DECREE OF THE STATE COUNCIL CONCERNING THE USE OF UNIFORM LEGALMEASURES IN THE COUNTRY
DECREE OF THE STATE COUNCIL CONCERNING THE USE OF UNIFORM LEGALMEASURES IN THE COUNTRY
This English document is coming from the "LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GOVERNING FOREIGN-RELATED MATTERS" (1991.7)
which is compiled by the Brueau of Legislative Affairs of the State
Council of the People's Republic of China, and is published by the China
Legal System Publishing House.
In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese shall prevail.
Whole Document
DECREE OF THE STATE COUNCIL CONCERNING THE USE OF UNIFORM LEGAL
MEASURES IN THE COUNTRY
(Issued on February 27, 1984)
Since the State Council issued the Decree Concerning the Unification of
the System of Measurement in 1959, which stipulates that the metric system
is the basic system of measurement in the country, remarkable achievements
have been made in promoting the metric system, reforming the Chinese
market system, restricting the British system and abolishing the old and
mixed systems in China. In order to implement the policy of opening up to
the outside world and invigorating the economy at home, meet the needs of
developing the national economy and cultural and educational undertakings,
promote the advancement of science and technology and broaden
international economic and cultural exchanges, the State Council has
decided to further unify the measures of the country on the basis of
adopting the advanced international system of measurement. The 21st
Executive Meeting of the State Council held on January 20, 1984 discussed
and approved the following documents submitted by the State Measurement
Bureau: the Report Concerning the Use of Uniform Legal Measures in the
Country, the Suggestion Concerning the full Application of the Country's
Legal Measures, and the Legal Measures of the People's Republic of China.
The Decree is hereby issued:
I. The Legal Measures of the People's Republic of China (see the Appendix)
shall be adopted in any measurement in our country.
II. The Chinese market system of measures currently in use in daily
commercial activities may remain applicable till the end of 1990, before
which the transition to the national legal measures must be completed. As
for the reform of farmland measures, a reform plan shall be drawn up and
promulgated separately on the basis of investigation and study.
III. The reform of measures is a matter which concerns all walks of life
and broad masses of people. Leading cadres in the various localities and
departments must pay adequate attention to it and formulate vigorous and
reliable plans of implementation so as to ensure its successful
completion.
IV. The State Measurement Bureau shall be vested by this Decree with the
responsibility of the implementation thereof.
This Decree shall go into effect from the date of issuance. If any
previous provisions come into conflict with this Decree, this Decree shall
prevail.
THE LEGAL MEASURES OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
The legal measures of the country (hereinafter referred to as the legal
measures) include:
(1) basic units of the international system of measurement (see Table 1);
(2) auxiliary units to the international system of measurement (see Table
2);
(3) units derived from the ones with special names in the international
system of measurement (see Table 3);
(4) units of non-international system of measurement chosen by the State
(see Table 4);
(5) units formed by combining the above units;
(6) units formed by the symbols (see Table 5) and the above units
multiplied or divided by 10.
The definitions, uses, etc. of the legal measures shall be stipulated
separately by the State Measurement Bureau.
Table 1 Basic Units of the International System of Measurement.
