Strengthen Law-Based Governance of Foreign-Related Affairs

Strengthen Law-Based Governance of Foreign-Related Affairs*

November 27, 2023

Strengthening law-based governance of foreign-related affairs is a long-term requirement for building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization. It is also an urgent task in promoting high-standard opening up and addressing external risks and challenges. To better balance domestic and international imperatives and synergize development and security, we should thoroughly understand the importance and urgency of law-based governance of foreign-related affairs, and build a system and capacity commensurate with the requirements for high-quality development and high-standard opening up. This will serve to create a favorable legal and external environment for the steady progress of Chinese modernization.

The law is the bedrock of societal order and state governance. A legal system for handling foreign-related affairs is an important component of the national legal framework, and serves as the foundation for law-based governance in this field. It plays an important role in consolidating foundations, stabilizing expectations, and delivering long-term benefits. On the new journey towards building a great country and realizing national rejuvenation, we must maintain the right political orientation, a stronger sense of responsibility, and a creative spirit, to accelerate our pace in strengthening our system and increasing our capacity for law-based governance of foreign-related affairs.

As a key element of the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, law-based governance of foreign-related affairs is crucial to law-based governance in all respects and to our opening up and diplomatic work. The fundamental goal of this effort is to safeguard the interests of the country and the people by law, push for progress in international law-based governance, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. We must keep to the Chinese path of socialist rule of law in our work on foreign-related affairs.

Law-based governance of foreign-related affairs is a systematic project characterized by consistency across a wide range of fields. We must consider both domestic and international dynamics, and both development and security needs. We must think about the future in making overall and strategic plans. We must push forward the project as a whole and strengthen top-level design, to advance legislation, enforcement, judicature, law observance, and legal services on foreign-related affairs in a coordinated manner. In building a comprehensive system of relevant laws and regulations, we should give precedence to legislation while synchronizing the enactment, revision, abolition and interpretation of laws. We should put in place a coordinated and efficient system for implementing law-based governance of foreign-related affairs, increase law enforcement and judicial efficiency, promote reform of the adjudicatory system and relevant mechanisms, and strengthen judicial credibility.

We should actively develop legal services for foreign-related affairs and foster world-class arbitral institutions and law firms. We should advance international cooperation in law enforcement and the administration of justice, strengthen consular protection and assistance, and build a robust network of legal measures to protect our overseas interests. We should heighten the sense of compliance among our enterprises and citizens working abroad, and encourage them to abide by local laws, regulations, customs and practices, and to protect their own legitimate rights and interests with laws and rules.

We must resolutely safeguard the international order underpinned by international law, actively participate in the formulation of international rules, and advance international relations based on laws and rules. To contribute to building a community with a shared future for humanity, we should actively engage in developing and reforming the global governance system, push for fairer and more equitable global governance, and work towards better global governance through sound international law.

Law-based governance of foreign-related affairs should operate in parallel with opening up. To consolidate the legal foundations for high-standard opening up, we should promote high-standard opening up under the rule of law, and advance law-based governance of foreign-related affairs in the process of further opening up. The rule of law creates the optimal business environment. We should develop an open and transparent legal system for foreign-related affairs, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign enterprises, and apply both domestic and international rules to create a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.

To build new mechanisms for a higher-standard open economy, we should adapt to and assimilate the most demanding international economic and trade rules, steadily expand institutional opening up, and further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Benchmarking against advanced international practices, we should formalize in law effective measures and mature experience in high-standard opening up, such as the development of pilot free trade zones, in order to raise our opening up to a higher level, provide a better business environment, and exert a wider influence. We should comprehensively improve our capacity for ensuring security in opening up, and work to improve laws, regulations and services to facilitate life for foreign nationals living in China.

It is imperative to redouble efforts to train and build up teams of legal professionals. To quickly train a corps of specialists equipped with a firm political stance, a high level of professional competence, and a good knowledge of international rules, laws and practices, we should raise the quality of legal education by cultivating values and moral integrity, and strengthening the development of academic disciplines as well as practice-oriented training. To build a strong reserve of high-caliber professionals in this field, we should improve the mechanisms for recruiting, selecting, training, utilizing, and managing legal talent. We should also strengthen capacity building in law-based governance of our legal personnel. Leading officials at all levels should set an example in respecting, studying, observing and applying the law in order to improve their thinking and ability in law-based governance of foreign-related affairs.

We should reinforce confidence in the rule of law, elucidate China’s ideas, principles and practices in law-based governance of foreign-related affairs, and provide stories and examples of successful experiences in the new era. To highlight China as a great civilization and a major country under the rule of law, we should strengthen theoretical and practical research on the latest developments in this field, and build a Chinese system of theory and discourse for law-based governance of foreign-related affairs. The Chinese legal system boasts a long history. The profound legal thinking and political wisdom embodied in our traditional legal system is a treasure of Chinese culture. We should actively promote the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional Chinese legal culture, and renew its vitality by enriching its content in the new era.

* Main points of the speech at the 10th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

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