(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 142 [Producing or Selling Counterfeit or Inferior Drugs] A person who produces or sells inferior drugs shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and a fine if serious damage to human health is caused thereby, or to imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and a fine or forfeiture of property if the consequences are particularly serious.
Personnel of drug users who knowingly provide inferior drugs to others shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Medicines of inferior quality as stipulated in this Article refer to medicines that fall under the category of medicines of inferior quality under the Pharmaceutical Administration Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 142A
[Hindering Drug Administration] A person who, violating drug administration laws and regulations, commits any of the following acts shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or custody and/or a fine to the extent that the offense is serious enough to endanger human health, or to imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and a fine to the extent that the offense causes serious damage to human health or is committed under other serious circumstances:
Producing or selling drugs prohibited by the medical products administration authority of the State Council;
Producing or importing drugs without obtaining the relevant approval documents, or knowingly selling such drugs;
Providing false certificates, data, information, or samples, or using other deceptive means in the application for drug registration; or
Fabricating production or inspection records.
A person who commits any of the acts stipulated in the preceding paragraph that constitutes any of the offenses stipulated in Article 141 or 142 of this Law or any other offense shall be convicted of and punished for the most serious offense.