|============================|===================|===============|
|Name of Measure | Name of Unit | Unit Symbol |
|============================|===================|===============|
|Length | Metre | m |
|Mass | Kilogram (kilo) | kg |
|Time | Second | s |
|Electric Current | Ampere | A |
|Thermodynamic Temperature | Kelvin Degrees | K |
|Quantity of Matter | Gram-molecule | mol |
|Luminance Brightness | Candle | cd |
|============================|===================|===============|
Table 2 Auxiliary Units of the International System of Measurement
|===========================|===================|================|
|Name of Measure | Name of Unit | Unit Symbol |
|===========================|===================|================|
|Plane Angle | Radian | rad |
|Solid angle | Steradian | sr |
|===========================|===================|================|
Table 3 Units Derived from the Ones with Special Names in the
International System of Measurement
|======================|===============|============|==============|
|Name of Measure | Name of Unit | Unit Symbol|Other Formulas|
|======================|===============|============|==============|
|Frequency | Hertz | Hz | 1/S |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Force, Gravity | Newton | N | Kg.m/(s*s) |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Presure, Stress | Pascal | Pa | N/(m*m) |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Energy; Work; Heat | Joule | J | N*m |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Power; Radiant Flux | Watt | W | J/s |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Electric Charge | Coulomb | C | A*s |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Electric Potential; | |
|Voltage; | Volt | V | W/A |
|Electromotive force | |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Capacitance | Farad | F | C/V |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Resistance | Ohm | j | V/A |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Conductance | Siemens | S | A/V |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Magnetic Flux | Weber | Wb | V*s |
|-------|----|----|-----|
| | |
|Magnetic flux Density.| Tesla | T | Wb/(m*m) |
| Magnetic Induction | |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Inductance | Henry | H | Wb/A |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Centigrade Temperature| Degree | xC |
| (Centrgrade) | |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Luminous Flux | Lumen | lm | cd*sr |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Illumination | Lux | lx | lm/(m*m) |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Radioactive Activity | Becquerel | Bq | 1/s |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Absorption Dosage | Gray | Gy | J/Kg |
|-------|----|----|-----|
|Dose Equivalent | Sievert | Sv | J/Kg |
|======================|===============|============|==============|
Table 4 Units of Non-International System of Measurement
|=================|==============|=============|==============================|
|Name of Measure |Name of Unit |Unit Symbol |Conversion/Explanation |
|=================|==============|=============|==============================|
|Time |Minute |min |1min=60s |
|Hour | h |1h = 60min = 3,600s |
|Day | d |1d = 24h = 1,440min = 86,400s |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Plane Angle |Second |(") |1" = (c/648,000) rad |
|minute |(') |1'= 60" = (c /10,800) rad |
|Degree |(x) |1 = 60' = (c /180) rad |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Revolving Speed |Round per | |
|Minute |r/min |1r/min = (1/60)/second |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Length |Nautical Mile |n mile |1 n mile = 1852m |
| |(only used for voyages) |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Speed |Knot |Kn |1 kn = 1 n mile/h = |
| |(1852/3600) m/s |
| |(only used for voyages) |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Mass |Ton |t |1 t = 1,000 Kg |
|Atomic | |
|Weight Unit |u |1 u w 1.6605655 * 10 exp-27 |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Volum |Litre |L, (l) |1 L = 1/1000 (m*m*m) =1dm
3 |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Energy |Electron- | |
|volt |eV |1 eV w 1.6021892 * exp -19 J |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Differential |Decibel |dB |
|-----|-----|-----|---------|
|Line Density |tex |tex |1 tex = 1 g/Km |
|=================|==============|=============|==============================|
Table 5 Special Terms and Symbols of the Multiples and Fractions of 10
|============|=================|=========|
| Factor |Special Terms in | Symbol |
| Chinese |
|============|=================|=========|
| 10 exp 18 | °¬[¿ÉÈø] | E |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 15 | ¾Ü[Ëü] | P |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 12 | Ì«[À] | T |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 9 | ¼ª[¿§] | G |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 6 | Õ× | M |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 3 | ǧ | k |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 2 | °Ù | h |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp 1 | Ê® | da |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -1 | ·Ö | d |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -2 | Àå | c |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -3 | ºÁ | m |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -6 | ΢ | f |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -9 | ÄÉ[ŵ] | n |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -12 | Ƥ[¿É] | p |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -15 | ·É[ĸÍÐ] | f |
|----|-----|---|
| 10 exp -18 | °¢[ÍÐ] | a |
|============|=================|=========|
N.B.
1. "Week", "month", and "year" (the symbol for "year" is "a")
are units of time in common use.
2. The word in the bracket[] can be omitted when the omission
is not liable to cause confusion.
3. The word in the parenthesis ( ) are synonyms for the words
immediately before them.
4. The symbols for angle units (degree, miniute and second) are
put into parentheses when they are not preceded by numerals.
5. In the symbol for the litre, the small letter "l" is an
alternate synbol.
6. "r" is the symbol for "revolving".
7. "Mass" is commonly called "weight" in people's daily life and
trade.
8. "Gong li" is a popular name for "kilometre" and its symbol
is "km".
9. 10 exp 4,
10 exp 8 and
10 exp 12
are respectively called "wan", "yi", and "wan yi" in Chinese.
The use of such numerals is not affected by the special terms
listed in Table 5, but they should not be mixed up with the
special terms.
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