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The People’s Republic of China is situated in the eastern part of Asia along the west coast of the Pacific, covering a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers. It has a population of about 1.3 billion, comprising 56 different ethnic groups. The capital is Beijing.
China is one of the countries in the world with the longest history. Thanks to the long-drawn-out and extremely hard struggles waged by the Chinese people during the 20th century, earthshaking historical changes took place in China. On October 1, 1949, the founding of the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed, from then on, the Chinese people have gained state power and become masters of their own country.
On the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the first plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was convened in Beijing. The session adopted the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which was a provisional constitution in nature. It stipulated that the political system of the People’s Republic of China is one of people’s congresses. Before a universally elected National People’s Congress was convened, the plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference exercised the functions and powers of the National People’s Congress (NPC).
Beginning from the second half of 1953, China for the first time conducted, on an unprecedented scale, election of deputies to the people’s congresses at all levels in accordance with the Election Law. The First Session of the First National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China was convened in September 1954, at which the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China was adopted, marking the establishment of the system of people’s congresses throughout China.
The system of people’s congresses constitutes the fundamental political system of China. It means in essence: all power of the state belongs to the people, who exercise state power through the NPC and the local people’s congresses at all levels; the deputies to the people’s congresses at all levels are selected through democratic elections and are responsible to the people and subject to their supervision, officials of all administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs of the state are determined by the people’s congresses, to which they are responsible and by which they are supervised, the functions and powers of the state organs at the central and local levels are divided under the unified leadership of the Central Government in accordance with the principle of giving full play to the initiative and enthusiasm at the local level; and regional autonomy is granted to areas where people of the ethnic groups inhabit, through the establishment of organs of self-government that exercise autonomy. All of these ethnic autonomous areas are inseparable parts of the People’s Republic of China.
Election of Deputies to the NPC
In China, there are five levels of people’s congresses from the central to local levels. They are: the National People’s Congress; the people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the people’s congresses of cities divided into districts, and of autonomous prefectures; the people’s congresses of cities not divided into districts, of municipal districts, of counties and of autonomous counties; and the people’s congresses of townships, ethnic townships, and towns. There are a total of over 2.894 million deputies to the people’s congresses at all levels, including nearly 3,000 deputies to the NPC.
Deputies to people’s congresses at different levels are selected through direct or indirect elections. Deputies to the National People’s Congress, the people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the people’s congresses of cities divided into districts and autonomous prefectures are elected indirectly by the people’s congresses at the next lower level. Deputies to the people’s congresses of cities not divided into districts, municipal districts, counties and autonomous counties and deputies to the people’s congresses of townships, ethnic townships, and towns are elected directly by their constituencies. All citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and the right to stand for election in China, regardless of their ethnic background, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status or length of residence.
All political parties and people’s organizations have the right to either jointly or separately recommend candidates for deputies in both direct and indirect elections. A minimum of 10 voters from a constituency is required to recommend a candidate standing to be elected deputy to a directly elected congress and a minimum of 10 deputies from a congress is required to recommend a candidate standing to be elected deputy to an indirectly elected congress.
The system of competitive election is practiced throughout China. The law provides that the number of candidates for deputies must be greater than the number of deputies to be elected to the people’s congresses at all levels, so that the constituents and deputies may fully enjoy the right to vote in election.
Elections are held by secret ballot. A voter may vote for or against a candidate for deputy, and may vote for any other voter or abstain. The expenses needed for elections are defrayed by the State Treasury.
Deputies to the NPC are broadly representative of the people of the country. On average, one NPC deputy represents 430,000 persons. Each region, ethnic group and sector of society has an appropriate number of deputies to the NPC and there is at least one deputy to the NPC for each ethnic group no matter how small the population.
During NPC sessions, the deputies examine relevant bills and reports and elect and determine officials in the Central Government departments and have the right to submit bills. When the congress is not in session, the deputies maintain close contact with the constituency that elect them and with ordinary people in a variety of ways, listening to and conveying their opinions and demands. In order to ensure that they perform their duties successfully, deputies are not held legally liable for their speeches or votes at various NPC meetings. No deputy to the NPC may be arrested or face criminal trial without the consent of the Presidium of the NPC when it is in session, or the consent of Standing Committee of the NPC when it is not in session. Deputies to the NPC are subject to supervision by the constituency that elects them and the constituency has the right, in accordance with the legal procedure, to recall the deputy it elects.
