VII. We fully enhanced self-improvement of the Standing Committee in a continued effort to raise our capacity and standards for law-based duty performance.

The Standing Committee stepped up efforts to improve its political and theoretical competence, with a focus on increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of upholding the unity between the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance. Meanwhile, we also strengthened efforts to improve our systems, capacity, and conduct, thereby significantly boosting our sense of duty and ability to perform our duties.

We improved our systems with a focus on applying procedural rules. We acted in strict compliance with legally prescribed procedures for the convening of Standing Committee meetings, invited guests to attend these meetings on the basis of necessity, arranged group and panel deliberations in a reasonable manner, and covered all items set on the agenda at every Standing Committee meeting. We standardized systems for the submission and deliberation of proposals, and defined explicit means through which peopleЎЇs congresses and their standing committees exert their guiding roles in legislative work. We strictly applied the system through which work reports are heard and deliberated at Standing Committee meetings. We improved the work procedure covering the entire process of law enforcement inspections, which includes topic selection, organization, reporting, deliberation, rectification, and feedback. We worked to make special inquiries more standardized and systematic in terms of their participants, forms, content, procedures, and responses, and rendered follow-up oversight more effective.

We improved our capacity so that we became more adept at learning, and focused on comprehensively enhancing our theoretical and practical knowledge related to economics, politics, culture, society, ecological advancement, and Party building. Continuing to implement democratic centralism in a more purposeful manner, we not only guaranteed the democratic rights of Standing Committee members, but also offered guidance on the lawful exercise of these rights, in an effort to truly safeguard the fundamental, long-term, and overall interests of the country and the people.

We improved our conduct by fully implementing the central Party leadershipЎЇs eight-point decision on conduct and the rules for its implementation. Considering research to be a basic skill for the performance of our duties, the Standing Committee and special committees carried out more than 260 research projects to make NPC work better conform to practical developments and public demands. We took public complaints lodged either by mail or in person seriously, and made relevant work more systematic and standardized. We put great effort into improving the organization of meetings by imposing strict discipline within meetings and enforcing rigid procedures for requesting leaves of absence, thus keeping the attendance rate of Standing Committee meetings above 98 percent. We improved our work on media and public communications, laying emphasis on publicizing the implementation of the Constitution and the course of development of the peopleЎЇs congress system over the past 40 years of reform and opening up.

We enhanced the work and development of special committees by convening meetings of their leading officials. The special committees fulfilled their duties and exhibited their qualities and strengths as they performed a great amount of effective work related to legislation, oversight, deputies, and international exchanges. We intensified the development of each of the Standing CommitteeЎЇs working bodies to give full play to their role in offering services, coordinating initiatives, and providing guarantees.

We strengthened contacts with local peopleЎЇs congresses, worked in closer coordination with them, and made the work of peopleЎЇs congresses more substantive on the whole, in a joint effort to raise the bar for the work of peopleЎЇs congresses.

Fellow Deputies,

In our work over the past year, we have come to understand that for the work of peopleЎЇs congresses to be carried out effectively in the new era, it is essential that we follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi JinpingЎЇs core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, resolutely uphold the Party Central CommitteeЎЇs authority and its centralized, unified leadership, maintain the unity between the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance, and ensure that the Party leads the people in effectively governing the country.

—We must always uphold the overall leadership of the Party. The leadership of the Party is the defining feature of the peopleЎЇs congress system. It has been proven through practice that the better the leadership of the Party is upheld, the more fully the position of the people as masters of the country will be realized, the more smoothly law-based governance will develop, and the more evident the superiority of the peopleЎЇs congress system will be. Therefore, no matter the time or circumstances, our commitment to upholding the leadership of the Party must not waver. The NPC should lawfully exercise its functions and powers under the leadership of the Party, using legally prescribed procedures to turn the propositions of the Party into the will of the state and the common will of the Chinese people.

—We must always uphold a people-centered approach and safeguard the position of the people as masters of the country. We must respect the principal position of the people, and offer support and guarantees for their exercise of state power through peopleЎЇs congresses. We must make safeguarding the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people the starting point and ultimate goal of the work of peopleЎЇs congresses. We must listen to the people, pool their wisdom, respond to their expectations, and turn peopleЎЇs congresses and their standing committees into representative bodies that maintain close links with the public. By doing so, we will guarantee that the position of the people as masters of the country is concretely and practically demonstrated in ChinaЎЇs political and social activities.

—We must always focus on the big picture as we make plans for the advancement of our work. The work of peopleЎЇs congresses is an important component of the work of the Party and the state. We should maintain keen focus on fulfilling the objectives set out at the 19th National Congress of the CPC, conform to the new requirements of the new era, follow the new plans of the Central Committee closely, and satisfy the new demands of the people. We must take on the obligations entrusted to us in the Constitution and the law to better promote reform, opening up, and socialist modernization in the new era, and provide a strong legal guarantee for advancing our great struggle, great project, great cause, and great dream.

