The regulation, the first of its kind, will take effect in the city in Guangdong province on Aug 1, Xinhua.net reported on Tuesday.

The regulation states that when a victim accuses a good Samaritan of causing or aggravating an injury, the victim has to provide valid evidence to back up the claim, or the victim will face punishment.

Controversial verdicts in recent years have led people to think twice before offering help.

In one such case, in 2006, Peng Yu, a resident in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, helped a woman who had fallen, but the woman then accused Peng of causing the accident in the first place. The court decided in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial.