Exclusive release: NPC Work Report [Full Text]
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 18, 2013
Contents
I. Overview of the Work in the Past Five Years
II. Review of the Work in the Past Five Years
III. Plan for This Year’s Work
II. Review of the Work in the Past Five Years
It is a glorious mission entrusted to us by the Party and the people to adhere to and improve the system of people’s congresses and do the NPC’s work well in the new situation. On the foundation of the work of past NPCs and their Standing Committees, especially the Tenth NPC and its Standing Committee, the Eleventh NPC and its Standing Committee adhered to and improved the system of people’s congresses more consciously, worked hard, made active explorations, and enriched the theory and practice of the system. They accumulated fresh and valuable experience and ushered in a new stage in the NPC’s work. In our work, what we developed the deepest understanding of was these six points.
1. Keeping to the correct political orientation for the NPC’s work
The NPC is the highest body of state power and plays an important role in the political life of the country. Keeping to the correct political orientation is the basis for doing the NPC’s work well and affects the future and destiny of the country and the nation. We always followed the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development; unwaveringly took the path of making political advances with Chinese characteristics; upheld the unity of the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country and the rule of law; adhered to the correct political orientation for the NPC’s work; and implemented these principles throughout the whole course and in every aspect of performing duties.
First, we upheld the leadership of the Party. The CPC is the firm leadership core of socialism with Chinese characteristics and it takes serving the people wholeheartedly as its fundamental purpose. The Party’s stand pools the wisdom of all its members and the whole country, and represents the common aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the people. We consciously upheld the Party’s leadership over the NPC’s work; implemented its basic theories, line, program, experience and requirements; carried out major decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee; turned the views of the Party into the will of the state through statutory procedures; and placed people recommended by the Party organization in leadership positions in bodies of state power through statutory procedures. We provided legal and institutional guarantees that the Party’s line, principles and policies were implemented, and ensured that the Party fully played its role as the leadership core in exercising overall leadership and coordinating everyone’s efforts. We ensured that all the work of the NPC, be it legislation, oversight, deciding major issues, or exercising the power to appoint and dismiss personnel, was conducive to strengthening and improving the Party’s leadership, consolidating its position as the governing party and guaranteeing that the Party led the people in effectively governing the country.
Second, we adhered to and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a fundamental achievement the Party and the people made through practice over a long period of time and it is the basic orientation for contemporary China’s development and progress. Only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China. We had firm confidence in the path, theories and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, kept firmly in mind China’s basic condition of still being in the primary stage of socialism, focused on the goal of finishing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, kept economic development as the central task, adhered to the Four Cardinal Principles and the reform and opening up policy, pursued development in a scientific way, strived to improve people’s wellbeing, and promoted social harmony. We incorporated into law our practical experience in reform, opening up and socialist modernization in a timely manner; gave impetus to the effective enforcement of the Constitution, laws and major decisions and arrangements of the central leadership; and made full use of our role as the highest body of state power in ensuring and advancing the great practice of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Third, we adhered to and improved the system of people’s congresses. China is a socialist country with a people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and farmers. The system of people’s congresses is the fundamental political system that reflects the nature of China as a state and ensures that the people determine their own destiny. It is also the best possible way for the Party to fully bring democracy into play and implement the mass line in wielding state power. We fully understood the intrinsic nature of China’s system of people’s congresses, confidently made the most of these characteristics and our strengths, and carried out self-improvement and self-development of the system. We fully understood the essential difference between China’s system of people’s congresses and Western capitalist countries’ systems of state power, resolutely resisted the influence of all kinds of erroneous thought and theories, and maintained a firm and clear position on major issues of principle. We drew on the political achievements of other societies, but never copied the model of Western political systems.
2. Focusing on the overall work of the Party and country in doing the NPC’s work
The NPC’s work is an important part of the Party and country’s work. It touches on every aspect of the overall development of socialism with Chinese characteristics and bears on the smooth advance of reform, opening up and socialist modernization. Our work can satisfy the Party and the people only by being subordinate to and serving the overall work of the Party and country. We always planned and carried out the NPC’s work in reference to the overall development of the Party and country’s cause, coordinated our legislative and oversight work on the basis of the role and characteristics of the NPC’s work, concentrated our strengths, set priorities, sought real results, and worked to spur the implementation of major policies and arrangements of the central leadership.
