The State Council Information Office published on Wednesday a
white paper entitled Building of Political Democracy in
China. The document, composed of 10 chapters, gives a detailed
account of the inception, development, contents and principles of
the country's political democracy. This is the first time for the
Chinese government to issue a white paper on political democracy.
The full text of the white paper follows:
Building of Political Democracy in
China
Preface
I. A Choice Suited to China's Conditions
II. The CPC Led the People to Become Masters of the
State
III. The People's Congress System
IV. The System of Multi-Party Cooperation and
Political Consultation Under the Leadership of the CPC
V. The System of Ethnic Regional Autonomy
VI. Grassroots Democracy in Urban and Rural
Areas
VII. Respecting and Safeguarding Human
Rights
VIII. The Democratic Rule by the Communist Party of
China
IX. Government Democracy
X. Judicial Democracy
Conclusion
Preface
Democracy is an outcome of the development of political
civilization of mankind. It is also the common desire of people all
over the world. Democracy of a country is generated internally, not
imposed by external forces.
In the course of their modern history, the Chinese people have
waged unrelenting struggles and made arduous explorations in order
to win their democratic rights. But only under the leadership of
the Communist Party of China (CPC) did they really win the right to
be masters of the state. The Chinese people dearly cherish and
resolutely protect their hard-earned democratic achievements.
Because situations differ from one country to another, the paths
the people of different countries take to win and develop democracy
are different. Based on the specific conditions of China, the CPC
and the Chinese people first engaged in a New Democratic
Revolution, and after New China was founded in 1949, and proceeding
from the actual situation of the primary stage of socialism, began
to practice socialist democracy with its own characteristics. The
experience over the past few decades has proved that embarking on
this road of development of political democracy chosen by the
Chinese people themselves not only realized the Chinese people's
demand to be masters of their own country, but is also gradually
realizing their common ideal to build their country into a strong
and modern socialist country.
Socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is being
constantly improved and developed. Since China adopted the reform
and opening-up policies at the end of the 1970s, while making
efforts to steadily deepen the reform of its economic system, the
country has unswervingly pushed forward reforms of its political
system. China's democratic system has been continuously improved,
and the forms of democracy are becoming more varied. The people are
exercising fully their right to be masters of the state. The
building of political democracy with Chinese characteristics is
progressing with the times, exhibiting great vigor and
vitality.
I. A Choice Suited to China's
Conditions
The experience of political civilization of mankind over a
history of several millenniums is ample proof of the truth that the
political system a country adopts and the road to democracy it
takes must be in conformity with the conditions of that country.
The socialist political democracy of China is rooted in the vast
land of fertile soil on which the Chinese nation has depended for
its subsistence and development over thousands of years. It grew
out of the experience of the CPC and the Chinese people in their
great practice of striving for national independence, liberation of
the people and prosperity of the country. It is the apt choice
suited to China's conditions and meeting the requirement of social
progress.
China has a history of 5,000 years of civilization. Boasting a
splendid civilization in the same league as those of ancient Egypt,
India and Babylon, China has contributed greatly to the development
and progress of mankind. The Chinese people are industrious,
courageous and full of wisdom. It is generally acknowledged in the
world that the Chinese nation has a long, uninterrupted history and
a rich cultural heritage.
China had a long history of feudal society, and when, from 1840
on, the Western imperialist powers launched, time and again,
aggressive wars against China, the corrupt and weak feudal ruling
class buckled, and China was reduced to a semi-colonial,
semi-feudal society. For nearly 110 years after that, China became
a target of plunder for almost all the imperialist countries, big
and small. The Chinese nation was plunged into the most dangerous
situation: suffering from invasion by imperialism from the outside
and oppression by feudalism on the inside. The Chinese people had
no democratic rights whatsoever. To change the fate of the country
and the nation, generation after generation of Chinese people rose
up and waged heroic struggles, one stepping into the breach the
moment another fell.
In this movement to save China from destruction, some of the
elite turned their eyes to the West for a road that would save the
country and the people. They started a bourgeois democratic
revolution in China. The Revolution of 1911, led by Dr. Sun
Yat-sen, forerunner of the democratic revolution in China, brought
to an end the autocratic monarchical system that had been in place
for more than 2,000 years. But the bourgeois republic, including
the parliamentarism and multi-party system that were subsequently
established after the Revolution of 1911 in imitation of the mode
of Western democracy, did not fulfill the fervent desire of the
Chinese people for independence and democracy. The new republic
soon collapsed under the onslaught of domestic and foreign
reactionary forces. A contemporary said in anger and grief, "Many
lives were lost and a lot of blood was shed, but what we achieved
was a counterfeit republic." The Chinese people had still not
shaken off oppression, slavery and exploitation. What was the way
out for China? The Chinese people were pondering, exploring and
struggling in the dark.
Through painstaking exploration and hard struggle, the Chinese
people finally came to realize that mechanically copying the
Western bourgeois political system and applying it to China would
lead them nowhere. To accomplish the historic task of saving China
and triumphing over imperialism and feudalism, the Chinese people
needed new thought and new theories to open up a new road for the
Chinese revolution and establish a totally new political system.
The important historic task of leading the Chinese people to find
this new road and establish a new system landed on the shoulders of
the Chinese communists. In 1921, some progressive intellectuals who
had studied the ideology of democracy and science combined Marxism
and Leninism with the Chinese workers' movement, and founded the
CPC. After that, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese
revolution entered the period of New Democracy, characterized by
thorough opposition to imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic
capitalism. After fighting bravely for 28 difficult years, China
finally achieved national independence and the people's
liberation.
As the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the Chinese people
and the Chinese nation, the CPC has taken as its own task the
realization and development of a people's democracy right from the
date of its founding. The goal of the CPC's leadership of the
people in revolutionary struggles is to realize democracy for the
overwhelming majority of people, and not just for a minority of the
people. The CPC creatively combines the general truth of
Marxism-Leninism with the actual situation of the Chinese
revolution, setting out such democratic concepts as "democracy for
the workers and peasants," "people's democracy," and "new
democracy," to enrich and develop Marxist theories on political
democracy. In its history, the CPC has adopted many different
organizational forms, such as the congress of workers on strike,
peasants' association, the Soviet of representatives of workers,
peasants and soldiers, the congress of councilors, and the congress
of people from all walks of life. These forms of political
democracy were suited to the actual conditions in China at various
periods of time and were able to guarantee that the people were the
masters of the state. These forms of political democracy were a
striking contrast to the ruling system of the Kuomintang, and they
reflected the people's wishes and enjoyed popular support.
The first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was convened in September 1949, on
the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It
was an important meeting at which the CPC discussed major matters
concerning the founding of the new republic in line with the
principle of democracy with all democratic parties, people's
organizations and democratic personages without party affiliation.
It decided on the state system and organizational form of state
power of New China. The meeting adopted the "Common Program of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference," which served
as a provisional constitution of the new republic. The Common
Program clearly stipulated, "The People's Republic of China is a
state of new democracy, or of the people's democracy. It will
practice people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of
the working class, on the basis of the alliance of workers and
peasants, uniting all democratic classes and people of all ethnic
groups in China"; "The state power of the People's Republic of
China belongs to the people. The organs through which the people
exercise state power are the people's congresses and people's
governments at all levels." The founding of the PRC on October 1,
1949 marked the great victory of the New Democratic Revolution won
by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC and the
fundamental change that had taken in the political status of the
Chinese people. From then on, the Chinese people became the real
masters of their country, society and their own fate. The
establishment of New China marked a great leap from the
2,000-year-old autocratic feudal political system and the
unsuccessful trials in contemporary China imitating the mode of
Western democratic political systems to the new people's democratic
political system.
Not long after the founding of New China, the first general
election in Chinese history - with the biggest-ever turnout of the
people - was held all over the country in 1953. The people
exercised the power of being masters of the state by electing their
own deputies, and people's congresses were held first at lower
levels and then at higher levels. In September 1954, the first
session of the First National People's Congress was held, marking
the formal establishment of the system of people's congress all
over China. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China,
which had been discussed widely among the people prior to the
session, was adopted at the congress. It established the state
system of the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working
class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, and the
political system, i.e., the people's congress system, as the basic
political systems of the PRC. It also clearly stipulated that "All
power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people. The
National People's Congress and the local people's congresses at
various levels are the organs through which the people exercise
state power. Democratic centralism shall be practiced in the
National People's Congress and the local people's congresses at
various levels as well as in all other state organs."
The establishment of the system of people's congress and the
promulgation of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
meant that the Chinese people's exercise of the right to be masters
of the state now had a reliable institutional guarantee and
constitutional basis. By 1956, most areas in China had completed
the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means
of production, thereby completing the transition from the
historical period of New Democracy to that of socialism. Thus, the
basic system of socialism was established, and the widest and
deepest social transformation in Chinese history has accomplished.
But, New China made some detours in its quest of the way to build
political democracy. The grave mistakes of the "cultural
revolution" (1966-1976), in particular, caused a serious setback
for China in building its political democracy, and the nation
learned a bitter lesson.
After China adopted the reform and opening-up policies in the
late 1970s, the CPC summed up both its positive and negative
historical experiences, and led the people into a new period in
building China's socialist political democracy. Without democracy
there could be no socialism, much less socialist modernization; the
socialist legal system had to be strengthened so that democracy
could be institutionalized; it was necessary to govern the country
by law and build a socialist country under the rule of law;
socialist political democracy had to be developed and socialist
political civilization had to be built; the CPC's leadership, the
people being the masters of the state and governing the country by
law had to be integrated; and the people had to be put first, and
the country must be governed for the people so as to build a
harmonious socialist country. All these have become the common
understanding of the CPC and the people of all ethnic groups of
China as they improve and develop socialist political democracy,
and will serve as their guiding principles as they move
forward.
Over the past 20 years and more, great progress has been made in
China's practice of building a socialist democratic political
system. The system of the people's congress, the system of
multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the
leadership of the CPC, and the system of regional autonomy for
ethnic minorities - all important components of China's democratic
system - have been continuously improved and developed. The
democratic rights of people at the grassroots level in urban and
rural areas have been constantly increased, and the citizens' basic
rights are respected and guaranteed. The CPC's capability to rule
the country in a democratic manner has been enhanced further, while
the government's capability to administer the country in a
democratic manner has been strengthened noticeably. Continual
progress has been made in building a democratic system within the
legal framework. Marked achievements have been recorded in the
reform of the state leadership system, legislative system,
administrative management system, decision-making system, judicial
system, personnel system, and supervision and checking system.
Guided by the objective of ruling the country by law and building a
socialist country under the rule of law, more efforts are being
made to build socialist democracy so that it is institutionalized,
standardized and in line with prescribed procedures. A socialist
law regime with Chinese characteristics and with the Constitution
at its core has been preliminarily formed. Major aspects of China's
politics, economics, culture and social life are now within the
purview of the rule of law.
In building socialist political democracy, China has always
adhered to the basic principle that the Marxist theory of democracy
be combined with the reality of China, borrowed from the useful
achievements of the political civilization of mankind, including
Western democracy, and assimilated the democratic elements of
China's traditional culture and institutional civilization.
Therefore, China's socialist political democracy shows distinctive
Chinese characteristics.
- China's democracy is a people's democracy under the
leadership of the CPC. Without the Communist Party there would
be no New China. Nor would there be people's democracy. This is a
fact that has been borne out by history. The Chinese people won the
right to be masters of the state only after many years of arduous
struggle under the leadership of the CPC. The democratic political
system in China was established by the Chinese people led by the
CPC. The development and improvement of this system are also
carried out under the CPC's leadership. The leadership of CPC is a
fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to be masters in
managing the affairs of their own country.
- China's democracy is a democracy in which the overwhelming
majority of the people act as masters of state affairs. That
the people are the masters is the quintessence of China's socialist
democracy. In China, the publicly owned sector of the economy is
the economic foundation of China's socialist system. In the primary
stage of socialism, the state persists in the basic economic system
with public ownership playing a dominant role and diverse forms of
ownership developing side by side and the distribution system in
which to each according to his work is predominant while other
forms of distribution exist side by side. This ensures, from the
perspective of economic foundation, that China's democracy will not
be manipulated by capital; it is not a democracy for a small number
of people, but one for the overwhelming majority of the people. In
China, people enjoying the democratic rights include everyone who
has not been deprived of political rights by law.
- China's democracy is a democracy guaranteed by the
people's democratic dictatorship. Under the people's
democratic dictatorship, on the one hand, democracy of the widest
scope is practiced among the people, human rights are respected and
ensured, and state power is in the hands of the people and serves
the interests of the people. On the other, criminal activities,
such as sabotage of the socialist system, endangering state
security and public security, infringement on citizens' rights of
the person or their democratic rights, embezzlement, bribery and
dereliction of duty, are penalized according to law so as to
safeguard the fundamental interests of the broad masses.
