Xi Extols the Superiority of the People's Congress System
It’s the holiday edition today with the mid-Autumn festival upon us. But there were two important stories over the weekend. So let me cover those today.
First, there was a meeting at the Great Hall of the People marking the 70th anniversary of the National People’s Congress. The entire PBSC was present. Xi Jinping delivered a major speech. The full text of the speech was published in the paper on Sunday. I am going to rely on that and Xinhua’s English report. Xi said:
“70 years ago, the first session of the First NPC adopted the Constitution of the PRC, marking the formal establishment of the people’s congress system, which is the basic political system of the country. The establishment of the people’s congress system meant that China’s politics had fundamentally achieved a great leap from a system where a few held power and the vast majority were oppressed and exploited, to one where the Chinese Communist Party leads and the people are the masters of their own country. This was an unprecedented achievement in thousands of years of history, realising a great transformation in China’s political system. The system of people’s congresses is the result of the arduous exploration and long-term struggles of the Chinese people under the CPC leadership. It is an entirely new political system that has grown from the Chinese soil and a great invention in the evolution of political institutions.
From the initial exploration and proposal of the basic concept of the people’s congress system during the New Democratic Revolution, to its establishment and implementation during the period of socialist revolution and construction, to its continuous consolidation and improvement during the new period of reform, opening-up and socialist modernization, and to its further development towards greater maturity and institutionalisation in the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the system of the people’s congress has gone through an extraordinary journey. It is now deeply rooted in China and has become an integral part of the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” 70年前，第一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议通过《中华人民共和国宪法》，标志着人民代表大会制度这一国家根本政治制度正式建立。人民代表大会制度的建立，意味着中国政治从根本上实现了由少数人掌握政权、绝大多数人受压迫被剥削到中国共产党领导、人民当家作主的伟大跨越，这在几千年历史上是从未有过的，实现了中国政治制度的伟大变革。人民代表大会制度是中国共产党领导中国人民艰辛探索长期奋斗的成果，是从中国土壤中生长起来的全新政治制度，是人类政治制度史上的伟大创造。从新民主主义革命时期探索并提出人民代表大会制度的基本构想，到社会主义革命和建设时期建立并实行人民代表大会制度，到改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期不断巩固和完善人民代表大会制度，到中国特色社会主义新时代推动人民代表大会制度更加成熟、更加定型，人民代表大会制度走过了不平凡的历程，已经牢牢扎根中国大地，深深融入中国特色社会主义伟大实践.
In the next part of the speech, Xi made five points, highlighting the significant advantages of the system of people’s congresses.
First, the people’s congress system has demonstrated significant political advantage of upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and ensuring that the Party leads the people to effectively govern the country according to law. The people’s congress system upholds the organic unity of the Party’s leadership, the people’s mastery of the country, and the rule of law, firmly safeguards the authority and centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, and upholds the Party’s core leadership role in taking overall charge and coordinating all entities. This system is conducive to ensuring and consolidating the Party’s leadership position and its governance status from both an institutional and legal perspective, ensuring that the Party’s propositions become the will of the state through legal procedures, ensuring that the candidates recommended by the Party organization become the leaders of the state power organs through legal procedures, ensuring that the Party exercises leadership over the state and society through the state power organs, and ensuring that the Party’s theories, lines, policies, and decision-making arrangements are fully implemented in national work. This effectively overcomes the chaos and disunity of old China, where there was no central leadership (a group of dragons without a leader - 群龙无首), the country was fragmented (akin to a dish of loose sand - 一盘散沙), and constant political infighting and mutual attacks exposing each other's faults were commonplace. ——人民代表大会制度具有坚持中国共产党领导、保证党领导人民依法有效治理国家的显著优势。人民代表大会制度坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国有机统一，坚决维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，坚持党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，有利于从制度上法律上坚持和巩固党的领导地位和执政地位，确保党的主张通过法定程序成为国家意志，确保党组织推荐的人选通过法定程序成为国家政权机关领导人员，确保党通过国家政权机关实施对国家和社会的领导，保证党的理论、路线、方针政策和决策部署在国家工作中得到全面贯彻。这有效克服了旧中国那种群龙无首、一盘散沙和党争纷沓、相互攻讦的现象.