Organizational Structure, and Functions and Powers of the NPC
The National People’s Congress is the highest organ of state power, each congress is elected for a term of five years, and it meets in session once a year. A session of the NPC may be convened at any time when the Standing Committee deems it necessary or when more than one-fifth of the deputies to the NPC so propose.
The functions and powers of the NPC are defined by the Constitution, and they chiefly are:
To amend the Constitution and supervise its enforcement.
To enact and amend basic laws governing criminal offenses, civil affairs, the state organs and other matters.
To elect the chairman, the vice chairmen, the secretary-general and the members of its Standing Committee; to elect the president and the vice president of the People’s Republic of China; to decide on the choice of the premier of the State Council upon nomination by the president of the PRC; to decide on the choice of members of the State Council upon nomination by the premier; to elect the chairman of the Central Military Commission and, upon nomination, to decide on the choice of all other members of the Commission; to elect the president of the Supreme People’s Court; and to elect the procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. It has the power to remove from office the persons holding any of the positions mentioned above.
To examine and approve the plan for national economic and social development; to examine and approve the state budget; to approve the establishment of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; to decide on the establishment of special administrative regions and the systems to be instituted there; to decide on questions of war and peace; etc.
The permanent body of the National People’s Congress is the Standing Committee of the NPC. This constitutes an important characteristic of the organizational structure of the NPC of China. The Standing Committee of the NPC is composed of the chairman, the vice chairmen, the secretary-general and the members. Like the NPC, the Standing Committee is elected for the term of five years. The Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC is composed of 175 members.
The Standing Committee of the NPC is accountable to the NPC, reports on its work to the congress and is subject to its supervision. The NPC has the power to alter or annul inappropriate decisions made by the Standing Committee.
No one on the Standing Committee of the NPC may hold office in any of the administrative, judicial or procuratorial organs of the state. The chairman and vice chairmen of the Standing Committee may serve not more than two consecutive terms. The following persons have once served as chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949: Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Ye Jianying, Peng Zhen, Wan Li, Qiao Shi and Li Peng. The chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC is Wu Bangguo.
The functions and powers of the Standing Committee of the NPC are defined by the Constitution, and they chiefly are:
To interpret the Constitution and supervise its enforcement.
To enact and amend laws with the exception of those which should be enacted and amended by the NPC; to partially supplement and amend laws enacted by the NPC when the NPC is not in session, the NPC provided that the basic principles of these laws are not contravened, and to interpret laws.
To review and approve when the NPC is not in session, partial adjustments to the plan for national economic and social development and to the state budget that prove necessary in the course of their implementation; to decide on the ratification or abrogation of treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states; and to decide on the granting of special pardons.
To supervise the work of the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate; to annul those administrative regulations, decisions or decrees of the State Council that contravene the Constitution or the law; to annul those local regulations or decisions made by the organs of state power at the level of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government that contravene the Constitution or the law or administrative regulations.
To decide, when the NPC is not in session, on the choice of ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the president of the People’s Bank of China, the auditor-general and the secretary-general of the State Council upon nomination by the premier of the State Council; to decide upon nomination by the chairman of the Central Military Commission on choice of the other members of the commission; to appoint or remove, at the recommendation of the president of the Supreme People’s Court, the vice presidents and judges of the Supreme People’s Court and members of its Judicial Committee, etc. To appoint or remove, at the recommendation of the procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the deputy procurator-general and procurators of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, members of its Procuratorial Committee, etc. And to approve the appointment or removal of chief procurators of the people’s procuratorates of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; to decide on the appointment or recall of plenipotentiary representatives abroad; etc.
The chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC directs the work of the Standing Committee, and the vice chairmen and the secretary-general assist the chairman in his work. The chairman, the vice chairmen and the secretary-general constitute the Council of Chairmen, which handles the important day-to-day work of the Standing Committee of the NPC.
The National People’s Congress establishes a number of special committees. These special committees work under the direction of the NPC, or the Standing Committee of the NPC when the Congress is not in session. They examine, discuss and draw up relevant bills under the direction of the NPC and its Standing Committee.
Members of the special committees are selected from among the deputies to the NPC, and most of them are experts or scholars in different fields of study, or persons with practical experience. The special committees carry out regular work, and they continue their work when the NPC and its Standing Committee are not in session.
There are nine special committees under the NPC: the Ethnic Affairs Committee, the Law Committee, the Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs, the Finance and Economy Committee, the Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Overseas Chinese Committee, the Environmental and Resource Protection Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Areas Committee.
