China has actively
promoted the building of democracy and the legal system,
constantly perfected the people's congress system and the
multi-party cooperation and political consultation system
under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC),
and made great efforts to strengthen the building of
democracy at the grass-roots level and earnestly safeguard
citizens' political rights.
The people's congress system
is China's fundamental political system. All power in China
belongs to the people. The organs through which the people
exercise state power are the National People's Congress
(NPC) and the local people's congresses. The NPC is the
supreme organ of state power. It decides state policies and
principles, and exercises the state legislative power. Since
the Third Session of the Ninth NPC, the NPC and its Standing
Committee have examined 30 proposed laws, of which 18 have
been approved. The Legislation Law of the People's Republic
of China, promulgated for implementation in 2000, is an
important law concerning the state legislation system, and
is of great significance in perfecting that system,
safeguarding its unification, setting up and improving the
law system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the
building of democracy and the legal system.
The NPC and its Standing
Committee have vigorously reinforced the implementation of
the laws and the supervision over the administrative,
judicial and procuratorial organs, and notable results have
been achieved. In 2000, the NPC Standing Committee organized
a law-enforcement inspection group, which has checked the
implementation of four laws, such as the Criminal Procedure
Law and the Organic Law of the Urban Neighborhood
Committees, thus effectively supervising the implementation
of these laws. The NPC Standing Committee supervises the
work of the State Council, Supreme People's Court and
Supreme People's Procuratorate by various means, such as
inspection, law-enforcement examination, and hearing and
deliberating work reports. To strengthen the supervision of
the budget and economic work, the NPC Standing Committee
adopted the Resolution on Strengthening the Examination and
Supervision of the Central Budget in February 1999, and the
Resolution on Strengthening the Supervision of Economic Work
in March 2000. In addition, the NPC Standing Committee is
working out a Supervision Law. Deputies to the NPC have
increased their enthusiasm for participating in the exercise
of state power. At the Fourth Session of the Ninth NPC held
in March 2001, the deputies raised 1,040 proposals, a record
number since the Sixth NPC.
The multi-party cooperation
and political consultation system under the leadership of
the CPC is an important component of China 's democratic
political system. The Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) consists of representatives
of the CPC, democratic parties, personages without party
affiliation, people's organizations, ethnic minorities and
other walks of life, as well as representatives of
compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, returned
overseas Chinese and specially invited individuals. Hence,
the CPPCC has extensive representation. The committees of
the CPPCC at all levels and the democratic parties are
playing a more and more important role in political
consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in
the deliberation and administration of state affairs. Now
the chairmen of the central committees of the eight
democratic parties, the chairman of the All-China Federation
of Industry and Commerce and 13 other people from the
democratic parties, personages without party affiliation and
non-Party personages from all walks of life, totaling 22,
serve as vice-chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee or
vice-chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee. Twenty-seven
democratic party personages and personages without party
affiliation serve as vice-governors, vice-chairmen,
vice-mayors or assistants in the country's 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and centrally administered
municipalities; nearly 10,000 democratic party personages
and personages without party affiliation hold leading posts
in the governments, government departments and judicial
organs at or above the county level; more than 140,000
democratic party personages and personages without party
affiliation have been elected deputies to the people's
congresses at different levels; and more than 220,000
democratic party personages and personages without party
affiliation are members of the CPPCC committees at different
levels.
In 2000, the CPPCC
National Committee actively participated in the deliberation
and administration of state affairs, offered advice and
suggestions, organized CPPCC National Committee members to
make special investigations and inspections of a number of
important issues concerning economic and social development
during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005), held
special forums and symposiums, and submitted to the CPC
Central Committee more than 10 reports, such as Opinions on
Promoting the Readjustment of the Economic Structure During
the 10th Five-Year Plan Period, and the Proposal on the Need
for the 10th Five-Year Plan to Embody Systems Innovation,
thus providing important reference material for the state's
formulation of the Outline of the 10th Five-Year Plan for
National Economic and Social Development. On the basis of
special research, the CPPCC National Committee has raised
many opinions and suggestions to the CPC Central Committee
and the State Council on implementing the strategy for the
all-out development of the western region, speeding up the
project to divert water from the south to the north,
perfecting the social security system, quickening the reform
of the distribution system, promoting the building of
communities, deepening the reform of the judicial system,
and guaranteeing judicial fairness and social stability.
The channels for the CPPCC
committees at all levels, all democratic parties and all
personages without party affiliation to engage in democratic
supervision have been further widened. Now, tens of
thousands of democratic party personages and personages
without party affiliation serve as special advisors to the
people' s procuratorates, and to supervision, auditing,
education, land resources, taxation, personnel and public
security departments, participating in legal and
administrative supervision. Members of CPPCC committees at
all levels reflect the opinions and demands of the masses of
all walks of life and exercise their right to democratic
supervision through discussing significant issues,
criticizing the work of state organs and their work
personnel, making suggestions and other means. In 2000,
members of CPPCC committees throughout the country attended
the symposiums on strict, fair and civilized law enforcement
held by the public security organs, more than 130,000
person-times, and inspected public security organs 11,000
person-times, thus playing a powerful supervision role in
impartial law enforcement.
Building democratic politics
at the grass-roots level in rural areas with democratic
election, decision-making, administration and supervision as
the basic contents has been promoted in an all- round way,
and developed steadily. Since the implementation of the
Organic Law of the Villagers' Committees, which was revised
in November 1998, the building of the systems of democratic
election, discussion of village affairs by the villagers
themselves, and making village affairs public has been
constantly improved. Twenty- three provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities in China have worked out the new
electoral procedures for the villagers' committees; 17
provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have
adopted the measures for implementation of the Organic Law
of the Villagers' Committees; many cities and counties have
worked out the implementation guidelines for villagers'
self-government work; and almost all villages have
formulated or revised their village regulations and
agreements, and regulations on villagers' self-government.
The villagers' committees in 27 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities have been re-elected with some
600 million farmers participating directly in the elections,
representing an attendance rate of more then 80 percent. The
villagers' self-government level as a whole has markedly
improved. Meanwhile, making township political affairs
public has been promoted in an all-round way. Since 2000,
35,000 townships throughout the country have made their
political affairs public, making up well over 80 percent of
the total number of townships. Thus, remarkable progress has
been made in the building of democratic politics at the
township level.
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