- China's democracy is a democracy with democratic
centralism as the basic organizational principle and mode of
operation. Democratic centralism is the fundamental principle
of organization and leadership of state power in China. When
democratic centralism is practiced, it requires that we give full
play to democracy and discuss matters of concern collectively, so
that people's wishes and demands are fully expressed and reflected.
Then, all the correct opinions are pooled, and decisions are made
collectively so that the people's wishes and demands are realized
and met. The practice of democratic centralism also requires that
"the majority be respected while the minority is protected." We are
against the anarchic call for "democracy for all," and against
anybody placing his own will above that of the collective.
II. The CPC Led the People to Become
Masters of the State
The CPC's leading status was established gradually in the
protracted struggle and practice of the Chinese people in pursuing
national independence, prosperity and a happy life. It was a choice
made by history and by the people. The Chinese revolution,
construction and reform have demonstrated to the world that it was
the CPC that led the Chinese people to find the correct road to win
national independence and liberation. It was the CPC that led the
Chinese people to find the correct road to build China into a
prosperous, democratic and civilized modern country. It is
precisely because of this historical reason that the CPC's leading
status is clearly described in the Constitution of the People's
Republic of China.
Today, the CPC's leadership and rule in China is an objective
requirement of the country's development and progress.
- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for promoting
socialist modernization and realizing great national
rejuvenation. It has been the aspiration and dream for the
Chinese people to rid their country of its poor and backward
outlook, and realize modernization and national rejuvenation over
the past 100 years. Under the leadership of the CPC, after making a
range of explorations and efforts over the past 56 years since the
founding of New China, China has cast off its former state of
abject poverty. Productivity has grown rapidly, overall national
strength has increased greatly and people's life has improved
markedly. China's international status has been elevated, and its
international influence is increasing day by day. Especially in the
26 years since the initiation of the reform and opening-up
policies, China has created an economic miracle - its GDP has been
increasing at an average annual rate of 9.4 percent, and the
general living standard of the 1.3 billion Chinese people has, in
general, reached the moderately well-off level. It is the
unswerving choice of the Chinese people to march toward the goal of
prosperous, democratic, civilized socialist modernization under the
leadership of the CPC.
- The CPC's leadership and rule is needed for safeguarding
China's unification and keeping Chinese society harmonious and
stable. History has proved time and again that, without the
unification of the country and social stability, there will be no
prosperity for the country, and the people will not be able to live
and work in peace and contentment. Foreign invasions, warlord
rampages and political turmoil brought disaster after disaster to
contemporary China. That period of history left an indelible
impression on the memory of the Chinese people. The unification and
stability of China is a blessing for the Chinese people. It is also
in keeping with the interests of the people of all other countries
in the world. To safeguard the country's unification and social
stability has always been a matter of paramount importance at which
the people of all ethnic groups in China are most concerned. The
CPC is the faithful representative of the fundamental interests of
the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. Guided by scientific
theories, with the support of nearly 3,500,000 Party organizations
and 69,600,000 Party members and based on its rich experience in
exercising state power and its capability in controlling the
overall situation, the CPC has been planning as a whole social and
economic development and making efforts to build a harmonious
socialist society to safeguard the country's unification as well as
social harmony and stability.
- 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.
The NPC and the local people's congresses at various levels are
established through democratic elections. They are responsible to
the people and subject to their supervision. The Chinese
Constitution states that all citizens who have reached the age of
18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of
ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious
belief, education, property status or length of residence, except
for persons deprived of political rights in accordance with the
law. The deputies to the local people's congresses at county and
township levels are elected directly by the electors. Over the
years, the population that has enjoyed the right to vote and stand
for election has accounted for more than 99 percent of the number
of citizens at or above the age of 18, and the ratio of
participation in elections has been around 90 percent. Due to
China's realities, the deputies to the people's congresses above
the county level are elected indirectly, that is, by the people's
congress at the immediately lower level. A competitive election
system is adopted in both direct and indirect elections in
accordance with the law. The electors and the electoral units have
the power to recall or replace deputies they have elected according
to the procedures prescribed by law. At present, there are 2.8
million deputies to the people's congresses at all levels
nationwide, and they are from various ethnic groups, trades, social
strata and political parties and are therefore highly
representative. The deputies from workers and farmers account for a
considerable proportion of deputies to people's congresses at
different levels. For instance, worker and farmer deputies account
for 18.4 percent of the total number of deputies to the Tenth NPC
(March 2003-March 2008). To ensure that state power is truly in the
hands of the entire people, the deputies must convey and represent
the interests and will of the people when exercising their
functions and powers. They have the right to propose bills, examine
and discuss bills and reports, and vote on bills in accordance with
the law, and may not be held legally liable for their speeches or
votes at the meetings of the people's congresses.
The Chinese Constitution and law stipulate that the term of
office of each NPC and each of local people's congresses at various
levels is five years, and the NPC meets in session once a year, and
local people's congresses at various levels meet at least once a
year. The Election Law of People's Congresses also prescribes that
the number of deputies to each NPC shall not exceed 3,000. Since
the number of deputies to the NPC is fairly large and makes it
inconvenient to hold frequent meetings, the NPC Standing Committee
is established in accordance with the stipulation of the
Constitution to exercise the functions and powers of the highest
organ of state power when the NPC is not in session. The NPC
Standing Committee normally meets once every two months. It is
composed of one chairperson, a number of vice-chairpersons, one
secretary-general and a number of members. The Standing Committee
of the Tenth NPC has 175 members, including one chairperson and 15
vice-chairpersons. Standing committees have also been established
by local people's congresses at and above the county level. The
members of the Standing Committee of the NPC and standing
committees of the local people's congresses at and above the county
level are elected from among the deputies to the people's
congresses in competitive elections, and for the same term as the
NPC and local people's congresses at the corresponding levels.
The people's congresses and their standing committees pursue a
democratic style of work, draw on the wisdom of all deputies, and
represent and convey the will and basic interests of the people.
The principle of absolute majority is observed when the people's
congresses and their standing committees vote on bills, that is, a
bill can only be adopted by the agreement of more than half of the
total number of members. Amendments to the Constitution are adopted
by a vote of more than two-thirds of all the deputies to the
NPC.
When the people's congresses and their standing committees hold
meetings, persons in charge of departments concerned may attend as
non-voting delegates, and the departments and individuals concerned
may audit. Those attending as non-voting delegates have the right
to speak, but not the right to vote. Those auditing are not
entitled to speak. If they have any comment on the bills discussed
by the standing committee, they may submit their opinions to the
working organ of the standing committee in writing. In recent
years, the standing committees in some localities have opened their
doors to citizens who wish to be observers at their meetings. The
auditors are chosen in sequence of applications of citizens.
The people's congresses have four main functions and powers:
legislation, supervision, appointment and removal of officials, and
making decisions on major issues. These functions are a major
reflection of the way the Chinese people exercise their power as
masters of the state through the system of people's congress.
- Power of legislation. The Chinese Constitution states
that the NPC and its Standing Committee exercise the legislative
power of the state, mainly to amend the Constitution, and enact and
amend the basic laws concerning criminal offences, civil affairs,
state organs and other matters. The people's congress at provincial
level and its standing committee may, in the light of the specific
conditions and practical needs of that particular administrative
area, enact local regulations under the precondition that the
regulations they enact must not contravene the Constitution, the
law or the administrative regulations of the state. The people's
congress of a big city and its standing committee may, in the light
of the specific conditions and practical needs of the city, enact
local regulations under the precondition that the regulations they
enact must not contravene either the Constitution, the law or the
administrative regulations of the state, or the regulations of the
province or autonomous region the city belongs to, and submit the
newly enacted local regulations to the standing committee of the
people's congress of the province or autonomous region for approval
before they are put into effect. The people's congress and its
standing committee of a province or city that has special economic
zones may, in line with authorization by the NPC, enact local
regulations that take effect within the special economic zones. The
people's congresses of the ethnic autonomous areas have the power
to enact regulations on the exercise of autonomy and other separate
regulations in the light of the political, economic and cultural
characteristics of the ethnic group(s), and make appropriate
adaptations of the laws and administrative regulations.
In the three decades from 1949, when the PRC was founded, to
1978, the NPC formulated 134 laws, 16 of which are still in force
today. When the reform and opening-up policies were initiated in
the late 1970s, China's socialist democratic legal construction
entered a new era. In 1982, the NPC revised the Constitution, and
adopted four amendments to it in the ensuing years. So far, the NPC
and its Standing Committee have enacted more than 200 laws that are
still in effect and over 200 decisions on legal issues. The local
people's congresses and their standing committees have enacted more
than 7,500 local regulations that are still in effect, and the
people's congresses of ethnic autonomous areas have enacted more
than 600 regulations on the exercise of autonomy and other
regulations.
In recent years, democracy has been promoted continuously in
China's legislation. Experts are invited to give their opinions at
symposia organized on the draft of almost every bill. In some
cases, the legislative organ even entrusts specialized research
institutions to draft the bills. For bills aiming at adjusting
important social relations, the standing committees of local
people's congresses often hold hearings to let parties with
different interests voice their opinions. The Legislation Law of
China has included provisions on legislative hearings. Since 1982,
the NPC and its Standing Committee have published the drafts of a
dozen important bills that are closely related to the immediate
interests of the people, including the amendments to the
Constitution, the draft for revision of the Marriage Law, the draft
of the Contract Law, and the draft of the Property Law, to solicit
public opinion during the process of formulation. The direct
participation of the people in the formulation of laws has not only
improved the quality of legislation and ensured that the laws fully
represent the will and demands of the people, but has also enhanced
the whole society's sense of law, so that the laws can be enforced
in a smooth way after adoption.
- Power of supervision. To supervise the enforcement of
the Constitution and the law is a major content of the supervisory
power exercised by the NPC and its Standing Committee. The basic
way such supervision is carried out is by examination of the
enforcement of laws and by checking the reporting of regulations
for the record. Regarding the examination of law enforcement, the
Standing Committee of the Ninth NPC conducted 22 examinations of
the enforcement of 21 laws, and the Standing Committee of the Tenth
NPC examined the enforcement of 10 laws in the period 2003-2004.
The standing committees of the local people's congresses have also
examined the enforcement of laws and relevant regulations within
their respective administrative areas. Through the examination of
law enforcement, the standing committees of the people's congresses
have obtained detailed information about the true situation and
existing problems in the enforcement of laws and regulations, and
urged the governments, the courts and the procuratorates at the
same level to improve their law-enforcement work, and thus ensured
that the organs in charge of law enforcement act in accordance with
the law and exercise judicial power justly. Regarding checking on
the reporting of regulations for the record, more than 7,500 local
regulations, 600 regulations on the exercise of autonomy and
separate regulations, and nearly 300 regulations applied to the
special economic zones have so far been filed to the NPC Standing
Committee for the record. The Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC
has set up a special examining organ to further standardize this
work. The standing committees of the people's congresses at the
provincial level and of big cities have also examined, in
accordance with the law, the reporting of rules and regulations for
the record by the local governments. Through these efforts, rules
and regulations that contravene the Constitution and the law are
annulled, and organs that have formulated regulations that include
inappropriate articles and clauses are urged to correct them. This
is of great significance for keeping the legal system of the state
in unison. In recent years, the NPC Standing Committee has started
to examine the reporting for the record of judicial interpretations
by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's
Procuratorate.
To supervise the work of the governments, the courts and the
procuratorates are another important part of the supervisory power
of the people's congresses and their standing committees at the
corresponding level. To hear and review the work reports of the
State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's
Procuratorate are a basic means by which the NPC and its Standing
Committee exercise their power of supervision. When the people's
congresses are in session, the people's governments, people's
courts and people's procuratorates at the same level shall report
their work to the session, and the people's governments shall
submit their draft budgets and draft plans for national economic
and social development, and the draft budgets shall be reviewed for
approval by the session. When the standing committees of the
people's congresses are in session, they hear work reports and
reports on issues that are significant to the reform, development
and stability, as well as urgent topics or difficulties that are
related to the immediate interests of the people. The Standing
Committee of the Ninth NPC heard and reviewed 40 special reports
during its five-year tenure, and the Standing Committee of the
Tenth NPC has heard and reviewed 22 special reports in the first
two years of its tenure.
- Power of personnel appointment and removal. The
people's congresses and their standing committees have the power to
elect, decide on, appoint or remove, replace or recall members of
relevant organs of state power. The NPC elects the president and
the vice-president of the PRC, and the chairperson of the Central
Military Commission of the state; decides on the choice of the
premier of the State Council upon nomination by the president;
decides on the choice of the vice-premiers, state councilors,
ministers in charge of various ministries or commissions, the
auditor-general and the secretary-general of the State Council upon
nomination by the premier; upon nomination by the chairman of the
Central Military Commission of the state, decides on the choice of
all other members of the Central Military Commission; and elects
the president of the Supreme People's Court and the
procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The local
people's congresses at all levels exercise their power to elect,
decide on, appoint or remove, replace or recall members of local
organs of state power in accordance with the law.
