Full Text: Work report of NPC Standing Committee

Great Significance and Basic Experiences of Forming a Socialist System of Laws with Chinese Characteristics

Forming a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by 2010 was a significant and arduous historical task delegated to us by the Party and the people. Since the founding of New China, especially in the more than 30 years since the introduction of the reform and opening up policy, under the correct leadership of the CPC and through the tireless, concerted efforts of all sides, tremendous achievements have been made in China's legislative work that have attracted the world's attention. The current Constitution was adopted in 1982 and it has been revised four times to adapt to changes in the objective situation. By the end of 2010, China had enacted 236 laws, over 690 administrative regulations and more than 8,600 local statutes that are now in force, and fully completed the work of reviewing current laws, administrative regulations and local statutes. We now have a complete set of types of laws covering all areas of social relations, with basic and major laws of each type already in place, together with comprehensive corresponding administrative regulations and local statutes. Overall, the system of laws is scientific, harmonious and consistent. A socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has been formed which is based on the situation and realities in China; complies with the requirements for reform, opening up and socialist modernization; represents the will of the Party and the people; is rooted in the Constitution; has several types of laws including laws related to the Constitution, civil laws and commercial laws, as its backbone; and has different levels of legal force, reflected in laws, administrative regulations, and local statutes. There are laws to cover every area of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological development in the country. The legislative goal set forth at the Fifteenth National Congress of the CPC of forming a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by 2010 was attained on schedule.

Since the second half of last year, we have held three forums on the establishment of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics to look back on the process of establishing the system, discuss its great significance, review our basic experiences, and analyze the current situation and tasks. Participants in these forums all agreed that the establishment of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is a major milestone in the history of the development of China's socialist democratic legal system, is an important indicator of the maturing of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics and has great practical and far-reaching historical significance.

First, the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is the legal foundation for permanently preserving the inherent qualities of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with the realities of China, following our own path, and building socialism with Chinese characteristics is the basic conclusion that the Party has drawn from its historical experiences and is also the only correct road to development and progress for our country. In keeping to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, what is most important is that we maintain the correct political orientation and never waver on major issues of principle such as the fundamental system of the state. If we waver, not only will there be no socialist modernization to speak of, but the achievements gained thus far in development will also be lost, and it is possible that the state could sink into the abyss of internal disorder. The socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, in the form of the Constitution and laws, has established the fundamental system and tasks of the state; the position of leadership of the CPC; the guiding position of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents; the state system - a people' s democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and farmers; the system of state power - the system of people's congresses; the system whereby all state power belongs to the people, and citizens enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law; the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC; the system of regional ethnic autonomy and the system of primary-level self-governance; the basic economic system whereby public ownership is dominant and economic entities under diverse forms of ownership develop side by side; and the system whereby distribution according to work is the main form of distribution and multiple forms of distribution coexist. On the basis of China's conditions, we have made a solemn declaration that we will not employ a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation; diversify our guiding thought; separate executive, legislative and judicial powers; use a bicameral or federal system; or carry out privatization. Forming a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has laid a firm legal foundation for national revitalization and prosperity, and lasting peace and stability. It institutionally and legally ensures that the CPC is always the core of the leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and that all state power is firmly in the hands of the people. It ensures national independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity. It ensures national unity, social stability and ethnic solidarity. It ensures adherence to an independent foreign policy of peace and the path of peaceful development. And it ensures that the country always forges ahead in the correct orientation of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Second, the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is a legal system that embodies the innovations and praxes of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Reform and opening up were a crucial choice made by the people of all our ethnic groups under the leadership of the Party that has determined the destiny of contemporary China. They are the route we must take to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and they have given socialism new vitality. For more than 30 years, we have remained committed to the central task of economic development, comprehensively advanced reform and opening up, and successfully achieved the great historic transition from a highly centralized planned economy to a dynamic socialist market economy, and from isolation and semi-isolation to being fully open to the outside world. We have greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of hundreds of millions of people and immensely liberated and developed the productive forces, and our country has sustained rapid development at a speed that has rarely occurred in the world. We have elevated our experiences of reform and opening up and socialist modernization into law in a timely manner. We have kept up with the new situations and issues arising in the process of reform and opening up, and formulated and improved laws and institutions conducive to promoting the transformation of the pattern of economic development, law-based administration and impartial justice, social development with a focus on ensuring and improving the people's wellbeing, tremendous development and prosperity of socialist culture, and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, thereby getting law to fully play its role in standardizing, guiding, protecting and promoting reform, opening up and socialist modernization. The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics provides institutional and legal guarantees that the country always maintains the correct orientation of reform and opening up; puts great effort into building systems and mechanisms that are dynamic, highly efficient, more open and conducive to scientific development; and promotes the sustained self-improvement and self-development of China' s socialist system.

