Do not buy and carry batons, stun devices, daggers, or pepper spray for self-defense; keeping them in your car also counts as carrying

No expense. Keep anything already bought at home; do not carry it outside or put it in the car. If trouble occurs, retreat and call the police first; fight back only if you cannot escape.

Start with Article 38 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law. Illegally carrying state-controlled items such as crossbows and daggers brings up to 5 days’ detention and possibly an additional fine of up to 1000 yuan. Minor circumstances bring a warning or a fine up to 500 yuan. Taking them into public places or public transport brings 5 to 10 days’ detention and possibly an additional fine up to 1000 yuan. Article 130 of the Criminal Law is harsher: illegally carrying controlled knives into public places or public transport, endangering public safety in serious circumstances, carries up to 3 years. The Ministry of Public Security’s 2007 criteria list five classes of controlled knives. First, daggers with a handle, guard, and blood groove and a tip angle below 60 degrees. Second, triangular scrapers. Third, self-locking spring knives, commonly called switchblades. Fourth, knives with a tip angle below 60 degrees and blade longer than 150 mm. Fifth, knives with a tip angle above 60 degrees and blade longer than 220 mm. Unsharpened martial-arts or decorative gift knives with rounded tips are excluded. Police batons are police equipment. The People’s Police Law allows only police to possess and use it. Possession by others entails confiscation, up to 15 days’ detention or a warning, and possibly a fine up to 5 times the unlawful proceeds. The railway prohibited-items list includes police batons, tear-gas devices, stun devices, and defensive devices as controlled items. None may be carried aboard or checked as luggage. Keeping them in a car can also result in enforcement: a driver carrying controlled knives through a checkpoint was found by police and placed in administrative detention. For consequences of actual use, the self-defense guidelines list using or preparing to use a weapon among factors distinguishing defense from mutual fighting. Official case: Yang argued with someone who threatened to find others for revenge. Yang went home and concealed two knives on himself. When the other person returned and punched him in the face with an empty hand, Yang stabbed their chest and abdomen, killing them. The court recognized a defensive element but found excessive self-defense because the attack was an unarmed punch and the stabbing targeted vital areas. He received 4 years for intentional injury (nationwide; the Public Security Administration Punishments Law took effect January 1, 2026).

全国人大常委会 (2025). 治安管理处罚法（2025 年修订，第三十八条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml；全国人大 (1997). 刑法（第二十、一百三十条，这两条未经修正案修改）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180206_364975.shtml；公安部 (2007). 关于印发《管制刀具认定标准》的通知（公通字〔2007〕2 号）. https://www.gd.gov.cn/zwgk/wjk/zcfgk/content/post_2937075.html（广东省人民政府转载）；全国人大常委会 (2012 修正). 人民警察法（第三十六条）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/203770/index.html（北京市公安交通管理局转载）；国务院 (1996). 人民警察使用警械和武器条例（第三条）. http://jyglj.guizhou.gov.cn/szs/zwgk/xxgkml/zcwj/201808/t20180807_25452524.html（贵州省监狱管理局转载）；国家铁路局、公安部 (2022). 关于公布《铁路旅客禁止、限制携带和托运物品目录》的公告（2022 年第 1 号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-05/31/content_5693212.htm；晋江市人民政府 (2022). 警方提醒！携带这些物品，可能会被拘留！. https://www.jinjiang.gov.cn/ztzl/jjgazl/jfts/202209/t20220913_2775463.htm；最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部 (2020). 关于依法适用正当防卫制度的指导意见（法发〔2020〕31 号，第 9 条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/251611.html；最高人民法院 (2020). 涉正当防卫典型案例（案例四）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/251621.html；最高人民检察院 (2018). 第十二批指导性案例（检例第 45 号陈某正当防卫案）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/jczdal/201812/t20181219_402920.shtml

The beneficiary is you. Carrying a knife does not automatically rule out lawful self-defense. In Procuratorate Guiding Case No. 45, student Chen was attacked by 9 people, drew a fruit knife he was carrying, and fought back; this was still recognized as self-defense. The procuratorate stated that the issue was intent to engage in mutual fighting, not possession of a tool. The disadvantages lie in two areas. First, if the item itself is unlawful, discovery brings penalties whether used or not. Second, having a knife at hand can make it easy to stab in response to a punch or push; causing serious injury or worse may turn it into excessive self-defense. This book found no nationwide text prohibiting personal possession of pepper spray, only that it cannot be taken on trains. Nor did it find a uniform nationwide text determining whether extendable batons sold online qualify as police batons. If trouble occurs, first see Section 8, Item 10 (call the police before fighting when a conflict starts). If retreat is impossible, see Section 8, Item 11 (you may fight back against an unavoidable attack). For strangers demanding money in an isolated outdoor place, see Section 13, Item 36.