Second, the people’s congress system has the significant advantage of practising whole process people’s democracy and guaranteeing that the people are the masters of the country. The people’s congress system upholds the people’s dominant position, upholds the principle that all state power belongs to the people, supports and guarantees the people’s exercise of state power through the people’s congresses, and embodies the nature of the people’s democratic dictatorship. The implementation of the people’s congress system, together with the implementation of basic political systems, such as the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of grassroots mass autonomy, consolidates and develops the broadest patriotic united front, and together forms a comprehensive, extensive, and organically connected system of people being the true masters of the country. This is conducive to ensuring that all people, in accordance with the law, engage in democratic elections, democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision, and manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms in accordance with the law. This effectively overcomes the phenomenon in some countries where the people appear to have rights in form but lack real power in practice, and where grand promises are made during elections, only to be ignored once the election is over. ——人民代表大会制度具有践行全过程人民民主、保障人民当家作主的显著优势。人民代表大会制度坚持人民主体地位，坚持国家一切权力属于人民，支持和保证人民通过人民代表大会行使国家权力，体现了人民民主专政的国家性质。实行人民代表大会制度，同实行中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度、基层群众自治制度等基本政治制度，巩固和发展最广泛的爱国统一战线，一同形成全面、广泛、有机衔接的人民当家作主制度体系，有利于保障全体人民依法实行民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督，依法通过各种途径和形式管理国家事务、经济和文化事业、社会事务。这有效克服了一些国家那种人民形式上有权、实际上无权和选举时漫天许诺、选举后无人过问的现象. — (Note: For any rational observer, the first point fundamentally undermines the second point. But if you read them in conjunction, the message is quite clear, that as long as the power and legitimacy of the Party to rule is not challenged, policy dialogue is possible.)
Third, the people’s congress system has the significant advantage of implementing democratic centralism and ensuring that the country's political life is both vibrant and stable and orderly. The people elect their own representatives through democratic elections to form people’s congresses at all levels. The state administrative organs, supervisory organs, judicial organs, and procuratorial organs are created by the people’s congresses, are responsible to the people’s congresses, and are supervised by the people’s congresses. People’s congress representatives come from all regions, ethnic groups, and all walks of life; they listen to and convey the opinions and suggestions of the public through various forms and channels. People’s congresses at all levels and their standing committees implement democratic centralism, fully leveraging democracy, and exercise their powers collectively. This demonstrates a high degree of unity between democracy and efficiency, ensuring that state organs operate in a highly coordinated and efficient manner, and that the country’s various undertakings are organised and advanced in a unified and effective way. This effectively overcomes the problems seen in some countries, where there is mutual obstruction, severe internal friction, and situations where matters are discussed but not decided, or decided but not implemented. ——人民代表大会制度具有贯彻民主集中制、保证国家政治生活既充满活力又安定有序的显著优势。人民通过民主选举产生自己的代表，组成各级人民代表大会。国家行政机关、监察机关、审判机关、检察机关由人民代表大会产生，对人大负责，受人大监督。人大代表来自各地区、各民族、各方面，通过各种形式和渠道听取和反映人民群众意见和建议。各级人大及其常委会实行民主集中制，充分发扬民主，集体行使职权。这充分体现了民主和效率的高度统一，有力保证国家机关高效协调运转，保证国家统一高效组织推进各项事业。这有效克服了一些国家那种相互掣肘、内耗严重和议而不决、决而不行的现象.
Fourth, the people’s congress system has the significant advantage of ensuring the comprehensive rule of law in the country and promoting the legalisation of all aspects of national governance. According to the Chinese Constitution, the NPC has the power to amend the Constitution and supervise its implementation, while the NPC Standing Committee interprets the Constitution and oversees its implementation. The NPC, its Standing Committee, and local people’s congresses with legislative power have the authority to draft and amend laws and regulations, and the people's congresses at all levels and their standing committees have the right to supervise the implementation of laws and regulations and supervise the state organs to perform their duties in accordance with the law. Such an institutional arrangement is conducive to giving full play to the functional role of the people’s congresses and their standing committees at all levels in the construction of the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics; it is conducive to promoting scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, fair justice, and public adherence to the law; it is conducive to continuously improving the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics with the Constitution as the core; it is conducive to ensuring the comprehensive and effective implementation of the Constitution and laws; and it is conducive to maintaining social fairness and justice. This effectively overcomes the phenomena seen in some countries where there are no laws to follow, laws are not enforced, or where power overrides the law or suppresses it. ——人民代表大会制度具有保障全面依法治国、实现国家各方面工作法治化的显著优势。我国宪法规定，全国人大修改宪法、监督宪法的实施，全国人大常委会解释宪法、监督宪法的实施，全国人大及其常委会和有立法权的地方人大及其常委会有权制定、修改法律和法规，各级人大及其常委会有权监督法律法规的实施、监督国家机关依法履职.这样的制度安排，有利于充分发挥各级人大及其常委会在中国特色社会主义法治体系建设中的职能作用，有利于促进科学立法、严格执法、公正司法、全民守法，有利于不断完善以宪法为核心的中国特色社会主义法律体系，有利于保证宪法法律全面有效实施，有利于维护社会公平正义。这有效克服了一些国家那种无法可依、有法不依和以权代法、以权压法的现象.