- Power to making decisions regarding major issues. The
NPC is entitled by the Constitution to approve the establishment of
provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under
the central government, decide on the establishment of special
administrative regions and the systems to be instituted there, and
decide on questions of war and peace, and other major issues.
Issues that are significant to the national economy and social
development, such as the Three Gorges Project, can only be
implemented after a resolution has been made by the NPC. In recent
years, the people's congresses and their standing committees have
exercised their power to make decisions on urban construction
planning, environmental protection and other major issues in their
own areas.
Practice has proved that the system of people's congress is a
fundamental political system that is in accord with the national
conditions of China, embodies the nature of the socialist state of
China and ensures the people to be the masters of the country. It
has taken root among the masses and, therefore, is full of vigor;
it represents the common will and fundamental interests of the
people, and motivates the whole people to plunge in state
construction as the masters of the state, guarantees that state
organs operate in a coordinated and efficient way, and safeguards
national unification and ethnic unity. Through the system of
people's congress, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups hold the
future and destiny of the state and the nation firmly in their own
hands.
IV. The System of Multi-Party
Cooperation and Political Consultation Under the Leadership of the
CPC
What kind of political party system to adopt is determined by
the nature of the country, the national conditions, as well as the
demands of national interests and social development. The political
party system China has adopted is multi-party cooperation and
political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, which is
different from both the two-party or multi-party competition system
of Western countries and the one-party system practiced in some
other countries. This system was established and has been developed
during the long-term practice of the CPC and democratic parties in
the course of the Chinese revolution, construction and reform. It
is a result of the united struggle of the CPC and the democratic
parties through thick and thin and is a basic political system in
contemporary China.
There are nine political parties in China at present. Besides
the CPC, there are the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese
Kuomintang (founded in 1948), the China Democratic League (founded
in 1941), the China National Democratic Construction Association
(founded in 1945), the China Association for Promoting Democracy
(founded in 1945), the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic
Party (founded in 1930), the China Zhi Gong Dang (founded in 1925),
the Jiusan Society (founded in 1945) and the Taiwan Democratic
Self-Government League (founded in 1947). Since most of these
political parties were founded during the War of Resistance Against
Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) and the War of Liberation
(1946-1949) in the pursuit of national liberation and democracy of
the people, they were given the joint name of "democratic parties."
In present-day China, these democratic parties are political
alliances of the socialist working people, builders of socialism
and patriots who support socialism, among whom they have maintained
ties respectively. Another important force in China's political
life is the personages without party affiliation, or people who
have not joined any political party but have certain public
influence coupled with positive contributions. The majority are
intellectuals.
The salient characteristics of China's political party system
are: multi-party cooperation under the leadership of the CPC, with
the CPC holding power and the democratic parties participating
fully in state affairs. These democratic parties are close friends
of the CPC. They unite and cooperate with the latter in their
participation in state affairs, instead of being opposition parties
or out-of-power parties. They participate in the exercise of state
power, the consultation in fundamental state policies and the
choice of state leaders, the administration of state affairs, and
the formulation and implementation of state policies, laws and
regulations.
In China, the CPC and the democratic parties share the same goal
of struggle. The Chinese Constitution states that "under the
leadership of the Communist Party of China multi-party cooperation
and the political consultative system will continue to exist and
develop for a long time to come." The cooperation between the CPC
and the democratic parties is based on the basic principle of
"long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, treating each other
with sincerity and sharing each other's weal and woe." The national
conditions and the nature of the state determine that the
leadership of the CPC is the first and foremost prerequisite and
fundamental guarantee for the multi-party cooperation. At the same
time, such a leadership is not one of simple monopoly, but one of
political leadership, that is, leadership in terms of political
principle, political orientation, and major policies and programs.
Both the CPC and the democratic parties take the Constitution as
the basic norms of their conduct, and shoulder the responsibility
to uphold the dignity of the Constitution and ensure its
implementation.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
is an organization of the patriotic united front of the Chinese
people. It is an important organ of multi-party cooperation and
political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, and an
important instrument of democracy in the country's political life.
The CPPCC National Committee is composed of members of the CPC and
the democratic parties, personages without party affiliation,
representatives of people's organizations, ethnic minorities and
all walks of life, representatives of compatriots of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative
Region and Taiwan, as well as of returned overseas Chinese and
other specially invited people, who are divided into several
circles. The CPPCC National Committee has one chairperson, a number
of vice-chairpersons and one secretary-general, serves for a term
of five years, and holds a plenary session once a year. The
provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the
central government establish CPPCC committees of the provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities. The autonomous prefectures,
cities divided into districts, counties, autonomous counties,
cities not divided into districts and districts under the
jurisdiction of cities, where there are suitable conditions for
setting up local committees, may establish CPPCC committees in the
corresponding areas. The tenure of these committees is five years,
and a plenary session shall be held at least once a year. The CPPCC
conducts its work centering on the two themes of unity and
democracy, and exercises the functions of political consultation,
democratic supervision, and participating in the administration and
discussion of state affairs. The CPPCC plays an important role in
the state's political life, social life and overseas friendship
activities, as well as the country's modernization drive and the
struggle to safeguard national reunification and unity. The CPC and
the governments at all levels consult the CPPCC on fundamental
policies and important issues in political, economic, cultural and
social affairs before a decision is adopted and during the
implementation of such decisions, so as to heed and canvass a wide
range of opinions. This is a key link for the CPC and the
governments at all levels to ensure that decision-making is
scientific and democratic.
The increasing importance of the system of multi-party
cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the
CPC in the state's political and social life can be specified as
follows:
- Political consultation between the CPC and the democratic
parties and personages without party affiliation has been gradually
institutionalized and standardized. The CPC Central Committee
routinely invites leaders of the democratic parties and
representative personages without party affiliation to consultative
conferences, small-scale meetings and forums at which CPC leaders
inform the participants of major events, hear their opinions and
suggestions, and discuss state affairs with them. In addition to
these consultation meetings, the central committees of the
democratic parties may submit suggestions in writing to the CPC
Central Committee. Consultations may cover important documents of
the CPC National Congress and the CPC Central Committee; proposed
amendments to the Constitution and important laws; candidates for
senior offices of the state; important decisions concerning the
reform and opening-up program; the medium- and long-term plans for
national economic and social development; major issues that have a
bearing on the overall situation of the country; circulation of
information about important documents and situations, and
soliciting of opinions; as well as other major issues that need to
be discussed with the democratic parties. In 2003 and 2004, 36
consultative conferences, forums and briefings were convened by CPC
leaders or entrusted by them to be convened by relevant
departments, 13 of which were presided over by the General
Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation play an important role in the people's
congresses. Members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation hold an appropriate proportion in the
deputies to the NPC, the Standing Committee and the special
committees of the NPC. Through their activities in the people's
congresses, they reflect the wishes of the people, participate in
decision-making on major state issues and in the formulation of
laws, and supervise the work of the government. In 2003, when a new
term of office began, 176,000 members of the democratic parties and
personages without party affiliation were elected deputies to the
people's congresses at various levels nationwide. Among them, seven
are vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee and 50 are
members of the NPC Standing Committee; 41 are vice-chairpersons of
the standing committees of provincial-level people's congresses and
462 are members of such standing committees; and 352 are
vice-chairpersons of the standing committees of municipal-level
people's congresses and 2,084 are members of such standing
committees.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation hold leading positions in government and judicial
organs at various levels. At the end of 2004, over 32,000
members of the democratic parties and personages without party
affiliation held leading positions in government and
law-enforcement departments at and above the county level. Among
them, 19 held leading posts in the Supreme People's Court, the
Supreme People's Procuratorate as well as the various ministries
and commissions under the central government; 27 served as deputy
governors, vice-chairpersons or deputy mayors in the 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities on the mainland of China; 354
served as deputy mayors in the people's governments of 397 cities
(prefectures, leagues or districts); 19 were vice-presidents of
courts or deputy chief procurators of procuratorates at the
provincial level; and 87 were vice-presidents of courts or deputy
chief procurators of procuratorates at the prefecture level.
Engaging in mutual support with CPC officials, they play a
significant role in the organs of state power.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation play an important role in the CPPCC. As
deputies to the CPPCC, members of the democratic parties and
personages without party affiliation can air their opinions, put
forth bills and motions, and participate in the administration and
discussion of state affairs. They also hold a fairly big proportion
in the members, standing committees members and leaders of the
CPPCC at various levels. The latest CPPCC election, held in 2003,
saw 337,000 members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation elected CPPCC members at various levels
nationwide. About 60.1 percent of the members of the Tenth CPPCC
National Committee and 65.2 percent of the members of its Standing
Committee were members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation; and of 24 vice-chairpersons of the
vice-chairpersons of the Tenth CPPCC National Committee, 13 are
members of the democratic parties and personages without party
affiliation.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation exercise democratic supervision over the work of
the party in power and the state organs through diversified
channels and means. Such supervision mainly covers the
implementation of the Constitution, and laws and regulations of the
state; the formulation and implementation of major principles and
policies of the CPC and the government; and the performance and
honesty of the CPC organizations and CPC members who hold leading
posts. In recent years, government departments and judicial organs
have appointed members of democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation as special inspectors, invited and organized
members of democratic parties and personages without party
affiliation to examine the work style of the CPC, and to take part
in other special checks and supervision over law enforcement, thus
further opening up the channels of, and constantly strengthening,
democratic supervision.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages without
party affiliation actively participate in the country's reform and
opening-up and modernization drive, and make suggestions to promote
the reunification of the motherland and overall social
progress. Since 1989, the central committees of the democratic
parties have submitted to the CPC Central Committee, the State
Council and departments concerned nearly 180 important proposals on
the overall work of the CPC and the state, as well as on issues
that are key to the national economy and the people's livelihood,
especially the two major tasks of economic construction and
peaceful reunification, on the basis of investigations they have
conducted, and their local organizations have submitted more than
80,000 proposals and motions. Many of the proposals and motions
have been adopted. The local organizations of the democratic
parties at various levels have devised more than 40,000 consulting
programs, run more than 1,000 schools of various kinds and trained
about 3 million people in various special skills.
In February 2005, the CPC promulgated the "Opinions of the CPC
Central Committee on Further Strengthening the Building of the
System of Multi-Party Cooperation and Political Consultation Under
the Leadership of the CPC," which, on the basis of summing up
historical experience and successful operations in multi-party
cooperation and political consultation, further clarified the
principles, contents, ways and procedures of the system of
multi-party cooperation and political consultation, and pointed the
direction for improving the socialist political party system with
Chinese characteristics.
The political advantages of the system of multi-party
cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the
CPC lie in the fact that it can both achieve wide democratic
participation, pool the wisdom of the democratic parties, mass
organizations and people of all walks of life and promote the
scientific and democratic decision-making of the party in power and
the governments at all levels, and realize centralization and unity
and draw up unified plans with due consideration given to the
interests of different sections of the people. Moreover, it can
avoid both the problem of insufficient supervision common under one
party rule, and political chaos and a lack of stability and unity
that may be caused by the disputes and strife of several
parties.
V. The System of Ethnic Regional
Autonomy
China is a unitary multi-ethnic country. To date, 56 ethnic
groups have been identified and recognized by the central
government. The population of the Han ethnic group accounts for the
majority. As the population of the other 55 ethnic groups is
relatively small, they are customarily referred to as "ethnic
minorities." According to statistics collected in the fifth
national census, conducted in 2000, the population of all ethnic
minority groups totaled 106.43 million, accounting for 8.41 percent
of the national total.
To solve the problems of ethnic groups, different systems have
been adopted by different multi-ethnic countries around the world,
and what China practices is the system of ethnic regional autonomy.
Ethnic regional autonomy means that, under the unified leadership
of the state, organs of self-government are established for the
exercise of autonomy and regional autonomy is practiced in areas
where people of ethnic minorities live in compact communities.
China's adoption of ethnic regional autonomy to solve the ethnic
problems is an institutional arrangement based on its own
historical development, cultural characteristics, ethnic relations
and distribution of the ethnic groups, as well as other specific
conditions, which is in accord with the common interests of all
ethnic groups and their demands for development. Both the
Constitution and the Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy contain clear
stipulations on ethnic regional autonomy and its implementation.
The system of ethnic regional autonomy is a basic political system
of China.
