Seek legal advice and come forward truthfully; hiding does not make an opened case expire

No application fee. You can report to police voluntarily, or remain where you are and call them, then give a truthful account. The challenge is resisting the hope that waiting or hiding will make the matter disappear.

Criminal Law Article 67 defines voluntary surrender as voluntarily coming forward after an offense and truthfully admitting it. A court may impose a lighter or mitigated punishment, or exempt a minor offense. A truthful confession without voluntary surrender can also support leniency; preventing particularly serious consequences through disclosure can justify mitigation. The 2021 sentencing guidance gives ranges relative to the baseline sentence established from the facts. Voluntary surrender may reduce it by up to 40%, and minor offenses by more than 40% or lawful exemption. An ordinary truthful confession may reduce it by up to 20%; disclosure of a more serious offense of the same type unknown to investigators, by 10%–30%; and disclosure preventing particularly serious consequences, by 30%–50%. Admission of guilt and acceptance of punishment may reduce it by up to 30%; combined with surrender, substantial confession, restitution, compensation, or forgiveness, by up to 60%, and for minor offenses more than 60% or exemption. Article 87 sets limitation periods of five, ten, 15, or 20 years according to the statutory maximum penalty. Article 88 removes the limitation protection where a person evades investigation after a procuratorate, police, or state-security authority opens a case, or evades trial after a court accepts it. The cited sentencing ranges took effect on 1 July 2021.

The benefit here is to the person facing proceedings. Surrender is a mitigating factor, not a cancellation of the offense; the court decides the outcome. The guidance calls for caution with leniency in serious violent and drug offenses. Traffic cases have specific treatment: remaining at the scene, helping, and reporting can count as voluntary surrender, but because those actions are already legal duties, the reduction is assessed strictly. Surrender after fleeing may still qualify, but mitigation starts from the more serious statutory sentencing range. See what to do after a collision. Obtaining a lawyer and giving a truthful account are compatible; counsel can help ensure the record is accurate, not invent an account.

National People’s Congress. Criminal Law consolidated through Amendment XI, Articles 67, 87, and 88. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808181796a636a0179822a19640c92; Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate (2021). Sentencing guidance for common crimes, trial version, document 2021 No. 21, section III(6), (7), and (14), reposted by Zhangye’s procuratorate. http://www.zhangye.jcy.gov.cn/info/1039/2086.htm; Supreme People’s Court (2010). Opinions on specific questions concerning voluntary surrender and meritorious service, document 2010 No. 60, section I. http://gongbao.court.gov.cn/Details/f3089058d37e11cd16d801530934ae.html.