A new regulation went into effect on July 1 to prevent the sale of alcohol to under-18s, but experts have criticized it as having no deterrent effect.

"It can only be treated as a recommendation," said Tong Lihua, director of the Beijing Juvenile Legal Aid and Research Center. "It does not list any penalty clauses, so violators can only be condemned morally without any legal liability."

The Ministry of Commerce's Supervisory Regulation on Alcoholic Drinks Retailing refers to drinks with a concentration of alcohol of over 0.5 percent, and is the first rule to target vendors.

Legislation passed by the National People's Congress (NPC) in 1999 referred briefly to underage drinking but was directed at minors themselves and has not been widely enforced.

"The regulation does not say who will enforce it," said Pi Yijun, juvenile delinquency professor at the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), adding that it is equivalent to no more than a court order.
 

With these kinds of gaps in the regulation, Pi suggested that the public should be mobilized to help supervise vendors.

The Law on Prevention of Minors Committing Crimes and the Law on the Protection of Minors are currently being revised, and penalty clauses regarding the sale of alcohol to under-18s are reportedly being considered.

(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, July 14, 2005)