Ethnic autonomous areas in China are divided into three levels,
namely, autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous
counties. In 1947, before the People's Republic of China was
founded, under the leadership of the CPC, the first
provincial-level autonomous region in China - the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region - was established in the liberated areas
inhabited by Mongolians in compact communities. After New China was
founded in 1949, the Chinese government began to introduce the
system of ethnic regional autonomy to all areas where ethnic
minorities lived in compact communities. In October 1955, the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established; in March 1958,
the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was established; in October
1958, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was established; and in
September 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was established. Now,
China has established 155 ethnic autonomous areas, including five
autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures and 120 autonomous
counties (banners). Of the 55 ethnic minorities, 44 have their own
autonomous areas. The population of ethnic minorities implementing
regional autonomy accounts for 71 percent of the total population
of ethnic minorities. Meanwhile, China has established 1,173
autonomous townships in places equivalent to townships where ethnic
minorities live in compact communities, as a supplement to the
autonomous areas. Of the 11 ethnic minorities for which regional
autonomy is not implemented because their populations and habitats
are relatively small, nine have set up autonomous townships.
In accordance with the Constitution and the Law on Ethnic
Regional Autonomy, the organs of self-government of ethnic
autonomous areas are the people's congresses and people's
governments of autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and
autonomous counties. In addition to exercising the functions and
powers of local state organs at the corresponding level, they also
exercise the power of autonomy. First, independently managing the
internal affairs of their ethnic groups in their autonomous areas.
Among the chairpersons or vice-chairpersons of the standing
committees of the people's congresses of all 155 autonomous areas
in China, there are citizens of the ethnic group or groups
exercising regional autonomy in the area concerned. The chairperson
of an autonomous region, the prefect of an autonomous prefecture
and the head of an autonomous county are all citizens of the ethnic
group or groups exercising regional autonomy in the area concerned.
In the working departments of the self-government organs in these
autonomous areas, a rational proportion of officials from the
ethnic group or groups exercising regional autonomy as well as
members of other minorities living in the area concerned are
appointed in accordance with the law. At present, minority
officials total more than 2.9 million nationwide. Second, having
the power to formulate regulations on the exercise of autonomy and
separate regulations. By the end of 2004, the ethnic autonomous
areas had formulated 133 regulations on the exercise of autonomy
and 418 separate regulations, all of which are still effective now.
In the light of the particular situation in each area, they had
made 68 flexible alterations or supplementary regulations to such
laws as the Marriage Law, the Law of Succession, the Election Law,
the Law on Land Administration and the Grassland Law. Third, using
and developing their own spoken and written languages. At present,
22 ethnic minorities in China use 28 written languages of their
own. In 2003, 4,787 titles of books with a total print-run of 50.34
million copies, 205 magazines with a total print-run of 7.81
million volumes, and 88 newspapers with a total print-run of 131.3
million copies were published in the languages of ethnic
minorities. Now available are coded character sets, national
standards for fonts and keyboards in the Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur,
Korean and Yi languages, software in these languages can be run
using the Windows system, and laser photo-typesetting in these
languages has been realized. Fourth, respecting and protecting the
freedom of religious belief of ethnic minorities. By the end of
2004, Tibetan Buddhist sites numbered more than 1,700 in the Tibet
Autonomous Region, with 46,000 resident monks and nuns, and mosques
numbered 23,900 in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with
27,000 clerical personnel. In addition, regional autonomous areas
have the right to preserve or reform their own folk ways and
customs, independently arrange, manage and develop the economic
construction of the locality concerned, independently manage local
revenues, and independently develop undertakings of education,
science and technology, culture and sports.
The state assists ethnic autonomous areas to accelerate their
economic and social development through various measures. Primarily
they are: giving strategic prominence to speeding up the
development of ethnic autonomous areas, giving priority to, and
rationally allocating, infrastructure construction projects in
these areas, strengthening financial input and support to these
areas, attaching importance to ecological and environmental
protection in these areas, adopting special measures to help these
areas develop education, science and technology, augmenting
assistance to impoverished habitats of ethnic minorities,
expediting input into the social undertakings in these areas,
helping them open wider to the outside world, pairing them up with
more-developed areas for support, and attending to the special
needs of ethnic minorities in their life and work. From 2000, when
the grand strategy for development of western China was adopted, to
the end of 2004, 60 key projects, involving transportation, energy,
education, public health and environmental protection, had been
launched in succession, with a total investment of over 850 billion
yuan. All the five autonomous regions, 27 autonomous prefectures,
and 83 of the 120 autonomous counties are covered in the strategy.
Assisting the ethnic minority areas to accelerate their development
has been listed as a major task in the state's "Seven-Year Program
for Delivering 80 Million People from Poverty" and "Outline for
Poverty Alleviation and Development in China's Rural Areas," as
well as in the pairing-off assistance between the more-developed
east coast and the western regions, the "National Project of
Compulsory Education in Poor Areas," the "Food and Clothing Fund
for Impoverished Ethnic Minority Areas," the "National Natural
Forest Protection Project" and the "Broadcast and TV to Every
Village Project." The state has made special arrangements for the
development of Tibet. From 1994 to 2001, 30 projects were
constructed there, with 3.9 billion yuan in total investment
directly from the central government. During the Tenth Five-Year
Plan (2001-2005), the central government has invested 31.2 billion
yuan in Tibet to construct 117 projects.
With the energetic assistance and support from the state and the
more-developed areas, the ethnic autonomous areas have fully
exploited their own advantages and maintained a sound situation
featured by economic growth, political stability, social progress
and harmony between ethnic groups. From 1994 to 2003, the GDP of
the ethnic autonomous areas grew by an annual average of 9.87
percent, which was nearly one percentage point higher than the
national average. In 1994, the per-capita GDP of these areas was
equivalent to 63.5 percent of the national per-capita figure; in
2003, it rose to 66.5 percent. Also in 2003, the local revenue of
the ethnic autonomous areas reached 67.4 billion yuan, 3.3 times
that of 1994. In the same year, the per-capita GDP in Tibet was
6,871 yuan, equivalent to 75.5 percent of the national per-capita
average; and the per-capita GDP in Xinjiang was 9,700 yuan,
equivalent to 106.6 percent of the national per-capita average.
The successful implementation of the system of regional autonomy
for ethnic minorities has enabled the ethnic minorities to manage
their own affairs in accordance with the law and participate in the
democratic management of state and social affairs. It has also
ensured that all ethnic groups in China, whether their populations
are big or small, enjoy equal economic, political, social and
cultural rights and work together to safeguard national unity and
national solidarity and fight against any attempt to split the
country and destroy national solidarity, thus form among them
harmonious relations characterized by mutual support, mutual help,
striving in unison and common prosperity.
VI. Grassroots Democracy in Urban and
Rural Areas
Expanding the scope of grassroots democracy is an inevitable
trend and the important base for the improvement and development of
political democracy with Chinese characteristics. Along with
China's development and progress, the scope of grassroots democracy
in urban and rural areas has been expanding continuously, with more
channels for citizens' orderly political participation and
ever-increasing ways to realize democracy.
China has now established a grassroots democratic
self-government system, which mainly includes the rural villagers'
committee, urban neighborhood committee and the conference of
workers and staff in enterprises. In these grassroots mass
organizations of self-government in urban and rural areas, the
Chinese people directly exercise their legal rights of democratic
election, democratic decision-making, democratic management and
democratic supervision, so that they can manage the public affairs
and welfare undertakings of their grassroots organizations and
communities by themselves. This has become the most direct and
broadest practice of democracy in China today.
(1) Building of Grassroots Political Democracy in Rural
Areas
Among China's population of 1.3 billion, over 800 million are
rural residents. So, it is an issue of great importance in China's
building of political democracy to expand and develop rural
grassroots democracy, so that the farmers can fully exercise their
democratic rights as real masters in their villages. After years of
exploration and practice, the CPC has led the hundreds of millions
of Chinese farmers to find, in view of China's realities, an
appropriate way to promote the building of grassroots political
democracy in rural areas - villagers' self-government.
Self-government by villagers is a basic system by which the
broad masses of the rural people directly exercise their democratic
rights to run their own affairs in accordance with the law and
carry out self-administration, self-education and self-service.
Burgeoning in the early 1980s, developed in the 1980s and
popularized in the 1990s, this system has become an effective way
to develop grassroots democracy and improve the level of governance
in rural China.
The Chinese Constitution prescribes the legal status of the
villagers' committee as a mass organization of rural grassroots
self-government. The Law of the People's Republic of China on
Organization of the Villagers' Committee expressly specifies the
nature, functions, procedures of establishment, term of service and
other issues related to villagers' committees to ensure the healthy
development of grassroots democratic self-government in rural
areas. The implementing rules of the Law on Organization of the
Villagers' Committees and the measures of election of villagers'
committees have been enacted or revised in 31 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the central government on
the mainland of China, which provides a more specific legal
guarantee for the villagers' self-government.
Democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic
management and democratic supervision are the major contents of
villagers' self-government.
- Democratic election. Villagers can directly elect or
dismiss members of the villagers' committees according to the
Constitution and the Law on Organization of the Villagers'
Committee. A villagers' committee is composed of three to seven
members, including the chairperson and vice-chairpersons. Each
committee serves a term of three years. In the process of election,
the candidates of the committee members are nominated and voted for
directly by the villagers, and the election results are declared on
the spot to ensure that the election is just, open and fair. The
villagers are enthusiastic about these elections and, according to
incomplete statistics, the average participation rate in such
elections is above 80 percent in rural China, with some places even
boasting over 90 percent. By the end of 2004, some 644,000
villagers' committees had been established throughout the country,
with most of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
directly under the central government having elected their fifth or
sixth committees.
- Democratic decision-making. All important matters
touching on the villagers' interests are to be discussed at
meetings of villagers or their representatives, and decisions are
to be made according to the opinion of the majority. As situations
differ greatly from place to place in the rural areas of China, the
villages vary in size and it is especially difficult to organize
and hold a committee meeting to make a decision in big villages
with villagers scattered around a wide area, the problem is solved
by holding meetings of villagers' representatives. To date, 85
percent of the villages in China have established the system of
villagers' meetings or villagers' representative meetings for
democratic decision-making.
- Democratic management. In accordance with the state
laws, regulations and related policies, the villagers'
self-government rules, or villagers' code of conduct are discussed,
formulated or revised by all the villagers in line with the local
situation. In line with the self-government rules, vividly called
the "lesser constitution," the villagers' committees and villagers
practice self-management, self-education and self-service. Now,
more than 80 percent of the villages in China have enacted
villagers' self-government rules or villagers' code of conduct and
established systems of democratic financial management and
auditing, and for village affairs management.
- Democratic supervision. The villagers supervise the
committee's work and the conduct of the village cadres through
making village affairs open, democratic evaluation of village
cadres, regular work reports by the villagers' committee, and the
system of auditing the work of the outgoing village cadres. Making
village affairs public, in particular, is widely welcomed by
villagers.
The successful experience of villagers' self-government is a
great creation of millions of Chinese farmers led by the CPC in
developing socialist political democracy with Chinese
characteristics. The promotion of rural grassroots democracy and
the practice of villagers' self-government have greatly aroused the
enthusiasm of the broad masses of rural people to act as the
masters of their own affairs, enhanced their creativity and sense
of responsibility, thus opening up a new chapter in the building of
political democracy in rural China.
(2) Building of Political Democracy in Urban Communities
The urban neighborhood committee is a mass self-government
organization of urban residents in China for self-management,
self-education and self-service. It is an important form of direct
grassroots democracy in Chinese cities.
After the founding of New China in 1949, neighborhood committees
were set up in cities all over the country to make urban residents
carry out democratic self-government over public affairs in their
residential areas. In 1982, the system of urban neighborhood
committee was, for the first time, written into the Constitution of
the People's Republic of China. The Law of the People's Republic of
China on the Organization of Neighborhood Committees in the Cities,
enacted by the NPC Standing Committee in 1989, provides the legal
basis and institutional guarantee for the development of urban
neighborhood committees. In 1999, the state experimented with
community building in 26 municipal districts, and then activities
for community building demonstration were held all over the
country. By the end of 2004, 71,375 neighborhood committees that
were deemed up to the requirements for the building of new-type
communities had been set up in Chinese cities. At present, urban
community building is spreading from selected places to wider
areas, from large cities to medium-sized and small cities, and from
eastern to western areas. To improve the level of urban residents'
self-government, a new type of urban communities with
well-organized management and services as well as a pleasing
environment and harmonious neighborhood relationships are being
built throughout the country.