Fifth, the people’s congress system has the significant advantage of maintaining national unity and ensuring long-term stability. China is a unified multi-ethnic country and also a unitary state. The people’s congress system serves as an institutional guarantee for maintaining national unity, ethnic solidarity, and social stability. Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, we have rationally divided the powers of the central and local governments, with the central government having comprehensive governance authority over all local administrative regions, including ethnic autonomous areas and special administrative regions. We uphold the principle of equality among all ethnic groups. In areas where ethnic minorities are concentrated, regional autonomy is practised, and autonomous organs are established to exercise the powers and autonomy of local state organs in accordance with the law. We adhere to the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, establishing special administrative regions in Hong Kong and Macau, maintaining the constitutional order of the special administrative regions as defined by the Constitution and the Basic Law, and supporting the Chief Executives and governments of the special administrative regions in governing in accordance with the law. These institutional arrangements are conducive to maintaining the unity of the legal system, safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, fully leveraging the initiatives of both the central and local governments, and concentrating efforts to achieve major undertakings. They also help to consolidate and develop socialist ethnic relations based on equality, solidarity, mutual assistance, and harmony, and promote the building of a Chinese national community. This effectively overcomes the problems seen in some countries, where local governments act independently, central authority is weak (the tail is too large to wag – 尾大不掉), and ethnic extrangement/divisions and conflicts persist. ——人民代表大会制度具有维护国家统一、保障国家长治久安的显著优势。我国是统一的多民族国家，也是单一制国家，人民代表大会制度是维护国家统一、民族团结、社会稳定的制度保证。在党中央集中统一领导下，我们合理划分中央和地方职权，中央对所有地方行政区域包括民族自治地方和特别行政区拥有全面管治权。坚持各民族一律平等，各少数民族聚居的地方实行区域自治，设立自治机关，依法行使地方国家机关的职权和自治权。坚持“一国两制”，在香港、澳门设立特别行政区，维护宪法和基本法确定的特别行政区宪制秩序，支持行政长官和特别行政区政府依法施政。这些制度安排，有利于维护国家法制统一和主权、领土完整，有利于充分发挥中央和地方两个积极性、集中力量办大事，有利于巩固和发展平等团结互助和谐的社会主义民族关系、推进中华民族共同体建设。这有效克服了一些国家那种各自为政、尾大不掉和民族隔阂、民族冲突的现象.
In the next bit, Xi begins by talking about the “strong vitality and significant superiority” of the people’s congress system. Xinhua English summarises the next two paragraphs well:
“Xi pointed out that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, our Party has stood at a new historical juncture, gained a deep understanding of the new changes to the principal contradictions in Chinese society, actively responded to the people’s new demands and aspirations for democracy and rule of law, and improved the organizational and working systems of people’s congresses, making historic achievements in its work. We adhere to adapting the basic tenets of Marxism to China's specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture, deeply grasp the laws governing the development of socialist democracy, and continuously promote theoretical and practical innovations in the system of people’s congresses. Noting that the system of people’s congresses is an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people's democracy in China, Xi said it is imperative to uphold the CPC’s leadership, adhere to the use of a system of institutions to ensure that the people run the country, exercise law-based governance on all fronts, uphold democratic centralism, and stick to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics. Efforts must be made to modernize China’s system and capacity for governance, give full play to the role of deputies to people’s congresses, strengthen the self-improvement efforts of people’s congresses at various levels to uphold their four-fold role as political, working, representative institutions, and institutions of state power. This series of new concepts, ideas and requirements form the Party’s important thoughts on upholding and improving the system of people's congresses, providing fundamental guidance for the high-quality development of people's congresses in the new era.
After this, he put forth five points of action going forward.
First, give full play to the role of people's congresses in ensuring full and effective implementation of the Constitution and laws. People’s congresses at all levels and their standing committees must fully perform their functions, firmly safeguard the unity, dignity, and authority of the country's legal system, ensure effective implementation of the Constitution and laws, and make sure that all state organs fulfill their duties and carry out their work within the scope permitted by the Constitution and laws.
