Apply China’s Constitution in the New Era

Apply China’s Constitution in the New Era*

December 19, 2022

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of China’s current Constitution. Over the past four decades, the Constitution has significantly promoted and strengthened socialist rule of law in China, effectively boosting and safeguarding the undertakings of the Party and the country. Taking its 40th anniversary as an ideal opportunity, we should follow the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress to raise public awareness of the Constitution, uphold its letter and spirit, and promote its application. By doing so, we can better leverage the essential role of the Constitution in state governance and provide a solid guarantee for building China into a modern socialist country in all respects, and for advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

Formulating and implementing a constitution is a hallmark of human progress and underpins the modernization of human society. From the mid-19th century, the Chinese people began to search painstakingly for a pathway that could change the destiny of the nation. Attempts by various political groups to reform China’s feudal autocratic system by adopting Western political models all ended in failure. From the outset, the Communist Party of China engaged in an arduous quest for knowledge and experience. It successfully formulated and implemented a constitution with distinct socialist characteristics — one that is truly of the people. This was a groundbreaking constitutional development in both China and the world. It contributed Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to advancing the rule of law in human civilization.

Formulated by the people under the leadership of our Party, the Constitution pooled the collective wisdom and embodied the common will of all Chinese people, achieving a high degree of consistency between the Party’s philosophy and the people’s will. It overcame the shortcomings of previous constitutional provisions that represented the will of only a handful of people and served their interests alone. As a result, it possessed notable strengths, solid foundations, and enormous vitality, and was widely supported and respected by the people.

Since the promulgation and implementation of the current Constitution in 1982, the National People’s Congress (NPC), under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, has made five necessary and important amendments to particular provisions and sections. These amendments have played a pivotal role in refining and developing China’s Constitution, advancing socialist rule of law, and increasing our Party’s ability to exercise law-based governance.

Since its 18th National Congress in 2012, the Party has placed great emphasis on advancing the rule of law in all respects. Positioning, planning and enforcing the rule of law from the strategic perspective of ensuring the long-term stability of the Party and the country, we have incorporated the rule of law into the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy, and achieved historic progress in developing the constitutional system and applying the Constitution.

We have made major decisions on advancing the rule of law in all respects and amending parts of the Constitution, established the Central Commission for Law-based Governance, and improved the institutions for ensuring that the CPC directs legislation, guarantees law enforcement, supports judicial justice, and plays an exemplary role in abiding by the law. This has made the Party’s leadership over law-based governance and the application of the Constitution more effective.

We have institutionalized Party leadership and codified rules for the exercise of leadership by the Party. In a constitutional amendment, we have established the guiding role of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in national political and social life, along with the Party’s leadership as the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. These measures have further strengthened the constitutional guarantee for the Party’s leadership.

We have worked hard to improve the Chinese socialist legal system centered on the Constitution and refined the legal institutions and mechanisms pertaining to the Constitution, making the application of the Constitution more effective. Steady progress has been made in optimizing the system of constitutional oversight. We have improved the system and capacity for reviewing constitutionality and for recording and reviewing normative documents. We have established the National Constitution Day and the institution of pledging allegiance to the Constitution, and carried out extensive public education on the Constitution. As a result, public awareness of the Constitution and the rule of law has increased substantially.

The central government has effectively exercised its overall jurisdiction over the special administrative regions as prescribed by China’s Constitution and the basic laws of the special administrative regions. The Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been formulated and put into effect, providing stronger legal guarantees for applying the policy of One Country, Two Systems.

The past decade in the new era has seen major progress in developing the constitutional system and overseeing the application of the Constitution. There is much greater awareness of the Constitution among the whole Party and throughout society, and there has been remarkable progress in socialist rule of law.

In the process of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, our Party has reviewed and leveraged its historical experience, applied the Constitution in full, and promoted innovation in constitutional theory and practice. This process has given the Party extensive new experience and a better understanding of the principles governing the development of China’s constitutional system.

First, we must uphold CPC leadership. China’s Constitution affirms the leadership position of the CPC. This is the most prominent feature of China’s Constitution and the fundamental guarantee for its full application. Only the CPC can remain committed to serving the public good, exercising power in the interests of the people, and promoting democracy. Only the CPC can lead the people in formulating and applying a constitution that reflects their will. Only the CPC can ensure that China’s Constitution will remain true to the right political direction in its development.

Second, we must uphold the people’s position as masters of the country. The ultimate purpose of the Party in leading the people to formulate and apply the Constitution is to safeguard their interests, reflect their will, protect their rights, and improve their wellbeing. To ensure that everyone is equal before the law, we must uphold the unity of Party leadership, the people’s position as masters of the country, and law-based governance. We must promote whole-process people’s democracy, and follow the people-centered philosophy of development throughout the process of legislation, law enforcement, judicature, and law observance. We must accelerate improvements to our legal systems concerning equal rights, equal opportunities, and fair rules for all, prevent citizens’ personal rights, property rights, right to dignity, and basic political rights from being violated, and secure their economic, cultural, social and other rights in full.

