National Defence Mobilisation Law (China, 2010)

The National Defence Mobilisation Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted on 26 February 2010 and took effect on 1 July 2010. It organises peacetime mobilisation preparation and the conversion of national resources after a lawful mobilisation decision. The 2010 law remained operative at the 30 July 2026 review lock, but a draft revision had been submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for first reading in April 2026. The draft was not operative law.

Authority and activation

The law assigns the National People's Congress Standing Committee the decision on general or partial mobilisation and the President the resulting mobilisation order. The State Council and Central Military Commission jointly lead national defence mobilisation within their responsibilities. Local governments and military organs implement assigned tasks.

Peacetime duties include plans, surveys of mobilisation potential, reserves and requirements for specified infrastructure and productive capacity. These preparatory obligations do not mean that the entire economy is continuously under wartime command. A mobilisation decision and implementing measures remain distinct legal steps.

Resources and limits

After mobilisation, the state may use special measures in fields including finance, transport, communications, information networks, energy, medicine, food and commerce. The law provides for requisition of civilian resources and requires return where possible, with compensation for direct economic loss under applicable rules. Editors must distinguish a statutory power from a completed requisition and identify the competent authority, object and activation basis in any example.

The law applies obligations to organisations and citizens within its scope, but it should not be paraphrased as an immediate state claim over every person, foreign investor or asset. Corporate presence alone does not prove that an enterprise has received a mobilisation order. The law also overlaps with, but is not identical to, Military-Civil Fusion (Civil-Military Fusion), which is a broader policy framework. Comparison with Defense Production Act authorities (1950-present) should preserve different constitutional structures, triggers and compensation rules.

See also

Military-Civil Fusion (Civil-Military Fusion) · Defense Production Act authorities (1950-present) · Total economic mobilisation · China (People's Republic)

Sources

1. State Administration for Market Regulation, National Defence Mobilisation Law, official Chinese text (accessed 30 July 2026).
2. National People's Congress, Adoption record (26 February 2010).
3. National People's Congress, National Defence Law of the People's Republic of China (revised 26 December 2020).
4. State Council Information Office, China's National Defense in 2010 (31 March 2011).
5. National People's Congress, draft revision submitted to the Standing Committee (29 April 2026).