Second, it is important that people’s congresses play a leading role in legislative work. Xi urged efforts to improve the legislative framework featuring guidance from Party committees, the leading role played by people’s congresses, support from the government, and participation by all parties. Efforts should be made to step up legislation in key, emerging, and foreign-related fields, improve the quality of legislation, and continuously improve the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. He also urged efforts to accelerate the improvement of a legal system featuring equal rights, equal opportunities and fair rules for all to ensure that citizens fully enjoy their rights. In addition, he called to adhere to deepening reforms within the framework of the rule of law, achieving unity between reform and the rule of law; major reforms should be based on the law and should be elevated to the status of legal systems in a timely manner.
Third, he called to give full play to the key role of the oversight by people’s congresses in the Party and state supervision systems. It is imperative to improve the system through which people’s congresses oversee the government, the supervisory commissions, the people's courts and the people's procuratorates. Xi urged people's congresses to strengthen oversight of the implementation of the Constitution and laws, and intensify the review and oversight of government budgets and final accounts and the oversight over the management of state-owned assets and government debts. People's congresses should work to promote the implementation of the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans, and ensure that all state organs exercise their powers by law and that the legitimate rights and interests of the people are safeguarded and realized. Administrative, supervisory, adjudicatory and procuratorial organs at various levels should readily accept oversight from people's congresses and effectively fulfill their respective supervisory duties.
Fourth, Xi pointed out that people’s congresses should play an exemplary role in maintaining close ties with the people. All state organs and their employees must foster a strong sense of service to the people, put the people above all else, and maintain close ties with them. Deputies to people's congresses shoulder the honorable duties entrusted to them by the people, Xi noted, urging them to faithfully represent the interests and will of the people, and serve as the bridge that links the Party and the state with the people. He stressed the need for all state organs to provide support for the deputies to the people’s congresses to perform their duties in accordance with the law, improve the systems and mechanisms for contact with deputies, and ensure that deputies reach out to the public on a greater variety of issues and in more diversified ways.
Fifth, Xi emphasized that party committees at all levels should strengthen their overall leadership over the work of the people’s congresses, and support the people’s congresses and their standing committees in exercising their powers and carrying out their work in accordance with the law. The leading Party members groups of the standing committees of the people's congresses at all levels should always adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, fulfill their main responsibilities for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, and strengthen the political, ideological, organizational, work style, and disciplinary construction of the people's congresses in line with the requirement to uphold the four-fold role. They should train personnel that maintain political resolve, serve the people, respect the rule of law, promote democracy, and are diligent and responsible, and continuously improve the quality and level of the people's congress work in the new era and on the new journey.
Towards the end, Xi said:
“Democracy is a common value of all mankind. The great achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in developing people's democracy have enriched global democratic theory and practice, and contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions. We should draw on the beneficial achievements of human political civilization, but we must not simply copy Western political systems. We are willing to continue exploring with all countries and peoples around the world who pursue peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, to jointly explore paths for achieving broad, genuine, and effective democracy, and to make new contributions to the progress of human political civilization.” 民主是全人类的共同价值。中国共产党领导中国人民在发展人民民主上取得的伟大成就，丰富了世界民主理论和实践，贡献了中国智慧和中国方案。我们要借鉴人类政治文明的有益成果，但绝不照搬西方政治制度模式。我们愿继续同世界上一切追求和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由的国家和人民，共同探讨实现广泛、真实、管用的民主的路径，为人类政治文明进步作出新贡献。
70 years ago, Comrade Mao Zedong issued a call to ‘struggle to build a great socialist country’ in his opening speech at the first session of the First NPC. Now, the new journey of building a comprehensive modern socialist country has begun, and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. The entire Party and people of all ethnic groups in the country must unite more closely around the Party Central Committee, keep in mind the original intention and mission, actively develop whole-process people’s democracy, strive to build socialist political civilization, give full play to the significant advantages of the people’s congress system, and unite and strive for the great cause of comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization!” 70年前，毛泽东同志在第一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议上的开幕词中，发出“为建设一个伟大的社会主义国家而奋斗”的号召。现在，全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程已经开启，实现中华民族伟大复兴已经进入不可逆转的历史进程。全党全国各族人民要更加紧密地团结在党中央周围，不忘初心、牢记使命，积极发展全过程人民民主，努力建设社会主义政治文明，更充分地发挥人民代表大会制度的显著优势，为以中国式现代化全面推进强国建设、民族复兴伟业而团结奋斗!