Third, we must uphold Constitution-based governance and exercise of state power. The Constitution is the fundamental legal basis for our Party’s long-term governance. We can ensure that the Party leads the people to govern the country effectively and in accordance with the law, only if we govern the country and exercise state power on the basis of the Constitution. We must integrate the Party’s role in exercising overall leadership and coordinating efforts on all fronts with the performance of functions and duties of people’s congresses, governments, committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and supervisory, adjudicatory and procuratorial offices in accordance with the law and their respective charters. Additionally, we must integrate the Party’s leadership in formulating and applying the Constitution and laws with the Party’s commitment to acting within the scope of the Constitution and the law.

Fourth, we must uphold the position of the Constitution as China’s fundamental law. The Constitution embodies the common will and aspiration of the CPC and the people, and is the highest expression of state will. It is foundational and consistent, and is of overall and long-term importance. It outlines the country’s major systems and interests, and plays an overarching and guiding role in state and social affairs. As the foundation and source of all laws and regulations of the state, the Constitution enjoys supreme legal status, legal authority, and legal effect. Only by upholding the position of the Constitution as China’s fundamental law and safeguarding and applying its spirit, principles and provisions, can we ensure national unity, maintain consistency in laws and regulations, and guarantee the consistency of government policies.

Fifth, we must guarantee the application and oversight of the Constitution with laws, regulations and institutions. The life and the authority of the Constitution lie in its enforcement. We must ensure the application of the Constitution via sound, effective, systematic and complete institutional and legal frameworks. We must establish a complete system of laws and regulations, an efficient enforcement system, a stringent supervisory system, an effective support system, and a robust system of Party regulations. Simultaneously, we must strengthen constitutional oversight to guarantee the rule of law in modernizing China’s system and capacity for governance and in building China into a modern socialist country.

Sixth, we must uphold the authority and dignity of the Constitution. Upholding the authority of the Constitution means upholding the authority of the common will of the Party and the people. Safeguarding the dignity of the Constitution means safeguarding the dignity of the common will of the Party and the people. Securing the application of the Constitution means securing the fundamental interests of the people. All the people of China and all government departments, armed forces, political parties, social organizations, enterprises, and public institutions must regard the Constitution as their fundamental code of conduct, and it is their duty to uphold its dignity and ensure its application. No organization or individual shall have any privilege that places them above the Constitution and the law, and all acts in violation of the Constitution or the law must be punished.

Seventh, we must improve and develop the Constitution in line with the changing times. As part of the superstructure, the Constitution must adapt to changes in the economic base, reflect progress in the cause of the Party and the people, and evolve along with the Party’s experience in leading the people to build socialism with Chinese characteristics. To preserve the vitality of the Constitution, we must keep pace with the demands of the times and the will of the people, and follow the requirements of the rule of law. We must ensure that the Constitution always adjusts to new circumstances, draws on new experiences, affirms new achievements, and establishes new norms, while maintaining its continuity, consistency and authority.

At its 20th National Congress, the Party made comprehensive plans for advancing the cause of the Party and the country on the new journey in the new era. It emphasized the need for greater efforts to leverage the vital role of the Constitution in national governance, and the essential role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and delivering long-term benefits, and it highlighted the importance of building a modern socialist country under the rule of law. We must apply the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, increase our commitment to the Constitution, strengthen its enforcement, fulfill the duties it prescribes, and write a new chapter in the application of the Constitution in the new era.

First, we should uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over all work related to the Constitution, and better leverage the significant strengths and important role of China’s constitutional system. China’s Constitution is the logical outcome of history, theory and practice, based on the Party’s long-term leadership. Without the Party’s leadership, there can be no guarantee for the full and effective application of the Constitution.

By upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over all work related to the Constitution, we can ensure that the Constitution will continue to develop along the right political direction, and that it will be fully and effectively applied. This will allow the Constitution to better serve its vital role in upholding the Party’s leadership, ensuring the people’s position as masters of the country, promoting reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, building a socialist country under the rule of law, facilitating comprehensive progress in human rights, and maintaining national unity, ethnic solidarity, and social harmony and stability. We must strengthen confidence in our political system, keep to the path of socialist political progress with Chinese characteristics, and uphold and improve the Chinese socialist system. We must resolutely uphold the CPC’s status as the governing party, the people’s democratic dictatorship as the form of state, and the system of people’s congresses as the form of government, which are enshrined in our Constitution. Under no circumstances should we ever abandon these in favor of the models and practices of other countries.

Second, we should apply the Constitution throughout all aspects and at every stage of state governance, and continuously improve the Party’s capacity to govern the country and exercise state power within the framework of the Constitution. The Constitution stands as the general program for managing state affairs, the fundamental legal basis for our Party’s governance, and the supreme legal norm in national political and social life. To improve the Party’s capacity for Constitution-based governance and exercise of state power, we must advance the rule of law in all areas by applying the Constitution in every aspect of the effort to implement the Five-sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy in a coordinated manner, and ensuring its enforcement on all fronts, including reform, development, social stability, national defense, domestic and foreign affairs, and governance of the Party, the country, and the military.

