Nationality law of the People's Republic of China territory "before or after" their transfer of sovereignty to China are regarded as "born in China". Those who are of ethnic Chinese origin are Chinese nationals before and after the handovers. Having said that, people born in Hong Kong or Macao in the years before handover, were usually given British nationality (mostly British Dependent Territories Citizenship) and full Portuguese citizenship, based on British and Portuguese laws. For Hong Kong residents, the "Interpretation" of the Nationality Law was adopted at the Nineteenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996, a year prior to
Nationality law of the People's Republic of China Nationality law of the People's Republic of China The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China regulates nationality of the People's Republic of China. Chinese nationality is usually obtained either by birth when at least one parent is of Chinese nationality or by naturalization. The constitution of the People's Republic of China states that all persons holding nationality of China are citizens of China. Although in practice, the citizenship of Mainland China is the hukou, while the two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau, each has its own rules on the rights of abode in these territories. In