Second, on Saturday, there was a detailed report (English report) on Xi’s visit to Gansu and Shaanxi. Xinhua has a detailed English report too.
In Gansu, Xi was accompanied by Gansu governor and Party secretary. He visited Tianshui, Lanzhou and other localities. Xi visited the Fuxi temple in Tianshui. Xi said that “it is imperative to protect and pass on the precious cultural heritage, so that the wisdom and creativity of ancestors will constantly inspire future generations and enhance national pride and confidence.”
He then visited the Huaniu apple production base in the Maiji district of Tianshui. There, he listened to a report of a project to divert water from the Taohe River. The big message from Xi was that “the key to rural revitalization is industrial revitalization.” He called for “strengthened efforts to protect and optimize cultivation of this variety (of apples) and apply new marketing models so that this specialty industry will be expanded, and more people will increase their incomes. He wished villagers a prosperous life.”
Xi then visited the Maijishan Grottoes. He said that “China’s four major grottoes are the treasures of Chinese civilization, all of which have important historical and cultural value. He called on cultural relic workers to continue the "Mogao Spirit," devote themselves to protecting national treasures, and make greater contributions to promoting the inheritance and innovative development of China's traditional culture and enhancing the influence of Chinese culture.”
Next stop was Lanzhou, where he first went to a service center for Party members and residents. He also visited a police station. “He emphasized the necessity of focusing on the practical needs of residents, especially the elderly and children, and continuously improving community services. It is imperative to adhere to and develop the ‘Fengqiao model” in the new era, and make more solid progress on community-level governance and social security. Work must be done to continue to take actions against the practice of formalism to reduce the burden on the grassroots units, so that grassroots cadres can devote more time and energy to serving the people.”
Then, Xi visited a section of the Yellow River near the Zhongshan Bridge in Lanzhou, where he stressed the importance of ecological protection. The next day, he listened to a “work report from the CPC Gansu Provincial Committee and the provincial government, and affirmed the province's achievements in various work.”
Xi added:
Gansu should promote new-type industrialization, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, strengthen and improve industries with distinctive advantages, actively develop strategic emerging industries, develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, and build a significant national manufacturing base for new energy and new-energy-related equipment. He also urged the province to actively cultivate modern specialty agriculture in cold and arid climate, and nurture a number of competitive agricultural brands. Efforts should also be made to promote the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grass and sand there, and fortify the ecological security shelter in the western part of the country.
He stressed the need for the province to deepen reform and expand opening up with greater courage and determination, actively integrate into the building of a unified national market, deepen reform related to state assets and state-owned enterprises, and encourage and support the development of the non-public sector. Efforts should also be made to implement the people-centered new urbanization strategy effectively, enhance the comprehensive carrying capacity of the counties, expand the county economy, and promote the integrated urban and rural development. Xi urged the province to take the initiative to serve and align local development with coordinated regional development strategy, expand cross-provincial cooperation, and deeply integrate itself into high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and the construction of the new western land-sea corridor.
Xi pointed out that Gansu Province has a profound historical and cultural heritage and is rich in resources of revolutionary culture. It is necessary to carry forward the revolutionary traditions and strengthen cultural heritage protection, he said. Efforts should be made to support the Dunhuang Academy in its efforts to become an example of world cultural heritage protection and a center of Dunhuang studies, and advance the building of the national cultural parks dedicated to the Great Wall, the Long March and the Yellow River, so as to provide a powerful source of inspiration for modernization. Efforts should also be made to further integrate culture and tourism, developing the cultural tourism sector into a pillar industry.
Xi emphasized the need to promote social advancement and governance and establish a solid foundation for common prosperity among all ethnic groups. It is important to pool resources to address the demands of the people and accomplish practical livelihood projects that are tangible and accessible to the people. Work must be done to consolidate and expand the achievements in poverty alleviation, and prevent any risk of lapsing or relapsing into poverty en masse in rural areas. Efforts should be made to promote the transformation of rural customs to cultivate a civilized rural atmosphere, continuously forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and strengthen the governance of religious affairs in accordance with the law. He emphasized efforts to ensure the basic needs of the people affected by the earthquake that struck Jishishan County are met, and advance post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, making sure the people are safe and warm during the winter. Work must be done to effectively ensure workplace safety.
Finally, on September 12, Xi met with senior officers at colonel-level and above, and representatives of model soldiers at the grassroots and civilian staff of the PLA troops stationed in Lanzhou. He was accompanied by CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong.