（Adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National people's Congress on August 28， 2004） (来源：EnglishCN.com)

颁布日期：20040828 　实施日期：20050401 　颁布单位：全国人大常委会

　　Order of the President of the people's Republic of China

　　No.18

　　The Electronic Signature Law of the people's Republic of China， adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National people's Congress of the people's Republic of China on August 28， 2004， is hereby promulgated and shall go into effect as of April1， 2005.

　　HU Jintao

　　President of people's Republic of China

　　August 28， 2004

　　Contents

　　Chapter ⅠGeneral Provisions

　　Chapter ⅡData Message

　　Chapter ⅢElectronic Signature and Certification

　　Chapter ⅣLegal Responsibility

　　Chapter ⅤSupplementary Provisions

　　Chapter Ⅰ

　　General Provisions

　　Article 1 This law is enacted in order to standardize acts of electronic signature， validate the legal effect of electronic signature， and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of the parties concerned.

　　Article 2 For the purposes of this law， electronic signature means the data in electronic form contained in and attached to a data message to be used for identifying the identity of the signatory and for showing that the signatory recognizes what is in the message.

　　The data message as mentioned in this law means the information generated， dispatched， received or stored by electronic， optical， magnetic or similar means.

　　Article 3 The parties concerned may agree to use or not to use electronic signature or data message in such documentations as contracts and other documents， receipts and vouchers in civil activities.

　　The legal effect of a document， with regard to which the parties concerned have agreed to use electronic signature or data message， shall not be denied only because the form of electronic signature or data message is adopted.

　　The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall not be applicable to the following documents：

　　（1）documents relating to such personal relations as marriage， adoption and succession；

　　（2）documents relating to the transfer of the rights and interests residing in such real estate as land and houses；

　　（3）documents relating to termination of such public utility services as water supply， heat supply， gas supply and power supply； and

　　（4）other circumstances where electronic documentation is not applicable， as provided for by laws and administrative regulations.

　　Chapter Ⅱ

　　Data Message

　　Article 4 A data message， which can give visible expression to the contents carried and can readily be picked up for reference， shall be deemed to be the written form which conforms to the requirements of laws and regulations.

　　Article 5 Data messages that meet the following conditions shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements for the form of the original copies as provided for by laws and regulations：

　　（1）messages that can give effective expression to the contents carried and can readily be picked up for reference； and

　　（2）messages that can unfailingly guarantee that the contents remain complete and unaltered form the time when they are finally generated， And the completeness of the data messages shall not be affected when endorsements are added to the data messages or when their form are altered in the process of data interchange， storage and display.

　　Article 6 Data messages that meet the following conditions shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements for document preservation as provided for by laws and regulations：

　　（1）messages that can give effective expression to the contents carried and can readily be picked up fro reference；

　　（2）the format of the data messages is the same as the format when they are generated， dispatched or received， or although the format is not the same， the contents originally generated， dispatched or received can accurately be expressed.； and

　　（3）messages the addressers and receivers of which and the time of their dispatch and receipt can be identified.

　　Article 7 No data messages to be used as evidence shall be rejected simply because they are generated， dispatched， received or stored by electronic， optical， magnetic or similar means.

　　Article 8 The following factors shall be taken into consideration when the truthfulness of data messages to be used as evidence is examined：

　　（1）the reliability of the methods used for generating， storing or transmitting the data messages；

　　（2）the reliability of the methods used for keeping the completeness of the contents：

　　（3）the reliability of the methods for distinguishing the addressers； and

　　（4）other relevant factors.