Like rural villagers' self-government, the major contents of the
urban residents' self-government are also democratic election,
democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic
supervision. In terms of democratic election, the form of election
has developed from candidate nomination to self-nomination, from
nominating one candidate for election to each post to
multi-candidate election, and from indirect election to direct
election, breaking down the limitations on place and status, and
continuously enhancing the degree of democracy. In recent years,
direct elections have been promoted vigorously in urban
communities. A survey made by the government department concerned
on the 26 experimental urban locations shows that the urban
community residents participate actively in the direct elections of
neighborhood committees and over 90 percent of them turn out to
vote. As a result of the direct elections, neighborhood committee
members have tended to become younger, better educated and more
professional. In terms of democratic decision-making, the residents
of a community, as the mainstay in this respect, exercise their
decision-making power by holding residents' meetings, forums,
hearings and through other effective forms and channels. In the
aspect of democratic management, the neighborhood committees work
within the framework of law, standardize their work according to
the community residents' self-government rules and regulations, in
an effort to make the residents more conscious of being the masters
of their own affairs and concerned about public affairs in the
community. In the aspect of democratic supervision, the
neighborhood committee practices open management; all issues of
public concern, difficult problems and important matters involving
the residents' interests are made public to the residents in a
timely manner and subject to their discussions, comments,
suggestions and supervision.
(3) Building of the System of Conference of Workers and
Staff
The conference of workers and staff is a basic system ensuring
the democratic management of an enterprise or public institution by
its workers and staff members. In China, this democratic right as
master of an enterprise enjoyed by all the members of an enterprise
or public institution is largely exercised through the system of
conference of workers and staff.
This conference system was adopted in the publicly owned
enterprises after the founding of New China, and was widely
promoted in the whole country after 1957. There are related
stipulations on the system of conference of workers and staff in
China's Constitution, the Law on Industrial Enterprises of Public
Ownership, the Labor Law, the Trade Union Law, and the Regulations
Concerning the Conference of Workers and Staff in Publicly Owned
Industrial Enterprises. According to these related laws, the
conference of workers and staff has five functions and rights: the
right to make deliberations and suggestions on the plan and scheme
of the enterprise's production management and development; the
right to examine and adopt important regulations and rules on
wages, bonus, labor protection, punishments and rewards; the right
to deliberate and decide on important matters concerning workers'
and staff members' life and material benefits; the right to
appraise and supervise the administrators and leaders of the
enterprise; and the right to recommend or elect the head of a
factory.
The conference of workers and staff enjoys broad mass support in
China, and among its representatives are not only workers but also
technological staff, managerial personnel and other members. It can
represent all workers and staff in the democratic management of an
enterprise. While the conference is in recess, the committee of the
trade union of the enterprise will function as its work organ and
take care of the day-to-day work of the conference. Since 1998, the
system of making factory affairs public has been adopted in
state-owned enterprises, collective enterprises and the enterprises
whose equities are controlled by the two, and has also been
extended to non-publicly owned enterprises. By the end of 2004,
1.732 million enterprises and public institutions had established
trade unions and 369,000 had set up the conferences of workers and
staff, covering 78.364 million employees. In addition, 316,000 had
introduced the system of making their affairs public, covering
70.612 million employees. Now, 52.8 percent of the publicly owned
enterprises with trade union organizations have set up conferences
of workers and staff, covering 35.026 million employees and
accounting for 72.9 percent of the employees in publicly owned
enterprises with trade union organizations; 32.6 percent of the
non-publicly owned enterprises with trade union organizations have
introduced the system of conference of workers and staff, covering
27.87 million employees and accounting for 46.7 percent of the
employees in non-publicly owned enterprises with trade union
organizations.
Since the reform and opening-up policies were instituted, the
conference of workers and staff and other forms of democratic
administrative system have been playing an irreplaceable role in
democratic management, coordinating labor relationships,
guaranteeing and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests
of the employees and promoting reform, development and stability in
enterprises and public institutions. The state will continue to
adhere to the principle of running enterprises by depending on the
workers and staff wholeheartedly. With the deepening of the reform
and opening-up, the state will make great efforts to promote the
establishment and improvement of democratic management systems in
institutions and enterprises under all forms of ownership and take
practical measures to tackle salient problems in these respects, so
as to ensure the employees to really enjoy their democratic and
legitimate rights and interests.
VII. Respecting and Safeguarding
Human Rights
In March 2004, an Amendment to the Constitution was adopted by
the Second Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, which
included the statement "the State respects and safeguards human
rights" in the Constitution, thus ushering in a new chapter in the
progress of China's human rights undertakings.
Respecting and safeguarding human rights, ensuring that the
people enjoy extensive rights and freedom according to law,
represents an intrinsic requirement for the development of
socialist democracy. Socialist democracy means that all power of
the state belongs to the people and people enjoy in real terms the
civil rights prescribed in the Constitution and law. China's
socialist democracy is a kind of democracy built on the basis that
citizens' rights are guaranteed and constantly developed.
As a committed representative of the Chinese people's
fundamental interests, the CPC has always taken as its basic task
the maintenance of national sovereignty and independence, as well
as the safeguarding and development of the various rights of the
people, and regards the rights to subsistence and development as
the paramount human rights. The CPC adheres to taking development
as the task of first importance, implements the scientific concept
of putting the people first and seeking an overall, coordinated and
sustainable development, and strives to promote economic
development and social progress to satisfy the people's multiple
needs and realize their all-round development.
The Chinese Constitution comprehensively stipulates the
citizens' basic rights and freedoms. Based on the Constitution,
China has enacted a series of laws on the protection of human
rights, and set up a relatively comprehensive legal system for the
protection of human rights. On the basis of achievements made over
the 50-plus years of economic and social development, the Chinese
people are now enjoying human rights more comprehensive and fuller
than they have ever enjoyed in the past.
- The people's rights to subsistence and development are
guaranteed. The CPC focuses on economic construction and has
made tremendous efforts to realize the people's rights to
subsistence and development. After more than 50 years of hard work,
two great historical leaps have been accomplished in people's life
- from being poverty-stricken to having enough food and clothing,
and then to reaching the moderately well-off stage. China has
successfully solved the problem of feeding 22 percent of the
world's population with less than 10 percent of the world's arable
land. From 1979 to 2004, China's economy kept growing rapidly. Its
GDP soared from US$147.3 billion to US$1,650 billion, exceeding
US$1,200 per person. The annual per-capita income of urban
residents rose 5.5 times in real terms, and that of rural
residents, 5.9 times. The average housing space per person
increased from 6.7 sq m to 25 sq m in urban areas, and from 8.1 sq
m to 28 sq m in rural areas. The rural poverty-stricken population
went down from 250 million to 26.1 million. The Chinese people's
overall health level has surpassed the average of countries with a
moderate level of income, leading most developing countries in this
aspect. The people's average life expectancy was raised from 35
years before the founding of New China in 1949 to nearly 72 years
in 2004. The mortality rate of pregnant women and women in
childbirth decreased from 1,500 per 100,000 before 1949 to 48.3 per
100,000 in 2004; and the infant mortality rate also dropped - from
200 per 1,000 before 1949 to 21.5 per 1,000 in 2004. In recent
years, the Chinese government has promulgated and implemented a
series of regulations and measures, such as the National Plan for
the Construction of an Information System for Public Health
Monitoring and the National Plan for the Construction of a System
for Medical Rescue and Treatment in Public Health Emergencies, thus
greatly strengthening the protection of citizens' rights to health
and life.
- Citizens' civil and political rights are guaranteed.
China's Constitution and law protect citizens' rights to freedom of
religion, speech and press, and of association. Citizens' rights to
property, reputation, personal name, honor, personal dignity and
personal safety as well as the right to keep one's property from
encroachment are also acknowledged and protected. China has set up
and improved an open information system and other related systems
to ensure that the citizens enjoy full democratic rights to
information, supervision and participation in public affairs. The
state encourages proactively the development of the press and
publishing undertakings. In 2004, 25.77 billion copies of national
and provincial newspapers, 2.69 billion copies of periodicals of
various kinds, and 6.44 billion copies of books were published. In
recent years, the Internet has developed with a great momentum in
China, and by June 30, 2005, the amount of Internet users had
exceeded 100 million, including 53 million broad-band users. The
state respects and protects citizens' freedom in religious belief,
and guarantees that the legitimate rights and interests of
religious adherents and religious groups, and venues for religious
activities are not violated. According to incomplete statistics,
there are now over 100 million religious adherents, about 300,000
members of the clergy, and more than 100,000 venues for religious
activities in China. The state has formulated the Regulations on
Social Organization Registration and Management, the Provisional
Regulations for the Registration and Administration of Private
Non-Enterprise Units and the Regulations for the Management of
Foundations to guarantee that citizens have the legal freedom to
form associations. By the end of 2004, there were over 289,000 NGOs
of various types in China, including 153,000 social organizations,
135,000 private non-enterprise units and nearly 900
foundations.
- People's economic, social and cultural rights are
guaranteed. There are comprehensive stipulations in the
Chinese Constitution, laws and regulations on citizens' rights to
labor, rest, gender equality, equal pay for equal work for men and
women, intellectual property, social security, receiving material
aid and education, marriage and divorce, as well as the right to
engage and participate in scientific research, literature, art and
other cultural activities. In recent years, the state has taken
various measures to solve the problem of employment and
re-employment, stepped up efforts in the establishment of a social
security system, increased support to education, science and
technology, culture, public health and other social undertakings,
and striven to ensure that citizens' economic, social and cultural
rights are guaranteed. By the end of 2004, the numbers of urban
people taking out policies of basic pension insurance, unemployment
insurance, medical insurance and industrial injury insurance had
reached 164 million, 106 million, 124 million and 68.45 million,
respectively, 8.47 million, 2.11 million, 15.02 million and 22.70
million more respectively than at the end of the previous year. In
the rural areas, 55 million people had participated in social
old-age pension system, and the number is increasing rapidly. A
total of 22.05 million urban residents in China were issued minimum
living allowances by the government. China has generally achieved
the goal of basic nine-year compulsory education and elimination of
illiteracy among young and middle-aged people. In 2004, the central
treasury appropriated various special-purpose funds, totaling over
10 billion yuan, for compulsory education in rural areas, an
increase of 70 percent over the previous year. There are over 20
million students in institutions of higher learning in China,
bringing the gross enrolment ratio for higher education to 19
percent. By the end of 2004, China had 282 radio stations and 314
TV stations, and the overall population coverage rates of radio and
TV broadcasting had reached 94.1 percent and 95.3 percent,
respectively. The government has made continuous efforts to
strengthen the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
migrant workers from rural areas, and formulated the Provisional
Measures for the Management of Payment of Wages to Migrant
Construction Workers from Rural Areas in 2004, which provided for
an overall clearing-up and settlement of defaults on payment of
project fees as well as wages of migrant construction workers from
rural areas.
- The legitimate rights and interests of the special groups
of people, such as women, the aged and minors, and the
underprivileged groups, such as the disabled, are guaranteed.
China has enacted the Law on the Protection of the Rights and
Interests of Women, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and
Interests of the Aged, the Law on the Protection of Minors and the
Law on the Protection of the Disabled to provide special
stipulations for the protection of special social groups, such as
women, the aged and minors, and the underprivileged groups, such as
the disabled. Women's right to participate in the management of
state affairs is protected in China. Among the deputies to the
Fourth NPC in 1975 to the Tenth NPC in 2003, women made up more
than 20 percent of the total. At present, the scope of employment,
pay for work and educational level for women are basically the same
as for men. As China is becoming an aging society, aged people
receive special care from the government and society. In 2004,
basic pensions issued to retirees from enterprises throughout the
country totaled 303.1 billion yuan, including 52.2 billion yuan in
subsidies from the central treasury. There are 376 million people
below the age of 18 in China, more than a quarter of the total
population. The Chinese government formulated the "Outline Plan for
the Development of Chinese Children in the 1990s" in 1992 and the
"Outline for the Development of Chinese Children, 2001-2010" in
2001, to promote the development of children in the aspects of
health, education, legal protection and environment. There are 60
million disabled people in China, almost the population of an
average medium-sized country. In 2004, the employment rate of the
disabled reached 80 percent, and over 3.3 million disabled people
overcame their disabilities to varying degrees.
- The rights of the ethnic minorities are guaranteed.
In China, people of all ethnic minorities, like citizens of the Han
ethnic group, enjoy all equal civil rights specified in the
Constitution and laws, and participate in the management of state
and local affairs on an equal basis. Meanwhile, their rights are
offered special protection by the law and related policies. In
accordance with the Constitution and the Election Law, every ethnic
minority group is represented by appropriate numbers of deputies,
in the highest organ of the state power, the NPC, and there should
be at least one deputy for an ethnic group with a very small
population. Starting from the First NPC, the proportion of deputies
of ethnic minorities in the total number of deputies has remained
around 14 percent, much higher than their population proportion of
about 8 percent in the nation's total population. All ethnic
minorities living in compact communities or in a scattered manner
are represented in the local people's congress at all levels, and a
deputy of an ethnic minority group can speak for a smaller number
of people than the required number represented by a deputy to the
local people's congress. People of all ethnic minority groups are
eligible to hold any position in any state organs and government
departments. Each ethnic group has the freedom to use and develop
its own spoken and written languages. The state respects and
protects the folk ways, customs and freedom of religious belief of
ethnic minority groups.