—We must always perform our legally prescribed duties, and act in strict accordance with the law. We need to exert the role of peopleЎЇs congresses in comprehensively advancing the rule of law, resolutely adhere to the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, constantly improve the Chinese socialist system of laws centered on the Constitution, and promote the formation of a well-equipped system of legal standards, an effective system for implementing the rule of law, a rigorous system for overseeing the rule of law, and a strong system for guaranteeing the rule of law. While performing the obligations entrusted to us in the Constitution and the law, we must act within legally prescribed limits and abide by statutory procedures, thereby ensuring that the power given to us by the Party and the people is truly used in the service of the people.

—We must always uphold democratic centralism as our organizational principle and code of conduct. PeopleЎЇs democracy is the lifeblood and most important aspect of socialism. The peopleЎЇs congress system entails carrying forward democracy, and peopleЎЇs congresses are the primary platforms for realizing peopleЎЇs democracy. We must exercise our powers in accordance with procedure and the law, make decisions on issues through collective discussion, guarantee the democratic rights of deputies to peopleЎЇs congresses and members of standing committees, and properly exercise centralism on the basis of fully promoting democracy. By doing so, we will be able to ensure that all initiatives of peopleЎЇs congresses embody the propositions of the Party, abide by the spirit of the Constitution, and reflect the will of the people.

Fellow Deputies,

The achievements of this past year have been made under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. They are the result of the diligent work of all NPC deputies, members of the Standing Committee and special committees, and the staff of the NPC administrative bodies; of close coordination with the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme PeopleЎЇs Court, and the Supreme PeopleЎЇs Procuratorate; of the vigorous support of local peopleЎЇs congresses at all levels and their standing committees; and of the active participation and full trust of all Chinese people. On behalf of the Standing Committee, I would like to express our sincere gratitude.

Over the past year, there were also certain deficiencies in our work. These mainly include the following: the quality and efficiency of legislative work need to be further enhanced, methods and mechanisms for oversight work need to be further refined, systems and mechanisms for our link with deputies to peopleЎЇs congresses and with the public need to be implemented more thoroughly and effectively, our work on theoretical research, media, and public communications needs to be improved, and efforts at self-improvement need to be further intensified. We must take these problems seriously, listen to comments and suggestions from all sectors of society with an open mind, and continue to improve our work in all areas.

 

 

Major Tasks for This Year

 

The year 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PeopleЎЇs Republic of China, and is a crucial year for our efforts to finish the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and fulfill the first centenary goal. The Standing Committee must hold high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and fully implement the guiding principles from the 19th National Congress of the Party and the second and third plenary sessions of the 19th Party Central Committee. We must maintain firm awareness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership; strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi JinpingЎЇs core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and resolutely uphold the Party Central CommitteeЎЇs authority and its centralized, unified leadership; maintain the unity between the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance; focus closely on coordinating efforts to pursue the five-sphere integrated plan[1] and the four-pronged comprehensive strategy;[2] remain committed to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability; implement the new development philosophy; and devote energy to improving our work on legislation, oversight, deputies, international exchanges, and self-development, in a bid to break new ground for NPC work in the new era.

First, we need to unremittingly advance enforcement of the Constitution and oversight in this regard. The Constitution can only come to life and be authoritative through enforcement. We must implement the constitutional system by improving our laws and legal framework, and ensure the enforcement of the Constitution and the law through proper and effective oversight, thereby exerting the important role of the Constitution in national governance. We need to implement the system of pledging allegiance to the Constitution, ensure that National Constitution Day activities are organized well, promote implementation of the seventh five-year plan on increasing public knowledge of the law, conduct thorough campaigns to publicize the Constitution and educate people about it, and enhance theoretical research on the Constitution. We need to implement systems for overseeing enforcement of the Constitution, refine mechanisms for constitutional compliance inspection, and step up the recording and review of normative documents. We will establish a nationally unified platform for recording and reviewing normative documents, and promote the extension of the information platforms of local peopleЎЇs congresses to autonomous prefectures, autonomous counties, and cities with subsidiary districts.

Second, we need to work diligently to raise the quality and effectiveness of legislative work. We must earnestly implement General Secretary Xi JinpingЎЇs new concepts, thoughts, and strategies on comprehensively advancing the rule of law and the Party Central CommitteeЎЇs decisions on legislation. We will promote lawmaking that is well-conceived, democratic, and law-based, exert the guiding role of the NPC and its Standing Committee in legislative work, and fully implement the five-year legislative program and annual legislative plan of the Standing Committee. We will actively advance legislation in key areas, and coordinate work on enacting, revising, repealing, and interpreting laws. While keeping up quantity, we must put even greater emphasis on quality, ensuring that we follow through with every piece of legislation put forward so that we may provide high-quality development with the backing and support of high-quality legislation. We should strive to ensure that every piece of legislation reflects the will of the people and earns their support, making the public feel that each of our laws is fair and just.

