Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China (2023 Amendment)

Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China (2023 Amendment)

(Adopted at the Third Session of the Ninth National People's Congress on March 15, 2000, amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the Third Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress on March 15, 2015, and amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the First Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on March 13, 2023)

Table of Contents

Chapter I General Provisions

Chapter II Laws

Section 1 Legislative Power

Section 2 Legislative Procedures for the National People's Congress

Section 3 Legislative Procedures for the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Section 4 Interpretations of Laws

Section 5 Other Provisions

Chapter III Administrative Regulations

Chapter IV Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations, Separate Regulations and Rules

Section 1 Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations and Separate Regulations

Section 2 Rules

Chapter V Application and Recordation Review

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 To regulate legislative activities, establish a sound legislative system of the state, raise the quality of legislation, improve the Chinese socialist legal system, allow legislation to play a guiding and driving role, safeguard and develop socialist democracy, comprehensively promote the rule of law, and build a socialist country ruled by law, this Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution.

Article 2 This Law shall apply to the development, amendment, and repeal of laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, autonomous regulations, and separate regulations.

The rules of the departments of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the “State Council departmental rules”) and the rules of local governments shall be developed, amended, and repealed in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Law.

Article 3 Legislation shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, adhere to the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, advance the construction of a system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and safeguard the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country under the rule of law.

Article 4 Legislation shall adhere to centering around economic development, adhere to reform and opening up, carry out new development philosophy, and safeguard the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation comprehensively advanced by a Chinese path to modernization.

Article 5 Legislation shall be consistent with the provisions, principles, and spirits of the Constitution, be in accordance with the statutory powers and procedures, be based on the overall interests of the state, and maintain the unity, dignity, and authority of the socialist legal system.

Article 6 Legislation shall adhere to and develop whole-process people's democracy, respect and protect human rights, and safeguard and promote social fairness and justice.

Legislation shall represent the will of the people, carry forward socialist democracy, and in adherence to openness in legislation, ensure the people's participation in legislative activities through various channels.

Article 7 Legislation shall, based on the actual circumstances, satisfy the requirements of economic and social development and comprehensive furtherance of reform, and prescribe the rights and obligations of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations, as well as the powers and responsibilities of the organs of the state, in a scientific and rational manner.

Legal rules shall be definite, specific, pertinent, and enforceable.

Article 8 Legislation shall advocate and carry forward the core socialist values, adhere to the combination of the rule of law and the rule of virtue, forge a strong sense of community of the Chinese nation, and promote the socialist cultural-ethical progress.

Article 9 Legislation shall adapt to the needs of reform, adhere to the unity of advancing reform under the rule of law and improving the rule of law during reform, guide, promote, regulate, and safeguard the relevant reforms, and allow the rule of law to play an important role in the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.

Chapter II Laws

Section 1 Legislative Power

Article 10 The National People's Congress and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall exercise the legislative power of the state in accordance with the Constitution.

The National People's Congress shall enact and amend the basic laws on criminal matters, civil matters, and state authorities, among others.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall enact and amend laws other than those enacted by the National People's Congress; and when the National People's Congress is not in session, partially supplement and amend laws enacted by the National People's Congress, provided that the basic principles in such laws are not violated.

The National People's Congress may empower the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to enact the relevant laws.

Article 11 The following matters shall only be governed by laws:

(1) Matters concerning state sovereignty.

(2) The formation, organization, and functions and powers of the people's congresses, the people's governments, the oversight commissions, the people's courts, and the people's procuratorates at all levels.

(3) The regional ethnic autonomy system, the special administrative region system, the self-government system of people at the grassroots level.

(4) Criminal offences and penalties.

(5) Compulsory measures and penalties involving deprivation of a citizen's political rights or restriction of personal freedom.

(6) The establishment of any category of tax, determination of tax rates, tax collection administration, and other basic taxation rules.

(7) Expropriation and requisition of property not owned by the state.

(8) The basic system of civil matters.

(9) Basic economic rules and basic rules on treasury, customs, finance, and foreign trade.

(10) Litigation and basic arbitration regimes.

(11) Other matters which must be governed by laws developed by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.

Article 12 Where laws have not been enacted on any matters specified in Article 11 of this Law, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may make a decision to empower the State Council to first develop administrative regulations as actually needed on certain matters, except for matters involving criminal offences and penalties, compulsory measures and penalties involving deprivation of a citizen's political rights or restriction of personal freedom, and the justice system.

Article 13 The empowerment decision shall specify the purposes, subject matter, scope, and term of empowerment and the principles to be followed by the empowered authority that implements the empowerment decision, among others.

The term of empowerment shall not exceed five years, except as otherwise specified in the empowerment decision.

The empowered authority shall, six months before expiration of the term of empowerment, report the implementation of the empowerment decision to the empowering authority and submit recommendations on whether the relevant law shall be developed; and if continued empowerment is necessary, may recommend continued empowerment, which is subject to the decision of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.

Article 14 Where the conditions for enacting a law on any matters in the empowered legislation become mature after such legislation has been tested in practice, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee shall enact the law in a timely manner. After the law is enacted, the empowerment on such matters shall be terminated.

Article 15 The empowered authority shall exercise the power vested in it in strict accordance with the empowerment decision.

The empowered authority shall not delegate the power vested in it to any other authority.

Article 16 The National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may, as needed for reform and development, decide to authorize the temporary adjustment or temporary suspension of application of certain provisions of laws within a prescribed period and scope regarding specific matters.

Where the specific matters regarding which temporary adjustment or temporary suspension of application of certain provisions of laws is implemented have proved to be practicable, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee shall amend the relevant laws in a timely manner; or if the conditions for amending the laws are immature, the duration of authorization may be extended, or the implementation of the relevant provisions of the laws may be resumed.

Section 2 Legislative Procedures for the National People's Congress

Article 17 The Presidium of the National People's Congress may introduce bills to the National People's Congress for deliberation at a session of the National People's Congress.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the National Oversight Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the specialized committees of the National People's Congress may introduce bills to the National People's Congress, and the Presidium shall decide whether such bills will be placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress.

Article 18 A delegation or a group of thirty or more co-signing deputies may introduce a bill to the National People's Congress, and the Presidium shall decide whether the bill will be placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress or before making such a decision, first refer the bill to a relevant specialized committee for deliberation and an opinion on whether the bill will be put on the agenda.

To deliberate a bill at a meeting, a specialized committee may invite the proposer of the bill to observe the meeting and offer an opinion.

Article 19 A bill to be introduced to the National People's Congress may be first introduced to the Standing Committee when the National People's Congress is not in session, and after deliberating the bill at its sessions under the procedures prescribed in Section 3, Chapter II of this Law, the Standing Committee shall decide whether the bill will be submitted to the National People's Congress for deliberation, and the Standing Committee or the proposer shall provide an explanation on the bill to the plenary meeting of the session of the National People's Congress.

When deliberating a bill in accordance with the provision of the preceding paragraph, the Standing Committee shall solicit the opinions of the deputies to the National People's Congress in multiple forms and provide feedback; and the relevant deputies to the National People's Congress may be invited to participate in legislative investigation and research conducted by the specialized committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee.

Article 20 Where the Standing Committee has decided to submit a bill to a session of the National People's Congress for deliberation, it shall circulate the draft law to the deputies one month before the session is held, and may arrange for the deputies to study and discuss the draft law, and request comments from the deputies.

Article 21 A bill placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress shall be deliberated by all delegations after an explanation on the bill has been provided by the proposer at a plenary meeting of the session.

When the delegations are deliberating a bill, the proposer shall send persons to listen to their opinions and answer questions.

When the delegations are deliberating a bill, the relevant authority or organization shall, as required by the delegations, send persons to provide relevant information.

Article 22 A bill placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress shall be deliberated by the relevant specialized committee, which shall submit a deliberation opinion to the Presidium and circulate the printed opinion to the session.

Article 23 The Constitution and Law Committee shall, according to the opinions formed during deliberation by all delegations and relevant specialized committees, uniformly deliberate on a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress, and submit to the Presidium a report on the deliberation results, with any constitutionality issues involved and major dissenting opinions explained therein, and the amended draft law, which shall, after being deliberated and adopted at a session of the Presidium, be circulated at the session.

Article 24 The executive chairman of the Presidium may, when necessary, convene a meeting of the heads of all delegations to hear and discuss the opinions offered by the delegations after deliberation on any significant issues in a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress, and report the discussion result and opinions to the Presidium.

The executive chairman of the Presidium may also convene a meeting of the relevant deputies recommended by the delegations to discuss any major specialized issues in a bill, and report the discussion result and opinions to the Presidium.

Article 25 Where before a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the National People's Congress is put to a vote, the proposer requests withdrawal of the bill, the proposer shall state the reasons for withdrawal, and the deliberation of the bill shall terminate upon consent of the Presidium to the request and reporting to the session.

Article 26 Where any significant issue raised during the deliberation of a bill requires further research, upon proposal from the Presidium and decision at a plenary meeting of the session, the Standing Committee may be empowered to further deliberate the bill based on the deputies' opinions, make a decision, and report the decision to the next session of the National People's Congress; or be empowered to further deliberate the bill based on the deputies' opinions, produce a revision proposal, and submit it to the next session of the National People's Congress for deliberation and decision.

Article 27 After a revised draft law has been deliberated by all delegations, the Constitution and Law Committee shall revise the draft according to the opinions offered by all delegations after deliberation, and produce a voting version of the draft law, which shall be submitted by the Presidium to a plenary meeting of the session for voting and adoption by a simple majority of all the deputies.

Article 28 A law adopted by the National People's Congress shall be issued by an Order of the President signed by the President of the People's Republic of China.

