China countries/cn.yaml
Possessing a small amount is not a crime but an administrative offence.[@psapl25] Article 84 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, as revised from 1 Januar … up to 3,000 yuan possible, or up to 5 days or a fine of up to 1,000 yuan in lighter cases.[@psapl25] The crime of illegal possession begins at a '"relatively large amount'", which the Supreme People's Court's 2016 interpretation puts for cannabis at 30 kg of leaf, 2 kg of resin or 1 kg of oil.[@spc16] A foreigner who breaks the law may be ordered to leave or repatriated, and the Ministry of Public Security may deport someone for a serious breach of the exit-and-entry law.[@nia]
label Small possession, Article 84 (from 2026) · treatment civil · term Small possession · fine 3000 · note Ten to fifteen days' detention plus a fine of up to 3,000 yuan; lighter cases five days or 1,000 yuan, label Relatively large amount, crime threshold · treatment criminal · term Illegal possession · note Crime of illegal possession from 30 kg of leaf, 2 kg of resin or 1 kg of oil
Growing cannabis for drug use is prohibited and the plants are uprooted.[@psapl25] A small number of plants is an administrative offence under Article 83 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law: 10 to 15 days' detention, with a fine of up to 5,000 yuan possible, or up to 5 days or 1,000 yuan in lighter cases, and no penalty for a grower who uproots the plants before they mature.[@psapl25] It becomes a crime under Article 351 of the Criminal Law at 5,000 plants.[@spc16] Only state-designated enterprises may cultivate cannabis for industrial or medical purposes.[@cmsg]
psapl25, spc16, cmscmsg
label Small growing, Article 83 · treatment civil · term Cultivation · fine 5000 · note Ten to fifteen days' detention plus up to 5,000 yuan; lighter cases five days or 1,000 yuan; no penalty if uprooted before maturing, label Growing as a crime, Article 351 · treatment criminal · term Cultivation · note Crime from 5,000 plants
Short detention for users, extreme penalties for supply.[@psapl25] Citizens have been warned that using cannabis abroad can be punished on return.[@lc] Police conduct urine and hair testing in bars and other venues, and users can be sent to compulsory rehabilitation.[@lc]
wikipsapl25, lc
Supplying any amount is trafficking under Article 347 of the Criminal Law, which has no minimum quantity; large amounts can bring life imprisonment or death.[@lc] The 2016 interpretation counts 150 kg of cannabis leaf, 10 kg of resin or 5 kg of cannabis oil as the '"large amount'" that opens the heaviest tier.[@spc16] The Criminal Law also punishes transporting, manufacturing and smuggling drugs regardless of quantity.[@lc]
lc, wiki, spc16
label Trafficking any amount, Article 347 · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · note No minimum quantity; large amounts can bring life or death, label Large amount, heaviest tier · treatment criminal · term Trafficking · death true · note From 150 kg of leaf, 10 kg of resin or 5 kg of oil
Using a drug is an administrative offence under the same Article 84 as small possession: 10 to 15 days' detention and a possible fine of up to 3,000 yuan.[@psapl25] Since 2026 a user can also be ordered, for six months to a year, not to enter entertainment venues or contact people involved in drug offences.[@psapl25] Use is proved by urine or hair test, and police conduct testing sweeps in bars.[@lc] Users are registered in a national database and can be sent to compulsory rehabilitation for up to two years.[@ncl08]
psapl25, lc, wikincl08
NoneThere is no legal medical cannabis supply. No medical cannabis product and no THC product is approved; CBD is not permitted in food or medicines, was banned from cosmetics, and in 2024 was placed under precursor-chemical controls.[@cms] Cannabis seed is listed in the Pharmacopoeia as a traditional medicine, but that is not a patient supply route.[@cmsg]
cms, cmsg
All recreational use is prohibited.[@psapl25] Small possession and use bring administrative detention and fines, larger amounts are crimes from 30 kg of leaf, and trafficking any amount can bring life or death.[@spc16] Citizens are warned that use abroad can be punished on return.[@psapl25,spc16,wiki,lc]
psapl25, spc16, wiki, lc
Trafficking in a '"large amount'" falls in the tier of the Criminal Law that carries fifteen years, life imprisonment or death.[@lc] For cannabis the Supreme People's Court's 2016 interpretation puts that amount at 150 kg of leaf, 10 kg of resin or 5 kg of oil.[@spc16] The death penalty is available for the most serious trafficking cases, not for possession or use.[@lc]
lc, wiki, spc16
medicalhemp