The Chinese government pays serious attention to the positive
role played by international conventions on human rights in
promoting human rights. To date, China has joined 21 international
conventions on human rights, and has adopted a series of measures
to fulfill its obligations as specified in those conventions. In
October 1997, the Chinese government signed the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was
approved by the Standing Committee of the NPC in February 2001. The
Chinese government submitted its first report on the implementation
of the Covenant to the United Nations in 2003 as scheduled, and
accepted the consideration and examination of the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations in April
2005. The Chinese government also signed the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights in October 1998. At present, the
Chinese government departments concerned are pressing on with their
research and preparations, and when conditions are ripe, the State
Council will submit a request to the Standing Committee of the NPC
for examination and approval.
VIII. The Democratic Rule by the
Communist Party of China
In its practice of ruling the country over the past five decades
and more, the CPC has developed a series of important theories on,
and established an institutional system of, democratic rule, and is
actively exploring new ways and new methods of democratic rule. The
sense of democracy among the CPC members has been continuously
enhanced, and notable progress has been made to improve the
democratic work style of Party officials at all levels.
Democratic rule means that the CPC sticks to the principle of
ruling the country for the people and relying on the people in its
rule, guarantees that the people are the masters of the state,
upholds and improves the people's democratic dictatorship and the
democratic centralism of the Party and the state, and promotes
people's democracy by enhancing inner-Party democracy. In September
2004, the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on the Enhancement
of the Party's Governance Capability was adopted at the Fourth
Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee. The document made
democratic rule, scientific rule and rule in accordance with the
law the three basic pillars of the Party in ruling the country,
thus marking a new stage in strengthening the building of the
Party's capability of democratic rule and enhancing the level of
its democratic rule.
(1) Reforming and Improving the Leadership System and Working
Mechanism
Leadership of the state and society by the CPC mainly refers to
its political, ideological and organizational leadership, that is,
the Party exercises leadership in line with its basic theory,
program and line, by formulating major principles and policies,
making suggestions on legislation, recommending cadres for
important positions, conducting ideological education, and giving
full play to the role of the Party organizations and members.
In practice, the CPC sticks to scientific and democratic rule
and rule in accordance with the law, constantly reforms and
improves the leadership system and working mechanism, and, acting
on the principle that the ruling party commands the overall
situation and coordinates the efforts of all quarters, standardizes
relations between Party committees and the people's congresses, the
governments, the CPPCC organizations as well as the mass
organizations. The Party committees, playing the role as the core
of leadership over all other organizations at corresponding levels,
support these organizations in assuming their responsibilities
independently and making concerted efforts in their work, and make
sure that the Party's line, principles and policies as well as
major decisions and work arrangements of Party committees are
implemented through the Party organizations and Party members in
these organizations. At the same time, Party committees support the
people's congresses in carrying out their functions as organs of
state power in accordance with the law, ensuring that the Party's
views become the will of the state and that candidates recommended
by the Party organizations become leading cadres of the organs of
state power through democratic discussions and legal procedures,
and exercising supervision over them. They support the governments
in fulfilling their statutory functions and performing their
official duties in accordance with the law; support the judicial
organs in exercising their judicial and procuratorial authorities
independently and justly in accordance with the law; support the
CPPCC committees in performing their functions of political
consultation, democratic supervision and participating in the
administration and discussion of state affairs by focusing on the
two major principles of unity and democracy; strengthen cooperation
with the democratic parties and bring into full play the
characteristics and advantages of China's socialist political party
system; and support the trade unions, Communist Youth League
organizations, women's federations and other mass organizations to
work independently in accordance with the law and their respective
constitutions so as to act better as a bridge between the Party and
the masses of all walks of life.
(2) Developing Inner-Party Democracy
Promoting people's democracy by improving inner-Party democracy
is an important component of the CPC's democratic rule. In recent
years, the CPC has been unceasingly progressing in promoting
inner-Party democracy.
- Making efforts to establish and improve a mechanism to
guarantee the democratic rights of Party members. In September
2004, the CPC Central Committee promulgated the revised Regulations
on the Guarantee of Rights of CPC Members, which, on the basis of
the rights and obligations prescribed in the Constitution of the
CPC and by summarizing the new experience gained in developing
inner-Party democracy, improves the procedures for CPC members to
exercise their democratic rights, thus further institutionalizing
and standardizing the exercise of such rights.
- Improving and perfecting the system of Party
congress. The CPC has established the system of congress in
its organizations at and above the county level. The national
congress and the congresses of the provinces (autonomous regions
and municipalities directly under the central government), cities
divided into districts, autonomous prefectures, counties (banners),
autonomous counties, cities not divided into districts and
municipal districts are held once every five years. To give full
scope to the Party congresses at all levels, since the end of the
1980s the CPC has tried out the system of permanent Party congress
in 12 cities, counties and urban districts in five provinces, with
satisfactory results. The CPC Central Committee has decided to
adopt the system of motion-raising by Party congress delegates,
extend the experiment with the system of permanent Party congress
to more cities and counties, and actively explore ways and forms
that can give better play to the role of delegates when Party
congresses are not in session.
- Giving full play to the role of plenary sessions of Party
committees. In accordance with the principle of collective
leadership, democratic centralism, individual consultation and
decision-making by meeting, the CPC endeavors to improve the rules
of procedure and the decision-making mechanism within Party
committees, with priority given to strengthening the role of
plenary sessions of Party committees at all levels. At the third,
fourth and fifth plenums of the 16th CPC Central Committee, General
Secretary Hu Jintao of the CPC Central Committee, on behalf of the
Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, delivered a work report
to the Central Committee. This represented a significant move taken
by the new generation of the central collective leadership to give
better play to the role of the plenum. Leaders of local Party
committees at all levels now, at the requirement of the CPC Central
Committee, report on their work to and accept the supervision of
the plenums of the Party committees at the corresponding level.
- Reforming and improving the system of inner-Party
elections. The CPC has constantly reformed and improved the
method of candidacy nomination in inner-Party elections, and the
nominations by Party organizations and Party members are combined
in democratic recommendations. The ratio in competitive elections
has been raised appropriately and the scope of direct elections of
leaders of grassroots Party organizations has been gradually
expanded.
- Establishing and improving the mechanism of inner-Party
supervision. In December 2003, the CPC Central Committee
promulgated the Regulations on Inner-Party Supervision of the CPC
(trial version), which, for the first time and in the form of
inner-Party code, makes comprehensive provisions concerning the
focus, ways, methods and other major issues regarding inner-Party
supervision, and clearly states that leading organs and leading
cadres at all levels, especially principal ones, are the main
target of inner-Party supervision. In the same month, the CPC
Central Committee promulgated the revised Regulations of the CPC on
Disciplinary Punishments, which specifies the punishments for all
breaches of discipline by Party members in the new situation.
(3) Expanding Democracy in Cadre and Personnel Work
Over the years, the CPC has continuously reformed its cadre and
personnel system and intensified efforts to make its cadre and
personnel work more scientific, democratic and
institutionalized.
First, establishing and improving a scientific mechanism for
selection, appointment, management and supervision of cadres. In
2002, the CPC Central Committee issued the Regulations on the Work
of Selecting and Appointing Leading Party and Government Cadres,
which contained comprehensive provisions on all links in selecting
and appointing leading cadres, thus further improving work in this
regard.
Second, introducing the system of open selection and competition
for leading posts. The Regulations on the Work of Selecting and
Appointing Leading Party and Government Cadres, as well as the
Provisional Regulations on the Open Selection of Leading Cadres of
the Party and Government and the Interim Provisions on the Work of
Competition for Posts in the Party and Government, both of which
were issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee in
2004, all included clear provisions on the scope of application,
procedure of selection, and methods of examination and review,
discipline and supervision regarding open selection and competition
in this field, thus making the work more regularized and
institutionalized.
Third, improving the mechanism of democratic decision-making by
Party committees regarding the selection and appointment of cadres.
On the basis of summing up past experience, the Voting Methods for
the Plenum of CPC Local Committees Concerning Candidates Nominated
and Recommended as Head of a Party Committee or Government of an
Immediate Lower Level, issued by the CPC Central Committee in 2004,
clearly stipulates that the would-be head of a Party committee or
government of a city (prefecture, league) or county (county-level
city, district or banner) shall be, in usual circumstances,
nominated by the standing committee of the Party committee at a
higher level and submitted to the plenum of the said Party
committee for a secret vote. If an urgent appointment is needed
while the plenum concerned is not in session, the plenum members
shall be consulted.
Fourth, introducing the civil service system. Since the
Provisional Regulations on Civil Servants of the State was put into
effect in October 1993, a large number of outstanding young
talented people with higher education have been recruited as civil
servants through open examination and selection. In April 2005, the
Law of the People's Republic of China on Civil Servants was
deliberated and adopted by the NPC Standing Committee, and
announced to take effect as of January 2006. The implementation of
this law symbolizes an important step forward in pursuit of a
scientific, democratic and institutionalized practice for cadre and
personnel work, and has a great bearing on the execution of the
strategy of ruling the country by law and the building of socialist
political democracy.
(4) Tightening Restraints and Supervision over Use of Power
With the goal of establishing a mechanism for the exercise of
power featuring a rational structure, scientific disposition,
rigorous procedures and effective restraint, the CPC has combined
reinforcing the building of the system of restraint over power with
effective supervision over cadres. First, it has augmented
supervision over leading organs and cadres, especially principal
ones in leading bodies at all levels. The supervision covers the
implementation of democratic centralism and the rules of procedure
for leading bodies, and the implementation of the system under
which leading cadres report on major matters, their work and their
efforts to perform their duties honestly and the system of
democratic appraisal, instruction and admonishment, and the system
that requires leading cadres to reply to letters of inquiry from
Party organizations. Second, it has beefed up supervision over the
use of power at key links and sectors, such as the selection and
appointment of cadres, the operation of financial funds and the
management of state-owned assets and finances. Third, it has given
full scope to various supervisory bodies to raise overall
efficiency. This means strengthening inner-Party supervision, and
supporting and guaranteeing supervision by the people's congresses,
special government organs and judicial departments, democratic
supervision by CPPCC organizations and the supervision of public
opinion.
After long-term unremitting efforts, the CPC has developed a set
of systems, mechanisms and methods to restrict and monitor the
exercise of power, build a clean government and combat corruption,
that are in accord with the national conditions. In January 2005,
the CPC Central Committee promulgated the Implementation Outline
for Building and Improving the System to Punish and Prevent
Corruption with Equal Stress on Education, System and Supervision,
which represents an overall arrangement in line with the principle
of addressing both the symptoms and the root causes of corruption,
taking comprehensive measures to rectify both and trying both
methods of punishment and prevention, with priority given to the
latter.
In recent years, the CPC has, in line with the principle of
democratic centralism, gradually introduced transparency into Party
affairs, and set up and improved a set of systems regarding the
circulation of information among Party members, soliciting opinions
on important decisions and reporting on major matters and their own
incomes by leading cadres, thereby making the systems play an
important role in building a clean government and combating
corruption. The CPC will continue to battle corruption by improving
its institutional and legal instruments, improve the relevant
leadership system and working mechanism, and work out overall
medium- and long-term plans for the institutional building of laws
and rules to build a clean government and combat corruption, so as
to put the use of power under institutional and legal control. It
will urge the state legislative organs to expedite the legislation
procedures regarding the building of a clean government, study and
formulate specific anti-corruption laws, and amend and improve
relevant provisions in the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure
Law. It will continue to deepen the reforms of the cadre and
personnel system, judicial system and administrative examination
and approval system, as well as the financial and monetary system,
investment system, and supervision over and control of state-owned
assets, so as to reduce and finally eliminate the soil for and root
causes of corruption.
The CPC deals severely with Party members and cadres who violate
discipline and laws, and is resolute in removing and punishing
corrupt members. From December 2003 to November 2004, the Party's
discipline inspection organs and the government's supervision
departments at all levels had put in file 162,032 cases of
corruption, wound up 160,602 cases, and disciplined 164,831 persons
with Party and administrative discipline penalties. Among them,
5,916 were cadres at county (division) level, 415 at department
(bureau) level, and 15 at provincial (ministerial) level. The cases
of 4,775 people, or 2.9 percent of the total punished, were
transferred to judicial organs for criminal investigation.
IX. Government
Democracy
The Chinese government is the government of the people. The
fundamental purpose of the entire work of the Chinese government is
to serve the people, be responsible to the people, and support and
guarantee the people's right as the masters of the state. Since the
adoption of the reform and opening-up policies, especially in
recent years, governments at all levels have, in line with the
requirements of democratic rule and centering on the goal of
"forming an administrative management system that is standard in
conduct, coordinated in cooperation, and being fair, transparent,
honest and efficient," energetically augmented the building of
their capability of administration. In February 2005, the Working
Rules of the State Council were revamped and announced, fully
reflecting the spirit of democracy that encourages scientific and
democratic decision-making, administration in accordance with the
law and the strengthening of administrative supervision.