First, keeping to the main thread of accelerating the change of the growth model, we worked for development in a scientific manner. In light of China’s prominent problems, such as a skewed industrial structure, weak capability for scientific and technological innovation, and lagging development of modern service industries, and in response to the impact of the global financial crisis, the Standing Committee, in addition to annually deliberating reports on the implementation of the plans for national economic and social development, also listened to and deliberated reports on responding to the financial crisis, changing the growth model, adjusting the economic structure, developing the service and tourism industries, and the progress report on the implementation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. It also investigated compliance with the Law on Scientific and Technological Progress and revised the Patent Law. Members of the Standing Committee stressed that China’s extensive growth model had already become unsustainable, it was imperative to accelerate economic structural adjustment, and this task had been made more prominent and urgent by the global financial crisis. We should strike a balance between solving immediate difficulties and achieving long-term development, transform serious challenges into development opportunities, transform market pressure into an impetus for adjustment, adhere to the strategic focus of boosting domestic demand, and work harder than before to raise the quality and performance of economic growth, so that the process of combating the global financial crisis becomes a process of making our development more sustainable. One, we should accelerate transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, endeavor to develop strategic emerging industries and advanced manufacturing industries, and elevate enterprises higher up industrial chains and make them more profitable. Two, we should energetically develop service industries, especially modern service industries, integrate their development with that of manufacturing and modern agriculture, and increase their share of the economy. Three, we should improve the technological innovation system that assigns enterprises the leading role, gets its orientation from the market, and connects enterprises, universities and research institutes together, closely integrate science and technology with industry and banking, scale up investment in science and technology, strive to make breakthroughs in key and core technologies, quicken the pace of industrial application of scientific and technological advances, and strengthen IPR protection, to make economic growth more innovation-driven.
Improving the socialist market economy and promoting coordinated development of the public and non-public sectors of the economy are an important aspect of accelerating the change of the growth model. The Property Rights Law, enacted by the Tenth NPC, reflects our basic economic system in the primary stage of socialism and establishes the principle of equal protection of property rights for all. The Standing Committee of the Eleventh NPC enacted the Law on State-Owned Assets of Enterprises, which protects the rights and interests of state-owned assets and prevents their loss. After listening to and deliberating reports on reforming and developing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and advancing development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we emphasized the need to unswervingly develop the public sector, concentrate state-owned capital in important industries and key areas, deepen SOE reform, improve the oversight system for state-owned assets and the budget system for state capital operations, cultivate public opinion favorable for SOE reform and development, and increase the capacity of the state-owned sector to exercise control and influence. We also stressed the need to unwaveringly develop the non-public sector; work hard to improve the development environment of SMEs; broaden their financing channels; relax restrictions on their market access; and ensure that economic entities under all forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete on a level playing field and enjoy equal protection of the law.
The Standing Committee always placed importance on spurring the resolution of problems related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers. We enacted the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Rural Land Contract Management Disputes; revised the Law on Disseminating Agricultural Technology; investigated compliance with the Agriculture Law and four other agriculture-related laws; and listened to and deliberated six reports on such issues as national food security, irrigation and water conservancy, and ensuring steady increase of farmers’ income. We emphasized the need to implement the system of providing the strictest possible protection for farmland; effectively protect farmers’ contracted land-use rights; increase investment in main grain-producing areas and in construction on irrigation and water conservancy facilities; increase the share scientific and technological advances contribute to agricultural development; and develop specialized, standardized, large-scale, and intensive production. We also stressed the need to improve the policy of boosting agriculture, benefiting farmers and increasing rural prosperity; increase government spending on agriculture, rural areas and farmers; strengthen development of modern agriculture; support farmers in finding nonagricultural employment through multiple channels; develop a new socialist countryside; and promote integrated development of urban and rural areas.
In response to the severe challenges brought on by intensifying resources and environmental constraints, the Standing Committee enacted the Law on Promoting the Circular Economy and revised the Law on Renewable Energy, the Law on Water and Soil Conservation, and the Law on Promoting Clean Production. It listened to and deliberated reports on environmental protection, prevention and control of water pollution, and management of land and mineral resources, and it investigated compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the Law on Promoting Clean Production and the Energy Conservation Law. All this work promoted green, circular and low-carbon development and socialist ecological progress by legislative means. After listening to and deliberating the State Council’s report on its response to climate change, the Standing Committee adopted a resolution on actively addressing climate change, which further defined the guiding thought, basic principles and required measures in this area, and stressed the need to adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and to actively cope with global climate change together with the international community. The State Council attached great importance to implementing this resolution and set forth action targets for controlling greenhouse gas emissions, which not only safeguarded China’s development interests, but also projected its good image in the world and won widespread acclaim from the international community.
To implement the guiding principles of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Party’s Seventeenth National Congress, the Standing Committee listened to and deliberated reports on reform of the cultural system and development of the cultural industry. It enacted the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law and investigated compliance with the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics. Standing Committee members emphasized that to achieve great cultural development and enrichment, it is necessary to adhere to the orientation of advanced socialist culture and the socialist path of making cultural advances with Chinese characteristics, give high priority to social benefits, continue to deepen reform of cultural institutions and mechanisms, and improve the system of public cultural services. They also emphasized the need to greatly develop cultural programs, actively develop the cultural industry, promote fine traditional Chinese culture, and better satisfy people’s intellectual and cultural needs.
