CHINA> Human Rights Progress
White paper on political democracy
(china.org.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-19 11:01

- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for making the state power stable. China is a vast country with a large population. There are great disparities in terms of development between urban and rural areas, and between different regions. It is of unusual significance for China to have a stable state power. Only then can China concentrate on construction and development, and only then can the country's development strategy and goal of modernization be pursued for a long time and through to the end. Only then can all kinds of unnecessary and unwanted internal political strife be minimized, all positive factors be exploited to the full, and all resources, strength and wisdom be pooled to tackle major problems that have a bearing on the nation's economy and the people's livelihood, and to ensure sustainable social and economic development.

- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for uniting hundreds of millions of people to work in concerted efforts in building a beautiful future. In Old China, the society was disunited, like a heap of loose sand. That was a painful experience for the Chinese people. In a big country like China, with such a large population and where things are complicated, if there had not been a strong political core and if there had not been a lofty goal that can unite the people of all ethnic groups in their common struggle, the country would have disintegrated easily, and it would have been impossible for China to develop and make progress. Experience has shown that, in China, it is the CPC that unites the Chinese people, gives full play to their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and has them engage, heart and soul, in the common struggle for their common interests, common cause, common ideal and a better future for China.

- The CPC's leadership and rule is, in essence, to lead, support and ensure that the people are the masters of the state. All power in the PRC belongs to the people. This is a fundamental principle for building political democracy in China. It is also an essential requirement of the CPC's leadership and exercise of state power. In China, the CPC leads and supports the people to be the masters of the state and ensures its realization. This provides an institutional and legal guarantee that the fundamental principle, that is, all power in the PRC belongs to the people, is fully and thoroughly implemented and embodied in every aspect of national and social activities. The CPC has led the people to formulate the Constitution and laws. It takes the lead in observing and safeguarding the Constitution and laws, and combats resolutely all activities that violate the Constitution and laws.

The following specific forms explain how the CPC leads and supports the people to be the masters of the state, and ensures its realization: First, it provides leadership to the people in wielding state power through the people's congress system. In this way, it ensures that the laws, guiding principles and policies formulated by the state reflect the common will of the people and protect their fundamental interests, and guarantees that the people become the masters of the state. Second, it leads the people to manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings and social affairs by abiding by the Constitution and the provisions of the laws and through various channels and in different forms, so as to ensure that the development of all undertakings of the state is in line with the people's wishes, interests and demands. Third, it leads the people to practice grassroots democracy and manage their own affairs in accordance with the law, so as to enable them to exercise self-management, self-education and self-service through democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision. Fourth, it leads the people to strictly observe the principle that all citizens are equal before the law, so as to enable the citizens to enjoy widespread freedom and rights as prescribed in the law as well as in practice, respect and protect human rights, and safeguard fairness and justice. These institutional and legal guarantees ensure that the people are the masters of the country, and they can use their own public rights and all rights of citizenship to safeguard and realize their own interests.

III. The People's Congress System

The people's congress system is the fundamental political system by which the Chinese people act as masters of the state. The Chinese people exercise state power through the National People's Congress (NPC) and the local people's congresses at various levels.

China has adopted a unicameral parliamentary system based on its national conditions, rather than the bicameral system instituted in Western countries. The Chinese Constitution stipulates: the NPC of the PRC is the highest organ of state power. In China, all administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs of the state are created by the people's congresses to which they are responsible and by which they are supervised. All major issues of the state are decided by the people's congresses. The administrative organs are responsible for implementing the laws, resolutions and decisions adopted by the people's congresses. The courts and procuratorates exercise their respective powers of jurisdiction and prosecution independently, in line with the stipulations of the law, free from interference by any administrative authority, social organization or individual.