Since the return of Hong Kong and Macao to mainland China, as stipulated by the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Basic Law of Macao Special Administrative Region respectively, the legal systems practiced in the two regions differ from that of the mainland. Hence, special administrative regions enjoy independent penal jurisdiction of their own. The concept, features, origins and principles of penal jurisdiction as well as such issues as how to define penal jurisdiction of special administrative regions, how to handle the relations between national penal jurisdiction and the special administrative region are worthy of systematic study.