Second, we strengthened and made innovations in social management in order to promote social harmony and stability. We adopted a decision to strengthen Internet information protection in order to ensure the law-based and orderly operation of the Internet and protect the security of the electronic information of citizens and legal persons. In recent years, the fast development and wide application of network technologies has been instrumental in stimulating economic and social development, but it has also given rise to many serious problems. There were extensive and loud calls in society for stronger social management of the Internet and crackdown on cybercrime. NPC deputies also put forth many bills and proposals, and demanded that a law on cyber security be enacted as soon as possible. The Standing Committee thoroughly reviewed practical experience in developing and managing the Internet, analyzed other countries’ legislation concerning the Internet, and solicited opinions from all sectors, and on this basis used statutory means to protect the security of the electronic information of citizens and legal persons and established the online ID management system. It spelled out the obligations and responsibilities of Internet service providers and conferred necessary means of oversight and supervision on competent government departments. This decision of the Standing Committee is of great significance for promoting social harmony, safeguarding national security and political stability, and ensuring enduring peace and stability of the country.
In enacting the People’s Mediation Law, the Standing Committee reviewed the good experience and methods of people’s mediation, incorporated into law this uniquely Chinese way of resolving disputes without recourse to litigation, clarified its relationship with other mechanisms for resolving disputes, and strengthened support and guarantees for the work of people’s mediation, so as to resolve people’s disputes and social problems at the community level and nip them in the bud. To prevent and reduce social problems arising from medical misadventures, environmental pollution and defective products, the Standing Committee defined the principle of liability attribution and the scope and standards of compensation in the Law on Tort Liability, which will better help balance interests and resolve disputes. In order to strengthen the public safety system, we revised the Road Traffic Safety Law and the Fire Protection Law in a timely manner, and listened to and deliberated relevant work reports. We stressed the need to keep alert to potential risks, tirelessly deal with them, mete out heavier penalties to perpetrators of traffic accidents, better equip places with a high concentration of people with firefighting equipment, and eliminate latent hazards, in order to effectively protect people’s lives and property. In order to enhance social management and services at the community level, we carried out investigations and studies on problems related to urban community development, and emphasized the need to make full use of China’s political and institutional strengths, make community-level Party and government organizations and urban and rural community-based self-governing organizations better able to exercise social management and provide public services, and strive to make social management more scientific.
Third, we helped advance reform in key areas with the focus on recondite problems in reform and development. Since the adoption of reform and opening up, the income of both urban and rural residents has risen and their lives have improved. However, some prominent conflicts and problems have emerged in income distribution. Properly adjusting income distribution is not only a major reform bearing on the overall situation, but also an objective requirement for changing the growth model. The Standing Committee attached great importance to this issue. In 2010, it listed national income distribution as a key topic for investigation and study, and made suggestions on formulating a plan as soon as possible for carrying out income distribution reform, which served as important reference material for the central leadership in drawing up the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. In 2011, the Standing Committee organized and carried out investigations and studies on raising the proportion of individual income in the national income, increasing the proportion of work remuneration in primary distribution, improving the way income is distributed and making better use of taxation in adjusting income. We called on everyone involved to conscientiously attain the objectives and fulfill the tasks of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, narrow the growing income gap as soon as possible, and form a reasonable and orderly pattern of income distribution, so that everyone shares in the fruits of development.
In light of problems we found during investigations and studies such as too many local government financing corporations, insufficient standardization of debt financing, and the inability of many regions and industries to repay their debts, we proposed that the government should work to guard against and defuse local government debt risks. The State Council began auditing local government debt in December 2010 and reported the results to the Standing Committee in its 2011 report on auditing work. At the same time, we conducted investigations and studies on how to defuse local government debt risks. Members of the Standing Committee stressed the need to promptly put local government financing corporations in order, deal with existing local government debts on the basis of their circumstances and type, and gradually defuse local government debt risks. They also stressed the need for local governments to include revenue and expenditures of their debts in their budgets and subject them to review and oversight by the people’s congress at the same level, and for local governments to prepare their budgets on the basis of the principle of balancing accounts by keeping expenditures within the bounds of revenue and not allowing a deficit.
Establishing a sound mechanism to ensure basic funding for county-level governments is essential for strengthening them and carrying out overall economic and social development. To help county-level governments that have financial difficulties, when examining the final accounts of the central government in 2008, the Standing Committee declared that a mechanism ensuring payment of wages and salaries, normal government operations and people’s wellbeing should be established within two to three years to ensure basic funding for county-level governments. Then we conducted many investigations and studies, and listened to and deliberated the State Council’s report on this issue in 2012. While fully affirming the positive results in ensuring basic funding for county-level governments, members of the Standing Committee emphasized the need to properly define the spending responsibilities of county-level governments, raise the proportion of general transfer payments, vigorously develop county economies, progressively establish a system in which the financial resources of the central and local governments are in line with their responsibilities, and make these governments better able to provide basic public services.