Under the Standing Committee of the NPC, there are the General Office, the Legislative Affairs Commission, the Budget Committee, the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
In addition, there is a Deputy Credentials Committee under the Standing Committee of the NPC.
How the NPC Operates
The NPC session is held in the first quarter of the year. Prior to the opening of an NPC session, deputies to the Congress are organized into delegations to represent their respective constituencies. When the NPC is in session, plenary meetings of the Congress, plenary meetings of the delegations and group meetings of the deputies are held. At the plenary meeting of the NPC, deputies listen to work reports by the State Council, the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate; report on the draft plan for national economic and social development; report on the draft plan for the state budgets; explanations made by sponsors of the bills they submit to the meeting for deliberation; vote on those bills; and elect, appoint or remove members of the Central Government departments. At plenary meetings of delegations and at group meetings, the deputies examine relevant reports and bills.
The following have the right to submit bills to the NPC: the Presidium of the NPC, the Standing Committee of the NPC, the special committees of the NPC, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, a delegation, or at least 30 deputies doing it jointly. A bill for amending the Constitution is required to be submitted by the Standing Committee of the NPC or jointly by at least one-fifth of all NPC deputies.
With regard to a legislative bill placed on the session’s agenda, the deputies listen to the explanations made by the sponsor of the bill before proceeding to deliberate it. The legislative bill is adopted when a simple majority of the deputies vote for it. Then, the president of the People’s Republic of China signs an order to promulgate it as a new law. An amendment to the Constitution requires the affirmative votes of at least a two-thirds majority of all the deputies and the session’s presidium promulgates it after it is adopted.
NPC sessions are held openly. Public galleries are reserved at the plenary meetings for diplomatic envoys to China. News releases and press conferences keep Chinese and foreign reporters abreast of the developments of the sessions, and questions raised by the reporters are answered.
In general, the Standing Committee of the NPC meets once every other month and the meeting is called and presided over by the chairman. When the Standing Committee of the NPC is in session, plenary meetings, group meetings and joint group meetings are held. The plenary meetings are held to listen to explanations of legislative bills and other bills as well as to work reports by the State Council, the relevant departments under the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, before relevant bills are put to vote. At group meetings, relevant bills and reports are deliberated. Representatives of the sponsors of the bills are invited to attend these meetings to listen to comments and suggestions and answer questions. Joint group meetings are held to further deliberate the key issues of the legislative bills discussed at group meetings.
The following have the right to submit bills to the Standing Committee of the NPC: the Council of Chairmen, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the special committees of the NPC, and jointly by at least 10 members of the Standing Committee of the NPC.
A legislative bill is generally put to vote after it is deliberated at three different meetings of the Standing Committee. This is known in China as the “three-round deliberation system.”The bill needs to be adopted as a law by a simple majority of all the members of the Standing Committee of the NPC, before the president of the People’s Republic of China signs an order to promulgate it.
In order to ensure that laws fully reflect the wishes and demands of the people, the Standing Committee holds forums, seminars and hearings with different government departments, local government authorities, experts and scholars to solicit their opinions. Major draft laws that have a bearing on the immediate interests of the people are generally promulgated for the general public to make comments and suggestions.
Meetings of the Standing Committee of the NPC are open to domestic news media.
A political system is, without exception, the product of a given set of historical conditions and closely related to a given stage of social development. Thanks to the deepening of reform are opening up to the outside world and to economic development and all-round social progress over the last twenty years or more, the system of people’s congresses of China has improved and developed progressively, and it is playing an increasingly important role in the life of the country. During such a short period as 20 years or more, China has formulated many laws and regulations, of which more than 200 laws, over 650 administrative regulations and almost 10,000 local regulations are still in effect, forming a preliminary, Chinese-style socialist legal system. Education in the knowledge of law conducted among all the Chinese people greatly helps enhance the awareness of the importance of the law and the legal system among the general public. China has carried out reform of the election system, thus broadening democracy at the grassroots level and unprecedented heightening the enthusiasm of the Chinese citizens for orderly participation in political activities. Administrative and judicial systems in China have been undergoing steady reform, strongly promoting government administration in accordance with the law and fair legal proceedings, safeguarding the basic rights of Chinese citizens and ensuring a fair and just society. We have good reason to believe that China’s system of people’s congresses is bound to further improve along with continued social and economic development.
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