(1) Promoting Administration in Accordance with the Law
In November 1999, the State Council promulgated the Decision on
Pushing Forward Administration by Law in an All-Round Way, and
identified the tasks and requirements with regard to rule by law.
In March 2004, it issued the Implementation Outline for Pushing
Forward Administration by Law in an All-Round Way, and announced
the goal of basically realizing a law-abiding government in 10
years. On July 1, 2004, the Law of the People's Republic of China
on Administrative Licensing went into effect. Under the principle
of "rational and legal, efficient and convenient for the people,
and supervision and responsibility," the law sets a series of
principles and systems for administrative licensing, and, while
requiring the government to administer according to law, highlights
the major contents of democracy in the government's exercise of
power.
- Strengthening the legislation work of the government.
Since 1978, the State Council has submitted to the Standing
Committee of the NPC several hundred bills for deliberation
according to law, formulated more than 650 administrative
regulations that are still in effect today. In recent years, the
Chinese government has persisted in putting the people first and
governing for the people, set great store by legislation directly
related to the immediate interests of the people, and promoted the
coordinated development of economic and social undertakings in an
all-round way. The State Council has submitted to the NPC Standing
Committee a number of bills for deliberation, including the
Production Safety Law (draft), the Law on Prevention and Treatment
of Infectious Diseases (revised draft) and the Law on Civil
Servants (draft), promulgated or amended such administrative
regulations as the Regulations on Unemployment Insurance, the
Regulations on Guarantee of Minimum Subsistence Allowances for
Urban Residents, the Regulations on Labor Security Supervision, the
Regulations on Religious Affairs, the Regulations on Industrial
Injury Insurance, the Methods on the Aid to and Management of
Indigent Vagrants and Beggars in Cities, the Regulations on
Marriage Registration, the Regulations on Legal Aid, and the
Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on Road Traffic
Safety. The care shown for disadvantaged people are fully reflected
in such legislation, showing the government's humanistic concern in
administration. In 2005, once again the State Council amended and
promulgated the Regulations on Letters of Petition and Personal
Petition, which protects in accordance with the law the rights of
citizens to criticism, suggestion, appeal, accusation and
impeachment, emphasizes the responsibilities of the government
departments in charge, and gives prominence to the spirit of
"unification of power and responsibility, open operation to
facilitate petitioning and guarantee of the rights of
citizens."
- Improving administrative enforcement of the law. The
Chinese government stresses exercising powers and functions
strictly in line with the legal limits of authority and legal
procedures, introduces in an all-round way the responsibility
system in administrative enforcement of law, strictly investigates
and affixes the responsibility for mistakes in law enforcement,
constantly strengthens the law enforcers' sense of administration
in accordance with the law, and reduces and eventually eliminates
acts of enforcing law at liberty. In the course of enforcing the
law, attention has been placed on protecting the legitimate rights
and interests of the parties concerned and the parties of interest,
and on resolutely rectifying misconduct that encroaches on the
interests of the people, abuse of power for personal gain and other
breaches of the law, so as to ensure that the laws are enforced in
a strict, just and civilized manner. Over the past few years, the
government has made sincere efforts to rectify illegal
administrative acts of infringements on people's rights in the work
of demolition and relocation in cities and land expropriation and
requisition in rural areas.
- Improving the systems of administrative supervision.
While accepting the supervision of the NPC, CPPCC, judicial organs,
public opinion and the masses, the Chinese government has
established and improved a set of systems of administrative
supervision. The first is the system geared to tracking down the
responsibility for erroneous administrative decisions. Based on the
principle of "he who makes the decision will be held responsible,"
where massive losses are caused because of stepping beyond the
bounds of one's power or because of violation of procedures, the
decision-makers shall be held strictly accountable. The second is
the introduction of the system of affixing administrative
responsibilities, under which government officials are held
responsible if their administrative conduct violates the law. The
third is the implementation of the administrative review system and
the filing and examination system of regulations and regulatory
documents so as to promptly and effectively ensure that subordinate
departments and governments act in accordance with the law. The
fourth is strengthening supervision by auditing and monitoring
organs. The National Audit Office is empowered to conduct careful
auditing of the implementation of the central financial budget and
other financial revenues and expenditures before making relevant
reports to the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council, and
made penalty decisions for the violation of financial laws and
regulations. China decided in 2005 to enlarge the auditing of
economic responsibilities to all leading cadres at department
(bureau) level while continuing a similar practice among
provincial-level (ministerial-level) officials.
(2) Accelerating the Transformation of Government Functions
In line with the requirements of democratic administration, the
Chinese government has accelerated its structural reform and the
transformation of government functions, pressed ahead with
innovations in management structures and systems, with special
focus on efficiency of administration, and striven to build a
clean, efficient and pragmatic government.
- Defining the administrative functions of the government in
accordance with the law. Guided by the principle that things
that can be handled by citizens, legal persons or other
organizations independently, or be regulated by the market
competition mechanism, or be solved by industrial organizations or
intermediaries through self-disciplinary mechanism, shall not be
solved through administrative ways by administrative organs, the
relations between government and enterprise, government and the
market, and government and society have been rationalized
gradually, and things that the government need not bother about
shall be shifted to enterprises, the market or society
correspondingly.
- Deepening the reform of the system of administrative
examination and approval. To solve the problem of excessive
administrative examination and approval and uproot corruption, the
Chinese government has pressed forward with reform of
administrative examination and approval, comprehensively sorted out
projects subject to administrative examination and approval, and
scrapped or adjusted the examination and approval of such projects.
From 2002 to 2004, the State Council eliminated or moderated 1,806
such projects in three batches. By the end of 2004, the number of
projects that needed review and approval by State Council
departments had been cut by 50.1 percent. In the meantime, local
governments have also endeavored to streamline similar projects and
standardize their conducts of examination and approval. The Chinese
government will continue to deepen the reform of the system of
administrative examination and approval, improve the examination
and approval methods, and reinforce follow-up supervision and
control, so as to build a scientific and rational mechanism of
administrative management and supervision.
- Strengthening social management and public services.
The Chinese government has made great efforts to improve its social
management system and pattern, and maintain social order and
stability to promote social justice. The State Council has
promulgated 106 plans for emergency, including the Regulations on
Response to Public Health Emergencies and the Regulations on
Preventing and Dealing with Geological Disasters, worked out the
State General Plan for Handling Public Health Emergencies, and is
constantly improving its capacity to deal with all emergencies of
various kinds. To make itself a better supplier of public services,
the Chinese government is paying more attention to responding to
the common demands of society, and gradually improving and
completing its public policy and service system. In addition, it is
shoring up financial support for education, science and technology,
culture, public health and other social undertakings, and pushing
forward the commercialization process of some public products and
services in an active and steady way.
(3) Making Decisions in a Scientific and Democratic Manner
The Chinese government has kept reforming and improving its
decision-making mechanism, made efforts in introducing a scientific
and democratic practice in decision-making, and encouraged and
expanded all forms of effective participation of the masses in
government decision-making.
- Establishing a system of open administration. The
Chinese government requires its subordinate departments at all
levels to make public their administrative affairs as far as
possible, so as to enhance the transparency of government work and
guarantee the people's right to know, participate in and supervise
the work of the government. In particular, it requires schools,
hospitals, as well as water, power, gas, public transportation and
other public departments and units that are closely related to the
people's interests to adopt the system of open administration in an
all-round way. In recent years, the work of the government has
become more transparent with the establishment of government
websites and promotion of e-government, as well as the introduction
and improvement of the system of press spokesmen and the mechanism
of media reporting on emergencies. Now, the Chinese government is
enacting regulations to enhance the transparency of government
administration with the aim to provide institutional guarantees to
standardizing open administration.
- Increasing the public's participation in government
legislation. By way of media publicity of drafts of laws and
regulations, consultation and discussion with experts, seminars and
hearings, the Chinese government has stepped up the practice of
open government legislation to ensure the effective participation
of the public in the work. On the basis of summing up past
experience, the Implementation Outline for Pushing Forward
Administration by Law in an All-Round Way has codified and improved
relevant systems and mechanisms, so as to ensure that the wisdom of
the masses and the will of the people are embodied in government
legislation.
- Establishing a system of expert consultation, discussion
and appraisal. When making important decisions, governments at
all levels earnestly listen to and accept the opinions of experts.
In recent years, the state has organized experts to complete
several important strategic study reports on development, including
the state medium- and long-term development plans for science and
technology, the development plan for agricultural science and
technology, the national strategy on sustainable development of
water resources, and the plan for building a public health system,
thus providing intellectual support for government decision-making.
When formulating or revising administrative regulations, the State
Council extensively solicits the opinions of experts, accepts their
suggestions, and make great efforts to ensure that the regulations
are in accord with reality and are practical.
- Building a system of public hearing and publicity.
Public hearing and publicity are increasingly becoming a common
practice adopted by governments at all levels when making
decisions. The Law on Legislation, the Law on Price, the Law of
Administrative Licensing, the Law on Administration of Toll
Highways, and other rules and regulations include expressly
specified provisions on public hearings. Some local governments
have also worked out their own rules on hearings concerning
administrative decision-making. In January 2002, the government
departments concerned conducted a hearing on the "plan for
government-guided pricing of some passenger train tickets," the
first national hearing on an administrative decision in Chinese
history, which attracted wide attention from the society. In recent
years, several thousand hearings of various kinds have been held
across the country, and the public's enthusiasm for participating
in government decision-making is higher than ever before.
X. Judicial
Democracy
China's judicial structure and system are important components
of the country's system of socialist political democracy. Over the
years, China has endeavored to build and improve its judicial
system and working mechanism, strengthen the building of judicial
democracy, and guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of
citizens and legal persons through judicial justice, and realize
social fairness and justice.
China has set up separate judicial organs and procuratorial
organs under the people's congresses, and practices a judicial
system with separation between judicial organs and procuratorial
organs. The judicial system reveals the nature of the socialist
system in which the people are the masters of the country, and also
learns from the experience of other countries in their building of
judicial systems. Chinese judicial organs use facts as the basis
and law as the yardstick, and punish crimes in strict accordance
with the law to protect the legitimate rights and interests of
citizens.
According to the Chinese Constitution and relevant laws, the
people's courts and people's procuratorates exercise judicial power
and procuratorial power independently in accordance with the law,
and are responsible to, and supervised by, the people's congresses.
They are not subject to interference by any administrative organ,
public organization or individual. The judicial organs carry out
their duties independently within the limits as prescribed by the
law, and any interference in their independent exercise of judicial
power and procuratorial power in accordance with the law is a
violation of the Constitution and the law. Based on this, China has
established a system in which the courts independently exercise
their judicial power to conduct civil, administrative and criminal
trials in accordance with the law, and the procuratorates
independently exercise their power to approve arrests, institute
public prosecutions, lodge protests and supervise law enforcement
in accordance with the law.
As the judicial organs of the state, the people's courts take
judicial justice as the aim, reform and complete the trial system
in line with the principle of independence in trial, and punish
criminals and protect the people through trials: they practice the
system of defense in criminal trials, attach importance to
evidence, not give credence to confessions and see to it that the
rights of accused are protected. In civil trials, they pay
attention to protecting the rights of the litigants and provide
judicial guarantees for citizens to exercise their democratic
rights and for litigants to enjoy their civil rights. In
administrative trials, they protect citizens' legitimate rights
from infringement by illegal conduct of administrative organs. In
2004, local courts at various levels nationwide closed 644,248
criminal cases of first instance, 4,303,744 civil cases of first
instance and 92,192 administrative cases, and corrected, in
accordance with the law, wrong judgments in 16,967 cases, which
accounted for 0.34 percent of the total effective judgments handed
down that year. In recent years, the people's courts have been
constantly improving litigation procedures to protect legal rights
and interests of citizens and legal persons, and truly solve the
issue of difficulty in enforcement.
China has established the Supreme People's Court and people's
courts at various local levels, as well as the military courts and
other special people's courts. By the end of 2004, there were 3,548
people's courts at various levels and special people's courts, with
a total of 190,627 judges.
As the state organs for legal supervision, the people's
procuratorates bear, in accordance with the law, the responsibility
of cracking down on criminal offenses, investigating embezzlement,
bribery, misconduct and infringement on the people's rights by
state functionaries, as well as exercising legal supervision over
lawsuits and safeguarding judicial justice and legal uniformity.
