The regulation bans the employment of children, defined as minors 16 years of age or less, by organizations - including administrative bodies, and by social institutions, enterprises and individually owned businesses.

The new regulation also bars organizations or individuals from offering jobs to minors less than 16 years of age. It forbids minors less than 16 years of age operating their own privately owned small businesses as well.

The new regulation, endorsed by the State Council, will take effect on December 1 and replaces the current one, which has been in effect since 1991.

"The new regulation includes stipulations that make it more specific and practical," said Wang Jie, a lawyer at the Qiankun law firm in Beijing.

The new regulation states that employers must check the identification cards of job applicants to make sure that they are not under the age of 16 before employing them.

Unlike the old general terms of punishment for employing or recruiting child laborers, the new regulation clearly stipulates that offenders will receive punishments ranging from fines of up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,209) to criminal charges.

It also goes beyond the old rule in imposing clear responsibilities on labor, public security and industrial and commercial administrative departments forcing them to keep check on the crime more effectively.

Civil servants in these departments can be criminally charged for abuse of power or dereliction of duty in handling child labor cases.

(China Daily October 17, 2002)