The Party has led the people in formulating the Constitution and laws, and must take the lead in honoring and applying the Constitution. We must turn the Party’s views into the will of the state through legal procedures, ensure that candidates recommended by Party organizations become leaders of agencies of state power through legal procedures, and exercise Party leadership over the country and society through agencies of state power. We must provide support to the agencies of state power and to the administrative, supervisory, adjudicatory and procuratorial offices so that they can carry out their work in accordance with the Constitution and the law and perform their duties in an independent and coordinated manner. Party committees at all levels should ensure the application of the Constitution and laws throughout the process of making decisions and implementing policies. In this process, they should ensure that their decisions and policies never run counter to the Constitution and the law and that they withstand the tests of time and the people.

Third, we should accelerate efforts to improve the Chinese socialist legal system centered on the Constitution, and continue to make the system of laws and regulations more comprehensive, structured and coordinated. Constitution-based legislation is fundamental to upholding law-based legislation. Legislation and the resulting laws and regulations must thoroughly reflect the spirit, principles and provisions of the Constitution. No law, administrative regulation, or local regulation may conflict with the Constitution, and all laws, rules and regulations that violate the spirit, principles and provisions of the Constitution must be corrected.

We must improve our legislative systems and mechanisms, and carry out lawmaking in a well-conceived and democratic way and in accordance with the law. We must ensure coordinated steps in enacting, revising, abolishing, interpreting and codifying laws, and make legislative work more systematic, holistic, coordinated and responsive. We must maximize the central role of the Constitution in legislation and apply it to every aspect of the legislative process, to ensure that every piece of legislation complies with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, manifests its authority, and guarantees its application. We must ensure that the NPC and its Standing Committee fulfill the responsibilities prescribed by the Constitution and play a leading role in legislative work, while expanding channels for orderly public participation in lawmaking. We must strengthen legislation in key, emerging and foreign-related fields, improve legal systems that are urgently needed for improving national governance and safeguarding national security and that are essential for meeting the people’s growing expectation for a better life, and accelerate the development of a system of laws for extraterritorial application. We must apply systems thinking and work towards the all-round improvement of state laws, administrative regulations, military regulations, supervisory regulations, and local regulations. We must make further progress in developing a legal system that is well-designed, complete, consistent and authoritative in order to uphold the unity of law.

Fourth, we should improve the systems for ensuring full application of the Constitution and continuously strengthen enforcement of the Constitution and constitutional oversight. To improve the systems for ensuring full application of the Constitution, we must thoroughly enforce the spirit, principles and provisions of the Constitution, systematically reinforce the interpretation and application of the Constitution and constitutional oversight, and take coordinated steps to develop the legislative, enforcement, supervisory and support systems for the rule of law, as well as a robust system of Party regulations. We must refine mechanisms for the direct application of constitutional provisions and leverage the crucial role of the Constitution in responding to major threats and challenges, implementing the policy of One Country, Two Systems, advancing national reunification, and maintaining national security and social stability. We must improve the system of constitutional oversight by advancing standards and procedures, and by improving the capacity and quality of constitutionality review and the recording and review of normative documents. We must implement procedures and mechanisms for interpreting the Constitution, and actively attend to public concerns about constitutional issues.

Fifth, we should strengthen theoretical research and public education on the Constitution and make China’s constitutional theory and practice more persuasive and impactful. The foundations of the Constitution lie in the people’s heartfelt support, and the power of the Constitution comes from the people’s sincere faith. We must pursue coordinated progress in publicity, education and research on the Constitution and make comprehensive efforts to disseminate knowledge, interpret theory, and cultivate public awareness of the Constitution. This will bring the Constitution closer to the people and encourage them to embrace it and consciously engage in applying it.

We must advance a broader agenda of education on the Constitution, reinforce the sustained impact of institutionalized practices such as pledges of allegiance and Constitution-related celebrations, promote national symbols, and prioritize the development of educational materials on the Constitution. We must carry out constant and thorough education on the Constitution with the focus on leading officials, or the “key few”, on important groups such as young people and netizens, and on key sectors such as schools, communities, and the media.

We should strengthen research on constitutional theory in the context of China’s contemporary system and practices, develop defining concepts and original viewpoints, and build a system of academic disciplines, research and discourse on the Constitution to reinforce the guiding position of China’s constitutional theory in national education on the rule of law.

We must better present the story of China’s Constitution. We should be assertive and ambitious in publicizing the significant strengths and enormous vitality of China’s constitutional system and theory, and we should stand firm and resolute against any misrepresentations or actions that distort, smear or attack China’s Constitution.

When presiding over the formulation of the first Constitution of the People’s Republic of China in 1954, Mao Zedong said, “We must now unite the people of the whole country and unite all the forces that can and should be united in the struggle to build a great socialist country. And the Constitution has been drawn up specifically for this purpose.” We must apply the Constitution in full, promote law-based governance on all fronts, and advance the rule of law in China. We should strive in unity to achieve the Second Centenary Goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects, and promote national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.

* Article to mark the 40th anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the current Constitution.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)