This year, we must move forward with formulating and revising urgently needed laws for deepening market-based reforms and expanding high-standard opening up. We need to expedite legislation in the domains of public wellbeing, national security, intellectual property rights protection, social governance, and ecological advancement, enforce the principle of law-based taxation, and improve relevant laws on state institutions. We will focus our energy on effectively implementing major legislative items identified by the Party Central Committee, which include deliberation on the Civil Code; formulation of Amendment XI to the Criminal Law and the laws on promotion of basic medical and health care, real estate tax, export control, community correction, integrated military-civilian development, guarantee for veterans, and administrative discipline; and revision of the Securities Law, the Law on Officers on Active Service, the Military Service Law, the Law on the PeopleЎЇs Armed Police Force, the Organic Law of the NPC, and the NPC procedural rules. We also need to conduct research for the drafting of laws on bio-security, Yangtze River conservation, and the Hainan Free Trade Port to ensure that these legislative tasks are completed on schedule.

Third, we need to make oversight work more targeted and effective. We must push state organs to perform their duties and exercise power in accordance with the law through commitment to keeping the big picture in mind, staying in tune with public wellbeing, focusing on key issues, and abiding by the law. This year, we will inspect enforcement of six laws including the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, the Law on Renewable Energy, the Fisheries Law, the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, the Law on Promoting Employment, and the Higher Education Law. While continuing to promote enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, we will make inspecting enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution the main focus, putting in persistent effort, and relying on the law and law-based governance to protect sound natural environments as the most universally beneficial aspect of public wellbeing. We will hear and deliberate relevant work reports and enhance oversight over the management of state-owned assets, relevant criminal trials, and public interest litigation by procuratorates. We will conduct research focused on the fight against poverty, mitigation of financial risks, reform of the supervision system, and enforcement of the supervision law. We will carry out special inquiries on the basis of deliberating reports on enforcement inspection of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, on enforcement inspection of the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and on the work of public interest litigation by procuratorates. We have arranged 29 items of oversight work for this year, including 7 for deepening supply-side structural reform and promoting high-quality development, 8 for aiding the three critical battles against potential risk, poverty, and pollution, 5 for ensuring and improving public wellbeing, 5 for the review and oversight of government budgets and financial accounts by peopleЎЇs congresses, and 4 for the oversight over law enforcement and judicial activities.

Fourth, we need to constantly improve mechanisms for deputies to carry out their duties. We will boost the participation of deputies in the work of the Standing Committee by inviting them to attend Standing Committee meetings and participate in law enforcement inspections and research activities, while also refining mechanisms for contacting deputies for budget review. We will maintain mechanisms for discussion with deputies invited to attend Standing Committee meetings, and strengthen direct contacts between deputies and Standing Committee members. We will earnestly handle the suggestions and proposals of deputies, ensure that inspection tours and research activities for deputies are organized well, enhance training of deputies, and strengthen oversight of deputies to make sure that they perform their duties.

Fifth, we need to actively and effectively carry out international exchanges. Focusing closely on ChinaЎЇs overall diplomacy, we will deepen friendly exchanges between legislative bodies, coordinate work on bilateral and multilateral exchanges, steadily advance mechanism-based exchanges, enhance communication with our counterparts on multiple levels, and promote development of the Belt and Road and practical cooperation in all fields, thereby exerting the unique role of the NPC in foreign relations.

Sixth, we need to enhance self-improvement of the Standing Committee in all respects. Taking political building as our overarching principle, we will continue to build greater theoretical competence, push forward theoretical research on the peopleЎЇs congress system, and strengthen our ability to resolve problems using ideas and methods based on the rule of law. We will fully enforce the central Party leadershipЎЇs eight-point decision on conduct and the rules for its implementation, further improve our conduct, and take concrete steps to prevent and overcome bureaucratism and the practice of formalities for formalitiesЎЇ sake. We will maintain a spirit of struggle, boost our ability to work hard and our courage to take on responsibility, and take a clear-cut and determined stand on issues that touch upon key political principles or ChinaЎЇs core interests. We will encourage officials to carry out enterprising work, ensure proper management and oversight of officials, and make sure that the NPC is composed of high-caliber officials who are loyal to the Party, clean and honest, and willing to take on responsibility.

Fellow Deputies,

It is of great importance that this yearЎЇs NPC work be performed well. We must rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, scrupulously abide by our duties, and make solid progress in our work, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PeopleЎЇs Republic of China with outstanding achievements, and striving toward the goals of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, capturing great success for socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

[1] This refers to a strategy for comprehensive moves to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform, advance law-based governance, and strengthen Party self-governance.

[2] This refers to a plan to promote coordinated economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological advancement.