In the wake of the massive earthquake that hit Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, in May 2008, we sprang into action under the direction of the central leadership and held a meeting of the Chairperson’s Council to listen to the State Council’s report on the earthquake. On the basis of the principle of taking special measures in special situations, we proposed that the central budget stabilization fund should be used to establish a fund for post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction to meet the actual requirements of earthquake-devastated areas. At its June meeting, the Standing Committee listened to the State Council’s report on earthquake relief and adopted a resolution to fully support the work of the State Council and other parties and called on people throughout the country to support earthquake-hit areas and get through the hard times together. At the meeting we also approved the revision of the 2008 central budget to ensure funding for earthquake relief and post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction. Based on its review of the practical experience in earthquake relief, the Standing Committee made major revisions at its December meeting to the Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters, thereby providing legal guarantees for earthquake relief and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
The power to interpret the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) belongs to the NPC Standing Committee. The Standing Committee examined and approved the interpretations of Paragraph 1 of Article 13 and of Article 19 of the Basic Law of the HKSAR, and made it clear that state immunity falls under the category of diplomatic affairs, that the power to decide rules and policies concerning state immunity belongs to the central government, and that the HKSAR must abide by unified state rules and policies on state immunity. This was the first time the Court of Final Appeals of the HKSAR, in the course of adjudicating a case, requested the Standing Committee to render an interpretation concerning articles of the Basic Law pertaining to matters administered by the Central People’s Government and relations between the central government and the special administrative region. The Standing Committee also examined and approved the interpretations of Article 7 of Annex I and Article 3 of Annex II of the Basic Law of the MSAR to clarify the procedures for revising the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the MSAR and forming its Legislative Council. On the basis of careful deliberation of a report by the Chief Executive of the MSAR, the Standing Committee adopted a decision on the methods for forming the Legislative Council of the MSAR in 2013 and selecting its Chief Executive in 2014. The Standing Committee approved or kept on file the amendments to the methods for selecting the chief executives of the HKSAR and MSAR and forming their legislative councils. These interpretations and decisions of the Standing Committee ensured the implementation of the principle of “one country, two systems” and the comprehensive and correct implementation of the two basic laws.
3. Making safeguarding the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people the starting point and objective of the work of the NPC
In China, all state power belongs to the people, and the people are the masters of the country and society. The people exercise state power and manage state and societal affairs and economic and cultural undertakings through people’s congresses at all levels. We always upheld the principal position of the people, adhered to the mass line, derived wisdom from their practices and creations, and drew motivation from their demands for development. We worked hard to make the NPC’s work better reflect the sentiments of the people, pool their wisdom and show concern for their wellbeing; and to realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people.
First, we improved democratic institutions and developed people’s democracy. The right to vote is the people’s basic right as masters of the country. Following the guiding principles of the Seventeenth CPC National Congress, we revised the Electoral Law of the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses to ensure that deputies to people’s congresses are elected based on the same population ratio in both urban and rural areas, and that people’s congresses have an appropriate number of deputies from every ethnic group, region and sector, in order to more fully embody equality between all people, regions and ethnic groups. We formulated guidelines on electing new people’s congresses at county and township levels across the country and electing deputies to the NPC, and made a decision on legal issues concerning the election of deputies to the Twelfth NPC. All localities upheld the leadership of the Party, brought democracy into full play, and strictly complied with the law, and on that basis smoothly completed the election of their new county and township people’s congresses and elected their deputies to the Twelfth NPC. The deputy mix was further improved. This provided a firm organizational guarantee for upholding and improving the system of people’s congresses.
Community-level democracy is an important institution ensuring that the people directly exercise their democratic rights in accordance with the law. The Standing Committee revised the Organic Law of Villagers’ Committees, improved procedures for electing and dismissing members of villagers’ committees, enhanced democratic procedural systems such as villagers’ congresses and villagers’ conferences, and strengthened regulations on transparency in and oversight and democratic discussion of village affairs, in order to ensure that villagers better exercise their right to conduct democratic elections, decision-making, administration and oversight. We investigated compliance with the Trade Union Law, stressed the need to rely on the working class wholeheartedly, and improved the democratic management system of enterprises and public institutions to ensure their employees’ right to stay informed about, participate in, express views on and oversee their organization’s affairs.
Second, we strengthened social legislation and oversight to safeguard and improve people’s wellbeing. The Standing Committee enacted the Social Insurance Law to advance development of the social security system for both urban and rural residents. The law clearly states that the state establishes a social security system that includes basic old-age insurance, basic medical insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance. In addition, the Standing Committee also set forth provisions in principle on how to transfer basic old-age insurance accounts between localities, which is of the greatest concern to people; turn over unified management of basic old-age insurance funds to higher-level authorities; and establish a new old-age insurance system for rural residents and a new rural cooperative medical care system. In response to the aging of the population, we revised the Law on Guaranteeing the Rights and Interests of Senior Citizens so as to create the basic framework for a system of social services for seniors and progressively raise the level of guarantees. We listened to and deliberated reports on development of the rural social security system and on social aid, and set forth the requirements of quickly achieving full coverage of the new old-age insurance for rural residents, progressively raising government subsidies for subscribers to the new rural cooperative medical care system, providing social security for landless rural residents as soon as possible, and ensuring that poor urban and rural residents can meet basic living expenses. We organized an NPC special committee to make a follow-up investigation on development of the rural social security system, and listened to and deliberated their investigative reports. All this greatly spurred rural social security work, and the number of subscribers to the new rural old-age insurance system increased from 33.26 million at the beginning of 2010 to 460 million at the end of 2012.
Housing, medical care and education are major issues concerning the wellbeing of the people and are of great concern to them. The Standing Committee listened to and deliberated reports on building and managing government-subsidized urban housing and on progress in deepening reform of the medical and health care systems; conducted inquiries on these issues; and stressed the need to establish a mechanism of sustainable funding for building government-subsidized housing, strictly differentiate government-subsidized housing from second homes, and establish a sound mechanism for equitable distribution and operation of government-subsidized housing, in order to genuinely benefit low-income people with housing difficulties. The Standing Committee also emphasized that the reform of the medical and health care systems needs to give high priority to meeting people’s demand for basic medical and health care and great efforts should be made to solve the problem of unaffordable and inadequate medical services, a problem people are very concerned about. To make compulsory education more standardized, the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC revised the Law on Compulsory Education, which clearly stipulates that funding for compulsory education shall be included in government budgets and students receiving compulsory education shall be exempted from paying tuition and miscellaneous fees. The Standing Committee also investigated compliance with the law. This Standing Committee carried out more investigations for the same purpose, with the focus on promoting the implementation of the mechanism for ensuring funding for compulsory education. We also listened to and deliberated a report on the implementation of the National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Education Reform and Development, and stressed the need to ensure that government spending on education should account for 4% of China’s GDP in 2012.
Food and drinking water safety is vital to people’s health and lives. To address serious problems of illegal use and misuse of food additives, the Standing Committee enacted the Law on Food Safety, which clearly stipulates that food additives may be used only if they are technically necessary and have been proved safe through risk assessment, and that when the use of a food addictive is necessary, the type, scope and concentration of the food additive used must strictly conform with food safety standards. We conducted two rounds of inspections on compliance with the law. On our urging, the State Council and its relevant departments improved the mechanism for coordinating food safety work and the system of food safety standards, created a risk monitoring and assessment mechanism for food safety, carried out a campaign to stop the illegal use and misuse of food additives, and investigated a number of prominent cases and brought the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law. In order to help solve problems in ensuring drinking water safety for urban and rural residents, when we listened to and deliberated the State Council’s report on the issue, we called for effectively strengthening protection and management of drinking water sources, energetically carrying out the project to ensure drinking water safety in rural areas, upgrading urban water supply networks, and improving capabilities to monitor the sources and quality of drinking water and respond to emergencies.
Eradicating poverty and bringing prosperity to all is an essential requirement of socialism. In accordance with the guiding principles of the 2011 Central Work Conference on Poverty Alleviation and Development, we made facilitating poverty alleviation and development an important aspect of our oversight work, and travelled to the old revolutionary base area in the Dabie Mountains and other contiguous poor areas to find out what the people there think and expect of the government. Basing ourselves in the present while looking ahead to the future, we proposed specific measures to encourage regions to use their local resource advantages to develop agriculture, launch a trial financial reform in rural areas, develop industrial parks and relocate industries to them, strengthen vocational education, and improve infrastructure. We strengthened communication and coordination with State Council departments and local governments to ensure that these measures were implemented. We did this as part of our efforts to find new ways for old revolutionary base areas to shake off poverty and develop in a scientific way. In addition, the Standing Committee listened to and deliberated reports on the economic and social development of ethnic minorities and ethnic minority areas; arranged for special committees to conduct investigations and studies on this issue; and urged relevant authorities to earnestly implement the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, carry out the central leadership’s policies and measures for accelerating economic and social development of ethnic minority areas, and increase support for these areas to develop their infrastructure, industries with local advantages, and basic public services, and to advance poverty alleviation, development and ecological conservation so they might achieve leapfrog development.
Third, we improved the procedural, criminal and administrative legal systems to better respect and protect human rights. The revised Constitution passed by the Tenth NPC categorically stipulates that the state respects and protects human rights. In light of this constitutional principle and the central leadership’s guidelines on reforming the judicial system, we revised the Criminal Procedure Law to properly balance punishing crime and protecting human rights, and considerably supplement and improve the current criminal procedure system in terms of the system of evidence, the system of defense, coercive measures, procedures for trials, and procedures for executing judgments. We revised the Civil Procedure Law to better safeguard the procedural rights of parties to civil lawsuits, improve the system of evidence, improve the mechanism for coordinating mediation and litigation, and strengthen oversight of civil litigation proceedings. To implement the penal policy of severity tempered with mercy, the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC revised the Organic Law of the People’s Courts so that the Supreme People’s Court alone has the power to rule on cases carrying the death penalty, and this Standing Committee deliberated and passed Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law to remove 13 nonviolent economic crimes from the list of capital crimes, thereby making punishment better fit the crime. The administrative enforcement system and the state compensation system directly affect the exercise of public power and the protection of citizens’ legitimate rights and interests. We enacted the Law on Administrative Enforcement and revised the Law on State Compensation by striking a proper balance between powers and rights and between powers and responsibilities, and giving state administrative, judicial and procuratorial bodies the powers they require while standardizing, constraining and overseeing their exercise of power, in order to avoid and prevent abuses of power and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.
4. Getting deputies to the NPC to fully play their role in participating in the administration of state affairs
Deputies to the NPC are members of the highest body of state power. Respecting the rights of deputies is tantamount to respecting those of the people, and guaranteeing that deputies perform their duties in accordance with the law is the same as ensuring that the people are masters of the country. We always made getting deputies to fully play their role an important aspect of upholding and improving the system of people’s congresses. We revised the Law on Deputies to People’s Congresses on the basis of a review of our practical experience, made our work related to deputies more systemic, provided better services for them, and got them to better play their role in participating in the administration of state affairs.
First, we ensured that deputies to the NPC participated in the exercise of state power. The deputies to this NPC participated in the exercise of state power mainly by attending NPC sessions and deliberating and voting on bills, reports and other matters. To fully ensure the democratic rights of deputies, before NPC sessions we organized them to go over and discuss important bills to be presented to the session for deliberation, and we conscientiously listened to their comments and suggestions on them. During NPC sessions, we promoted democracy, adopted all useful ideas of deputies, and urged relevant parties to revise and improve their bills and reports in light of deputies’ comments and suggestions. After NPC sessions, we promptly consolidated and put in order the comments and suggestions of deputies and referred them to relevant parties to study them and make improvements. We made every effort to keep deputies informed of developments in state affairs by promptly providing them with materials on the country’s economic and social development, holding meetings as needed to brief them on the situation, and organizing inspection tours and study sessions for them on special topics, and helped them become acquainted with the major decisions of the Party and country and the progress of their work, thereby creating good conditions for them to deliberate bills and reports.
Second, we handled bills and proposals of deputies more effectively. Submitting bills and proposals is an important way deputies perform their duties in accordance with the law, and it is the legally mandated duty of state bodies to handle their bills and proposals. Every year, the Standing Committee listened to and deliberated reports of special committees on the results of their deliberation of deputies’ bills, and listened to reports of the General Office of the Standing Committee and relevant parties on their handling of deputies’ proposals. Organizations to which deputies’ bills and proposals were referred increased ties with deputies, invited them to participate in symposiums and in investigations and studies on special issues, and worked with them on studying and handling their bills and proposals. Special committees strengthened follow-up oversight of the handling of key proposals and worked to ensure that the handling of bills raised the quality of legislation, and the handling of proposals helped improve work. For example, the Law concerning the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases was revised on the basis of deputies’ proposals that the responsibilities of employers be clarified, trade unions play a bigger role, and workplace monitoring be strengthened. The problems of how to ensure safe drinking water in Xihaigu, Ningxia, relocate people for ecological reasons, and develop water-conserving, high-efficiency agriculture, raised by the Ningxia delegation of deputies in its proposals to the NPC, and the problems of how to protect the ecology of grasslands and increase herdsmen’s incomes, put forward by the Inner Mongolia delegation in its proposals, have all been solved satisfactorily owing to special committees’ continued follow-up oversight and the concerted efforts of everyone involved, and some of the solutions have also been spread throughout the country. This was not only the result of deputies playing their role, but was an important manifestation of the position of the people as masters of the country.
Third, we expanded deputies’ participation in the work of the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee is formed by the NPC and is responsible to it and subject to its oversight. The Standing Committee relied closely on deputies so it could do its work well and put in place a sound mechanism for deputies’ participation in its work. When drawing up legislative plans and annual plans for legislative and oversight work, we carefully studied the major problems deputies most commonly raised in their bills and proposals and took them as an important basis for setting legislative and oversight tasks. In the course of our legislative and oversight work, we invited deputies who are involved in the concerned area or familiar with the issues to participate in investigations and studies of legislative matters or special topics and in investigations of compliance with laws, and to attend the meetings of the Standing Committee and special committees in a nonvoting capacity. In addition, we solicited written opinions on major draft laws from all deputies to the NPC and adopted all their reasonable suggestions. Deputies who attended the meetings in a nonvoting capacity or took part in other activities carefully prepared in advance and actively participated, thus playing an important role in improving the quality of the work of the Standing Committee.
Fourth, we forged closer ties between deputies and the people. Deputies work and live among the people and have close ties with them. They fully understand how the principles and policies of the Party and government and the country’s Constitution and laws are implemented. They have a thorough knowledge of the practical problems of daily life and what the people want. We strengthened and improved our work of maintaining contacts with and serving deputies, and established contact offices for deputies to the NPC at standing committees of provincial-level people’s congresses. We set up over 260 groups of deputies to the NPC and improved the way they carry out activities. We expanded the channels through which deputies maintain contacts with the people, and supported them in listening to and reporting on the people’s opinions in a variety of ways. Every year we organized investigations and studies for deputies on major issues affecting reform, development and stability, and referred investigative reports resulting therefrom to relevant parties for study and handling, thereby providing reference information for the Party and government to make decisions.
5. Adhering to the principle of democratic centralism and acting in accordance with the law and procedures
China’s Constitution stipulates that state institutions shall apply the principle of democratic centralism. People’s congresses are bodies of state power and exercise state power in a unified way. The administrative, judicial and procuratorial bodies of the state are created by people’s congresses and are responsible to them and subject to their oversight. The NPC and its Standing Committee determine the country’s policies and principles by enacting laws and adopting resolutions on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution and laws, the standpoints of the Party and the will of the people. They oversee the implementation of the Constitution and laws, oversee and support the State Council in carrying out its administrative functions in accordance with the law, and oversee and support the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate in being fair in exercising their judicial functions. We correctly handle our relationship with the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. We fully perform our official duties in accordance with the law and do not arrogate the exercise of administrative, judicial or procuratorial power. We ensure that state bodies work in concert and jointly serve building socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the Party, with each performing its own duties and functions. In our specific work, we strengthened communication and coordination with the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and worked with them to study and solve major legislative difficulties and problems. We exchanged views with relevant parties on problems we found in our investigations of compliance with laws; investigations and studies on special topics; and preliminary reviews of the plans, budgets and final accounts of the government. We referred the results of these reviews to the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to study and deal with them, and urged them to report how they did so to the Standing Committee in accordance with the law. When we found regulations conflicting with the Constitution and laws as we reviewed and registered them, we promptly communicated with the bodies that formulated them, offered our comments on them, and urged these bodies to revise or rescind them. Experience has proven that the NPC’s intensified, law-based oversight helps improve the work of the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and helps put all the work of the country on a legal footing; and that their willing acceptance of the NPC’s oversight helps the State Council to carry out its administrative functions in accordance with the law, helps the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to be fair in exercising their judicial functions, and ensures that they always use the power the people have given to them in the interests of the people.
The characteristics of the NPC’s work are that the NPC follows the principle of democratic centralism, and collectively performs its functions and powers and decides matters at meetings in accordance with statutory procedures. The Standing Committee fosters democracy, acts in strict accordance with the law and statutory procedures, and ensures that its members fully express their opinions, including opposing opinions. After we basically reach consensus on matters, we put them to a vote at meetings in accordance with statutory procedures and the principle of one person, one vote, and then make decisions on the basis of the majority vote. In our specific work, we gave full play to the strengths of consultative democracy. When we were very divided over a draft law or another important matter, we adopted a positive yet cautious attitude and when it was necessary, carried out in-depth research, conducted patient consultations or fully debated issues in order to pool the wisdom of everyone. We revised the procedural rules for the Standing Committee and the Chairperson’s Council, further standardized procedures, and raised the efficiency of procedures at meetings. It was because we fully fostered democracy and acted in strict accordance with the law and statutory procedures that we ensured that the laws enacted by the NPC and the resolutions it adopted better embodied the common will of the people and were more authoritative.
6. Carrying out innovation in the NPC’s work by proceeding from China’s national conditions and realities
Creating new work methods and making the NPC’s work keep up with the times is an inherent requirement for adhering to and improving the system of people’s congresses and is also essential for doing the NPC’s work well in the new situation. In accordance with the Constitution and laws, we proceeded from China’s national conditions and realities, made solid and orderly progress in making innovations in the NPC’s work, did a lot of creative work and made our work more productive.
First, we explored new ways of making legislation more scientific and democratic. We improved the mechanism for releasing draft laws for public comments so that their release became a regular practice. In principle all draft laws under deliberation by the Standing Committee are posted at the NPC’s website www.npc.gov.cn, and important ones are also published by China’s main media organizations to solicit opinions from all sectors of society. In addition, we improved the feedback mechanism for recommendations from the general public to actively respond to people’s concerns. This process expands the people’s orderly participation in legislation, makes policymaking more scientific and democratic, and raises people’s awareness of the law. Over the past five years, we released 48 draft laws for public comments and over 300,000 people made more than one million comments on them. After we released the draft Law on Personal Income Tax, we received more than 230,000 comments on it. After comprehensively considering these comments and carrying out repeated consultations and thorough deliberation, the Standing Committee made important revisions to the draft to raise the salary threshold for personal income tax to 3,500 yuan and reduce the first bracket tax rate.
We launched a pilot project for evaluating laws after they are passed and established a mechanism for this purpose. We selected the Law on Scientific and Technological Progress, the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons and four other laws, and objectively evaluated how scientific and practicable they are as well as how effectively they were implemented by means of questionnaires, field investigations and studies, and case studies, thereby providing an important basis for revising them. We revised the Law on Disseminating Agricultural Technology on the basis of recommendations in the evaluation report on it that institutions that disseminate agricultural technology should be nonprofit and that nonprofit services for disseminating agricultural technology should be improved. This made the law more targeted and practicable.
Second, we created new methods of overseeing the work of the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Inquiries and interrogations are statutory means by which the NPC oversees them. When the Standing Committee listened to and deliberated reports of the State Council, it conducted inquiries on special topics at group meetings or joint group meetings, and invited heads of State Council departments to listen to the comments of its members, answer their inquiries, thoroughly exchange views with them, and work with them to find solutions. In addition, the Standing Committee had these inquiries broadcast live on television and the Internet, and these broadcasts received a positive response from the general public. Following these meetings, it selected key issues of common concern to its members, strengthened follow-up oversight over them and encouraged relevant parties to improve their work.
An important function and power of the Standing Committee is to oversee central government budgets. In order to make our oversight more effective, we changed the practice of deliberating the implementation of the current year’s budget of the central government in the first five months of the year at the same time we listened to and deliberated the final accounts of the previous year’s budget at the June meeting of the Standing Committee to listening to and deliberating the implementation of the current year’s budget at the Standing Committee’s August meeting. We focused on examining the implementation of the budget approved by the NPC and its resolution on it, transfer payments of the central government, and the availability and use of funds for key expenditures. We also strengthened our oversight over the implementation of budgets for government-managed funds and state capital operations and further established a system of incorporating all government revenue and expenditures into government budgets and final accounts.
During these years, follow-up oversight was a good method used by the NPC to help solve important and difficult problems. By tightening its follow-up oversight, the Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC aided in solving longstanding problems such as arrears in export tax rebate payments and in wages owed to rural migrant workers and holding people for excessively long periods without trial. On the basis of a careful review of its experience, the Standing Committee of the current NPC put greater emphasis on adopting a variety of oversight methods to carry out repeated investigations to get to the bottom of an issue and on integrating strengthening oversight with revising and improving laws, and strove to give impetus to solving problems and establish a permanent mechanism for this purpose. To spur the effective implementation of the Labor Contract Law, the Standing Committee investigated compliance with the law in the first year it officially went into effect. In response to new developments and new issues in China’s labor and employment in the global financial crisis, the Standing Committee emphasized the need to adopt whatever means necessary to keep employment stable and expand it, prevent wage arrears and large layoffs, and increase the percentage of labor contracts signed by SMEs and in labor-intensive industries. In 2011, we organized the second round of investigations on compliance with this law. Last year we revised the law mainly to address the problem of the indiscriminate and capricious use of labor dispatch and to make it clear that employment by labor contract is the basic form of employment for Chinese enterprises, and employment by labor dispatch is only a supplemental form of employment. The revised law gives a clearer definition of job positions dispatched workers may fill, strictly restricts the number of these workers, and stresses that they enjoy the right to equal pay for equal work.
Third, we enriched our methods of conducting investigations and studies. Conducting investigations and studies is an inherent requirement for doing the NPC’s work well and also conducive to improving the work of the parties involved. We made strengthening investigations and studies the breakthrough point for improving our work style. Making full use of the fact that members of the Standing Committee and special committees have a solid theoretical foundation and rich practical experience, we actively explored new methods of conducting investigations and studies while at the same time doing a good job in research on legislation and oversight. We organized special committees and working committees on a number of occasions to carry out investigations and studies on special topics and make pragmatic and pertinent comments and suggestions concerning the central leadership’s formulation of major policy decisions and the implementation of macro-control policies. In 2009, the State Council worked out a plan for increasing the central government’s public investment in order to effectively respond to the global financial crisis. Because not only did this plan involve a large investment over a wide-ranging area, but the time was tight and the task of implementing it was arduous, we carried out investigations and studies on four selected areas: government-subsidized housing construction, education and health projects to improve people’s wellbeing, technological upgrading and innovation in science and technology, and water conservancy. We promptly exchanged views with local governments and relevant departments of the State Council on outstanding problems we found in our investigations and studies, such as poor preparatory work, unavailable supporting funds and uneven progress for some projects, and also indiscriminate launching of projects in some localities. We helped them study and improve their work, policies and measures, thereby making better use of the role of government public investment in ensuring economic growth, adjusting the economic structure, and improving people’s wellbeing.
Fellow Deputies,
The achievements of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh NPC are attributable to the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the great trust placed in us by people throughout the country, and to the hard work of deputies to the NPC, members of the Standing Committee and special committees, and employees of NPC bodies. They are also attributable to the cooperation of the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and to the strong support of local people’s congresses at all levels and their standing committees. On behalf the Standing Committee of the Eleventh NPC, I hereby express my heartfelt gratitude to them all.