Third, the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is a legal guarantee for the prosperity and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Achieving modernization has been the great vision and constant goal of generations of Chinese people. Since the reform and opening up policy was adopted over 30 years ago, we have blazed the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and formed a socialist theoretical system with Chinese characteristics. This is the fundamental reason underlying all the achievements and progress we have made. We will always hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and concentrate our energy and efforts on development, and we will not cower before any risks or be deterred by any interference. We will have attained the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, and we will have basically achieved modernization by the middle of this century. The achievements we have already made would not have been possible without legal guarantees, and we cannot build the more beautiful future we are striving to create without legal guarantees either. The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics has brought the development of all the country's undertakings within the framework of law and provided the institutional and legal basis for solving fundamental, overarching and long-term issues concerning our national development as well as the issue of stability. It has identified clear values as well as the orientation and fundamental path for constantly improving the socialist market economy, intensively developing socialist democratic politics, making socialist advanced culture increasingly flourish and building a harmonious socialist society. And it has laid a firm legal foundation for building a prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious modern socialist country, and for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is a major accomplishment made by hundreds of millions of Chinese people under the leadership of the Party in developing socialist democracy and improving the socialist legal system.

The first generation of the Party's central collective leadership, with Comrade Mao Zedong at its core, led the people of all our ethnic groups in founding the People's Republic of China after a protracted and bloody struggle and formulating the Common Program and the first Constitution of New China, which created the basic state system, thereby establishing the fundamental political preconditions and institutional basis for developing a socialist democratic legal system and establishing the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics.

The second generation of the Party's central collective leadership, with Comrade Deng Xiaoping at its core, drew profound painful lessons from the Cultural Revolution and, when it made the historic decision to shift the focus of the work of the Party and the country to economic development and carry out reform and opening up, it adopted the strengthening of the socialist democratic legal system as an unshakable principle. This collective leadership emphasized the need for socialist democracy to be institutionalized and codified in order to ensure that institutions and laws do not change whenever leaders change, or whenever leaders change their views or shift their focus of attention. It stressed the need for there to be laws for people to follow, that they are observed and strictly enforced, and that lawbreakers are prosecuted. This ushered in a new era of dynamic development for the socialist democratic legal system.

The third generation of the Party's central collective leadership, with Comrade Jiang Zemin at its core, led the people of all our ethnic groups in successfully advancing the great cause of reform and opening up into the 21st century, and constantly enriched and developed the thinking underlying the socialist democratic legal system with Chinese characteristics. For the first time, they took the rule of law as the basic strategy for the Party to lead the people in governing the country, considered building a socialist country based on the rule of law to be an important part of socialist modernization, and set the clear legislative goal of forming a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by 2010. All this marked the beginning of a new phase in the development of the socialist democratic legal system.

Since the 16th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary, has carried the cause forward into the future, kept up with the times, unwaveringly pushed forward the great cause of reform and opening up in the course of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and put forward the important strategic thought of the Scientific Outlook on Development and the major strategic task of building a harmonious socialist society. The Central Committee has fully implemented the rule of law as the basic strategy and stressed that what is most fundamental in developing socialist democratic politics is intimately integrating the leadership of the Party, the people's position as masters of the country and the rule of law. In doing so, it has opened up new horizons for the development of a socialist democratic legal system.

The formation of a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics is the result of prolonged collective efforts on everyone's part. The NPC and its Standing Committee have conscientiously fulfilled the duties bestowed upon them by the Constitution and laws, constantly strengthened and improved legislative work, done all in their power to raise the quality of legislation, and accomplished a huge amount of effective work to form a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics. The State Council, in response to needs arising from carrying out economic and social development and implementing laws, has promptly formulated administrative regulations in accordance with the law. Local people's congresses and their standing committees, based on their local realities, have enacted a large number of local statutes in accordance with the law and made important contributions to forming the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics. Local people's governments, people's courts and people's procuratorates at all levels; the army; the people; and experts and scholars have all vigorously supported and played an active role in legislative work, and contributed their wisdom and strength to establishing the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics.

Over the past 30 plus years of reform and opening up, we have successfully taken a path of legislation with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. We have intimately integrated the leadership of the Party, the people's position as masters of their country and the rule of law, and carried out legislative work in a planned, focused and step-by-step manner, with our attention firmly fixed on the overall work of the Party and country. In just a few decades, we have formed a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics. Such an arduous legislative task has rarely been seen in the world, and we have overcome unprecedented difficulties in the process. These accomplishments were not easy to come by, but the experiences gained are invaluable. Our five most significant experiences were as follows.