With regard to the legal supervision over criminal lawsuits, they
supervise in an all-round way the placing of cases on file,
investigation, trial and execution of penalties, and give equal
stress to both the extirpation of crime and the protection of human
rights. In legal supervision over civil and administrative
lawsuits, they protect the legitimate rights and interests of the
parties on an equal footing, with priority given to cases of unjust
judgments caused by serious violation of legal procedures, taking
bribes and bending the law, and committing irregularities for
personal gain. In recent years, the procuratorial organs have made
public their operations, adopted the system of notifying litigants
of their rights and obligations, the system of public review of
non-prosecution cases, criminal appeals and civil administrative
counter-appeals, and a working mechanism that guarantees that
lawyers perform in accordance with the law in handling criminal
lawsuits, in an effort to ensure judicial justice. In 2004,
procuratorial organs turned down requests for arrest warrants in
68,676 cases, reversed prosecution decisions in 26,994 cases,
corrected 2,699 cases that had been improperly placed on file by
investigation organs, allowed appeals in 3,063 criminal cases and
13,218 civil administrative judgments, demanded retrials in 4,333
cases, placed 5,569 criminal appeal cases on file for
re-investigation, and changed 786 original decisions.
China has established the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the
people's procuratorates at various local levels, as well as
military procuratorates and other special people's procuratorates.
By the end of 2004, there were 3,630 people's procuratorates at
various levels, with 140,077 procurators.
Chinese judicial practice abides, both in institutional and
procedural terms, by the principle that everyone is equal and the
principle that the punishment must be made to fit the crime. The
systems of trial by levels, challenge, open trial, people's jurors,
people's supervisors, lawyers, legal assistance and people's
mediation have been introduced to safeguard judicial justice, and
guarantee the democratic rights of the people and the legitimate
rights and interests of citizens.
- System of open trial. The system of open trial is
prescribed in both the Chinese Constitution and relevant laws. In
recent years, the Supreme People's Court requires courts at all
levels to try cases openly and in strict accordance with the law,
in open courts and with evidence openly submitted, question the
witness openly, and announce all judgments openly. The people's
courts at various levels have further reinforced the system of open
trial. Except for cases which should be tried in camera, as
specified by law, they now hear all cases in public. Notice of
cases to be tried in public shall be announced in advance to open
the entire process to the auditing of ordinary citizens and the
press. The people's courts also, on their own initiative, invite
deputies to the people's congresses and members of CPPCC
organizations to audit open trials so that the NPC deputies can
supervise and the CPPCC members can inspect judicial
activities.
- System of people's jurors. After New China was
founded in 1949, the state prescribed the system of people's jurors
in relevant laws, and made detailed provisions for such a system in
the Organization Law of People's Courts and other laws enacted
later. The Decision on Improving the System of People's Jurors,
adopted by the NPC Standing Committee in August 2004, clearly
states the scope of trials in which jurors could participate, as
well as the qualifications and selection, and rights and
obligations of jurors. In line with the law and relevant
provisions, the people's courts implement the system of people's
jurors in earnest to ensure people's direct participation in and
supervision of judicial activities.
- System of people's supervisors. Adopting the system
of people's supervisors and placing procuratorial work under the
effective supervision of the people embody the requirements of
lawsuit democracy. Since October 2003, the procuratorial organs
began to try out the system of people's supervisors in 10
provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the
central government. Later, this system was spread to 86 percent of
all procuratorates nationwide. People's supervisors are selected at
the recommendation of various organs, groups, institutions and
enterprises, with such major duties as conducting independent
appraisals and submitting supervisory comments on cases the
procuratorial organs have directly placed on file for investigation
but have later decided to withdraw or halt the prosecution of, and
in cases of refusal to submit to arrest. They can also participate,
upon invitation, in other law-enforcement examination activities
organized by the people's procuratorates regarding crimes committed
by civil servants, and make suggestions and comments on violations
of law and discipline discovered. By the end of 2004, a total of
18,962 people's supervisors had been selected, who had supervised
the conclusion of 3,341 cases.
- System of lawyers. The Lawyers Law, promulgated in
1996, initially established the basic framework of a system of
lawyers with Chinese characteristics, and it contains provisions on
the rights and obligations of lawyers in the course of judicial and
administrative procedures, and other social activities. By the end
of 2004, there were 118,000 certified lawyers and 11,691 law firms
in China; the unitary state law firms had been replaced by the
coexistence of a multiple variety of law firms, including
partnership law firms, state law firms and cooperative law firms,
with the partnership law firms accounting for 68.6 percent of the
total. In addition, 148 foreign law firms from 17 countries had
been allowed to establish offices that are allowed to operate
within the boundaries of China, and the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region had established 48 law offices on the
mainland of China. In 2004, lawyers throughout the country handled
over 1.5 million lawsuits and more than 800,000 non-lawsuit cases.
The establishment and improvement of the system of lawyers enable
the lawyers to make use of legal means to protect the rights and
interests of the litigants, and ensure correct application of law
and social fairness and justice.
- System of legal assistance. Legal assistance is a key
measure to guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of the
disadvantaged groups and achieve judicial justice. Since 1994,
China has explored the building of a legal assistance system with
Chinese characteristics. Provisions on the status of the system are
stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law, the Lawyers Law and other
laws. The Regulations on Legal Assistance, which came into effect
in September 2003, set the basic framework for the system. By the
end of 2004, some 3,023 government-sponsored legal assistance
organs had been set up across the country, including 2,628 at
county and district level, thus initially forming a basic network
giving access to people with various difficulties in both urban and
rural areas. Nationwide, some 10,458 persons are designated to
provide legal assistance, of whom 4,768 are professional lawyers.
Input of funds for legal assistance from the treasuries of
governments at various levels has increased year by year, up from
18.69 million yuan in 1999 to 217.12 million yuan in 2004,
representing an annual average growth of 212 percent. Over the past
decade, legal assistance organizations throughout the country have
organized lawyers, grassroots legal service workers and volunteers
to handle some 1.1 million legal assistance cases, providing such
services to more than 1.6 million people. In recent years, many
social groups, NGOs and institutions of higher learning have also
participated in legal assistance work.
- System of people's mediation. By people's mediation,
it means to, under the guidance of people's mediation committees
established in accordance with the law, on the basis of
voluntariness from the parties to a dispute and taking the state
laws, regulations, rules, policies and social morality as the
yardstick, help the parties to a dispute to reach an agreement by
way of ample reasoning and patient persuasion. To date, over
860,000 people's mediation committees have been established
nationwide. Manned by 6.6 million people's mediators, they provide
mediation services to about 6 million civil disputes of various
kinds, and the rate of success exceeded 95 percent.
To further meet the demands for rule of the country by law and
building a harmonious socialist society, China is, in accordance
with the requirements of judicial justice and strict enforcement of
law, improving the establishment of judicial organs, the
delimitation of their functions and powers and their management
systems, in the hope of establishing a better judicial system that
features clearly specified powers and responsibilities, mutual
coordination and restraint, and highly efficient operation, so as
to ensure, institutionally, that the judicial and procuratorial
organs exercise adjudicative power and procuratorial power
independently and impartially in accordance with the law, better
safeguard the judicial authority, safeguard the democratic rights
as well as legitimate rights and interests of the people and
maintain fairness and justice for the society.
Conclusion
China's socialist political democracy has enabled the Chinese
people, who account for one fifth of the world's population, to
become masters of their own country and society, and enjoy
extensive democratic rights. This is a great contribution to the
development of the political civilization of mankind.
China's socialist political democracy accords with the national
conditions, ensures that the people give full play to their
enthusiasm, initiative and creativity in building and managing the
state as masters of the country and society, and promotes China's
economic development and social progress in an all-round way.
Despite the tremendous achievements scored in building a socialist
political democracy, the CPC and the Chinese people are clearly
aware of the many problems yet to be overcome. The major ones
include: The democratic system is not yet perfect; the people's
right to manage state and social affairs, economic and cultural
undertakings as masters of the country in a socialist market
economy are not yet fully realized; laws that have already been
enacted are sometimes not fully observed or enforced, and
violations of the law sometimes go unpunished; bureaucracy and
corruption still exist and spread in some departments and
localities; the mechanism of restraint and supervision over the use
of power needs further improvement; the concept of democracy and
legal awareness of the whole society needs to be further enhanced;
and the political participation of citizens in an orderly way
should be expanded. There is still a long way to go in China's
building of political democracy, which will be a historical process
of continuous improvement and development.
The history and reality of human political civilization have
proved that there is no one single and absolute democratic mode in
the world that is universally applicable. To say whether a
political system is democratic or not, the key is to see whether
the will of the overwhelming majority of the people is fully
reflected, whether their rights as masters of the country are fully
realized, and whether their legitimate rights and interests are
fully guaranteed.
The arduous explorations and struggles made by the Chinese
people over the past 100 years and more in order to realize
democracy, and especially China's success in building a socialist
political democracy, have made the CPC and the Chinese people
realize that China must base the building of political democracy on
its reality, review its own experience gained in practice, treasure
its own achievements, and learn from the experience and
achievements of the political civilization of other countries. But,
it must not copy any model of other countries.
China's building of political democracy will abide by the
following principles:
- Upholding the unity of the leadership of the CPC, the
people being the masters of the country and ruling the country by
law. This is the most important and fundamental principle for
developing socialist political democracy in China. Leadership by
the CPC is the fundamental guarantee for the people to be the
masters of the country and the country to be ruled by law. The
people being masters of the country is the essential requirement of
socialist political democracy. Ruling the country by law is the
basic principle the CPC pursues while it leads the people in
running the country. Only by upholding the unity of these three in
China's building of political democracy is it possible to ensure
that it is on the right track, and that socialist political
democracy is institutionalized and standardized, and in good
order.
- Giving play to the characteristics and advantages of the
socialist system. The biggest characteristic and advantage of
China's socialist system is as follows: Under the leadership of the
CPC, the people of all ethnic groups, being masters of the country,
give full scope to their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity in
building a socialist country, and are united in striving to realize
socialist modernization and the great cause of rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation. Sticking to this characteristic and this advantage
is the fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to grasp their
own destiny in their own hands, create a better and happier life,
and build a prosperous, democratic and civilized modern
country.
- Being conducive to social stability, economic development
and continuous improvement of the people's life. Social
stability, economic development and the continuous improvement of
people's life are both important goals and necessary conditions for
the people to be masters of the country. The political development,
economic development and cultural development of a country interact
and precondition one another. Without social stability, smooth
economic development cannot be expected, while the goal of
development is to let the people enjoy the fruits of development
together. The CPC and the Chinese government will firmly
concentrate on economic construction, and make every effort to
solidify the material and cultural foundations for continuously
raising the level of socialist political democracy.
- Facilitating the safeguarding of national sovereignty,
territorial integrity and state dignity. The Chinese people's
struggle for democracy was closely related to the safeguarding of
national sovereignty, territorial integrity and state dignity from
the very beginning. If state sovereignty, territorial integrity and
state dignity, which represent one of common and basic interests of
the whole Chinese people, cannot be safeguarded, democratic
achievements they have obtained will be lost.
- Being in accord with the objective law of progress step by
step and in an orderly way. China's building of socialist
democracy is a historical process with continuous progress in
realizing the goal and enhancing the level of the people being the
masters of the country. A complete model of democracy cannot be
built overnight. The CPC and the Chinese people are unswervingly
pressing ahead with an all-round and coordinated development of
socialist material, political and cultural civilization and the
building of a harmonious society, continuously studying new
situations and new problems arising in the course of the building
of political democracy, exploring and creating new mechanisms and
new ways to ensure that the people become the masters of the
country, and developing socialist political democracy under
prescribed leadership, step by step and in an orderly way in line
with the objective law of the development of socialist political
democracy.
The socialist system has been introduced and practiced in China
for only a few decades, which is a short period compared with other
social systems adopted in the history of mankind. To keep improving
and developing socialist political democracy to enable the people
to fully enjoy and exercise their rights as the masters of the
country has always been the firm goal of all the endeavor of the
CPC and the Chinese people. At present and for a period to come,
the CPC and the Chinese government will actively and steadily push
forward the reform of the political system, stick to and improve
the socialist democratic system, strengthen and improve the
socialist legal system, reform and improve the methods of
leadership and rule of the CPC, reform and improve the government's
decision-making mechanism, promote the reform of the system of
administrative management, boost the reform of the judicial system,
deepen the reform of the cadre and personnel system, reinforce the
restraint and supervision over power, strive to maintain social
stability, and promote economic development and social progress in
an all-round way.
The immense achievements of the construction of the socialism
with Chinese characteristics have made the CPC and the Chinese
people full of confidence in the road of political development
chosen by themselves. Along with economic development and social
progress, China's socialist political democracy will be further
perfected, and with its great advantages and strong vitality, fully
demonstrated. In the future, the Chinese people will surely enjoy
more and more substantial fruits of their political
civilization.
(China.org.cn October 19, 2005)