After an eight years effort for preparation, the “Guidelines for Seismic Design of Buildings” –- the first Chinese
Model Code for seismic design of buildings was officially approved and promulgated in China. The so called
“Guidelines” in Chinese language is meant as an advanced technical document with the purposes of providing a
technical bases for preparing the national, regional, and/or local design codes, and providing technical sources
and references to designers in solving some technical issues rising from the engineering design that are not
addressed in the current codes. However, the “Guidelines” itself is not necessary for enforcement
