than 1,000 yuan but less than 20,000 yuan on the responsible captain, crew members or other responsible persons. In cases of gross violation, the certificates of competency of the captain and crew members responsible shall be revoked. (Article 104)

III. Regulations on foreign ships entering in and exiting from terrestrial waters.

The following foreign ships entering in or exiting from the territorial waters of the People's Republic of China shall report to the maritime administrative agency: (1) Submersibles; (2) Nuclear-powered ships; (3) Ships carrying radioactive materials or other toxic and hazardous materials; (4) Other ships that may endanger the maritime traffic safety of the People's Republic of China as prescribed by laws, administrative regulations or the State Council. The ships mentioned in the preceding paragraphs shall hold relevant certificates when passing through the territorial waters of the People's Republic of China, take special precautionary measures in compliance with the laws, administrative regulations and rules of the People’s Republic of China, and accept the instructions and supervision of the maritime administrative agency. (Article 54)

If a foreign ship may threaten the safety of the internal waters and territorial waters of the People's Republic of China, the maritime administrative agency has the right to order it to leave. If a foreign ship has violated the laws and administrative regulations of the People's Republic of China on maritime traffic safety or the prevention and control of ship pollution, the maritime administrative agency may exercise the right of hot pursuit according to law. (Article 92)

If a foreign ship entering into or exiting from the internal waters or territorial waters of the People’s Republic of China has violated of the provisions of this law, the maritime administrative agency shall impose a fine not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan on the owner, operator or manager of the unlawful ship, and impose a fine not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 30,000 yuan on the captain. (Article 107)

IV. Principles of "priority of international treaties" and "reservations to treaties".

Where the international treaties signed or co-signed by the People's Republic of China have different provisions from this law, the provisions of the international treaties shall apply, except for the provisions reserved through declaration by the People's Republic of China. (Article 121)

In the case that a foreign ship has had an accident outside the waters under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, in which serious injury or death to one or more Chinese citizen has been caused, the maritime administrative agency shall participate in the investigation in accordance with the provisions of the international treaties that the People's Republic of China has signed or co-signed. (Article 86)