China is one of the world's largest industrial-hemp producers.[@cms] Hemp is defined under provincial rules as cannabis with less than 0.3% THC and may be cultivated and processed only under licence, licensedin practice mainly in Yunnan and Heilongjiang,.[@cms] There is no medical or adult-use production; cannabis for fibre, seed and extraction for exportmedicine remains a state-controlled drug plant.[@cmsg]
wiki, cms, cmsg
No medical cannabis of any kind and no THC products.[@cms] CBD is not permitted in food or medicines, was banned from cosmetics, and in 2024 was placed under precursor-chemical controls.[@cms] Cannabis seed appears in the Pharmacopoeia as a traditional medicine, but no cannabis-based medicine or patient programme was found.[@cmsg]
cms, wikicmsg
Registration as a drug user brings years of monitoring and random testing, and affects employment and travel.[@ncl08] The Narcotics Control Law has police register drug users and sets community rehabilitation at three years; a user who comes forward to register or seeks treatment is not punished for the use.[@ncl08] Since 1 January 2026 records of public-security penalties, drug use included, are sealed: … t except to state organs handling a case or bodies entitled to check under national rules.[@yicai25]
wiki, ncl08, yicai25
The Drugs Prohibition Law forbids illicitly growing cannabis plants and makes it illegal to trade in, transport, carry or possess seeds or seedlings of drug plants that have not been inactivated.[@cmsg] Only enterprises designated by the state may cultivate such plants.[@cmsg] Cannabis seed itself is listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as a traditional medicine.[@cmsg]
No cannabis clubs are known, and the law leaves no room for them: growing cannabis and supplying it to another person are both prohibited, and the law provides for the death penalty for the most serious drug offences.[@lc]
wiki, cms, lc
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone.[@psapl25] Possessing a small amount is an administrative offence under Article 84, in force from 1 J … may be added, or up to 5 days' detention or a fine of up to 1,000 yuan in a lighter case. Larger amounts are a crime under the Criminal Law.[@psapl25] A foreigner who violates the law may be ordered to leave within a time limit, and may be repatriated, which bars return for one to five years.[@nia] Where a breach of the exit-and-entry law is serious but not a crime, the Ministry of Public Security may deport the person, which bars return for ten years.[@nia]
psapl25, beijing26, nia
The Road Traffic Safety Law says a person who has taken state-controlled psychotropic or narcotic drugs may not drive a motor vehicle.[@rtsl22] It sets no level and does not ask whether the driver is impaired.[@rtsl22] The article itself carries no penalty of its own for drugs; the law's detailed drunk-driving penalties refer only to alcohol.[@rtsl22]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 328 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 421 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr] No cannabis-specific price data were found.
standard
Industrial hemp is defined under provincial rules as cannabis with less than 0.3% THC.[@cms] Cultivation and processing require a licence and are concentrated in Yunnan and Heilongjiang; other provinces, including Gansu, grow it without a clear provincial regulation.[@cms] The national recommended standard for raw hemp, GB/T 16984-2023, took effect on 1 March 2024.[@cms] Hemp seed is listed as both food and medicine and is used for oil, tea and porridge.[@cmsg]
cms, cmsg
No cannabis-specific arrest figures were found. The available national series is the UNODC seizure data, which records 328 kg of herbal cannabis in 2024.[@unodc_szr] China publishes aggregate drug-user and drug-crime statistics rather than a cannabis breakdown, and those aggregates were not available in the sources read.
unodc_szr
Hemp runs through Chinese material and medical culture. [Ma](/culture/language/ma/) is the Chinese word for hemp, and [hemp seed in Chinese medicine](/culture/traditions/hemp-seed-in-chinese-medicine/) is listed in the Pharmacopoeia.[@cmsg] [Hmong hemp cloth](/culture/traditions/hmong-hemp-cloth/) records the fibre tradition of the upland south, while [hemp in the Taoist censer](/culture/traditions/hemp-in-the-taoist-censer/) and the [Scythian vapour bath](/culture/traditions/the-scythian-vapour-bath/) show ritual and medical uses that long predate the modern drug law.[@wiki] The [cannabis in the graves of Xinjiang](/culture/traditions/cannabis-in-the-graves-of-xinjiang/) finds preserved plant material in ancient burials, and the [CBD](/culture/language/cbd/) entry follows the compound from laboratory to China's 2024 precursor controls.[@cms]
cmsg, wiki, cms