Section 3 Legislative Procedures for the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Article 29 The Council of Chairpersons may introduce a bill to the Standing Committee for deliberation at a session of the Standing Committee.

The State Council, the Central Military Commission, the National Oversight Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, or a specialized committee of the National People's Congress may introduce a bill to the Standing Committee, and the Council of Chairpersons shall decide whether the bill will be placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee or before making such a decision, first refer it to the relevant specialized committee for deliberation and a report. If the Council of Chairpersons considers that any significant issue in the bill requires further research, it may recommend that the proposer revise and improve the bill before introducing it to the Standing Committee.

Article 30 A group of ten or more co-signing members of the Standing Committee may introduce a bill to the Standing Committee, and the Council of Chairpersons shall decide whether the bill will be placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee or before making such a decision, first refer it to the relevant specialized committee for deliberation and an opinion on whether the bill will be put on the agenda. If the Council of Chairpersons decides not to put the bill on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, it shall report the decision to a session of the Standing Committee or provide an explanation to the proposer.

To deliberate a bill at a meeting, a specialized committee may invite the proposer of the bill to observe the meeting and offer an opinion.

Article 31 For a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, the draft law shall be circulated to the members of the Standing Committee seven days before the session is held, except under special circumstances.

For a bill to be deliberated at a session of the Standing Committee, the relevant deputies to the National People's Congress shall be invited to observe the session.

Article 32 As a general rule, a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee shall be put to a vote after deliberation at three sessions of the Standing Committee.

When a bill is deliberated for the first time at a session of the Standing Committee, an explanation provided by the proposer shall be heard at a plenary meeting, and preliminary deliberation shall be conducted at group meetings.

When a bill is deliberated for the second time at a session of the Standing Committee, a report made by the Constitution and Law Committee on the revision of the draft law and the major issues shall be heard at a plenary meeting, and further deliberation shall be conducted at group meetings.

When a bill is deliberated for the third time at a session of the Standing Committee, a report made by the Constitution and Law Committee on the result of deliberation of the draft law shall be heard at a plenary meeting, and the revised draft law shall be deliberated on at group meetings.

In the deliberation of a bill, the Standing Committee may, as needed, convene a joint group meeting or a plenary meeting to discuss the major issues in the draft law.

Article 33 A bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee may be put to a vote after deliberation at two sessions of the Standing Committee if the opinions of all parties concerned are relatively unanimous on the bill; or may be put to a vote after deliberation at one session of the Standing Committee if the bill regulates a single matter or amends a part of a law, and the opinions of all parties concerned are relatively unanimous on the bill or in case of emergency.

Article 34 When group meetings of the Standing Committee are held to deliberate a bill, the proposer shall send persons to listen to opinions and answer questions.

When group meetings of the Standing Committee are held to deliberate a bill, the relevant authority or organization shall, as required by a group, send persons to provide relevant information.

Article 35 A bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee shall be deliberated by the relevant specialized committee, which shall offer its deliberation opinion, and circulate the printed opinion to the session of the Standing Committee.

To deliberate a bill at a meeting, the relevant specialized committee may invite the members of other specialized committees to observe the meeting and offer opinions.

Article 36 The Constitution and Law Committee shall, based on the opinions formed during deliberation by the members of the Standing Committee and the relevant specialized committee and the opinions offered by all parties concerned, uniformly deliberate on a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, and produce a report on amendments or a report on the deliberation results, with any constitutionality issues involved and major dissenting opinions explained therein, and the amended draft law. If the opinion formed during deliberation by the relevant specialized committee is not adopted, the Constitution and Law Committee shall provide feedback to the relevant specialized committee.

The Constitution and Law Committee shall invite the members of the relevant specialized committees to observe a meeting at which a bill is deliberated and express their opinions at the meeting.

Article 37 To deliberate a bill, a specialized committee shall hold a plenary meeting, and may, as needed, require the relevant authority or organization to send the relevant person in charge to provide an explanation.

Article 38 Where the specialized committees disagree with each other on any important issues on a draft law, it shall be reported to the Council of Chairpersons.

Article 39 For a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, the Constitution and Law Committee, the relevant specialized committee, and the working bodies of the Standing Committee shall hear the opinions of all the parties concerned in various forms such as forums, discussion meetings, and hearings.

Where any issue involved in a bill is very specialized and requires feasibility evaluation, a discussion meeting shall be held to hear the opinions of the relevant experts, departments, deputies to the National People's Congress, and other parties concerned. A report on the discussion shall be submitted to the Standing Committee.

Where there are significantly different opinions on any issue in a bill or any issue in a bill involves any major adjustment of interests and a hearing is required, a hearing shall be held to hear the opinions of the relevant representatives of grassroots organizations and groups, departments, people's organizations, experts, deputies to the National People's Congress, and parties concerned in the society. A report on the hearing shall be submitted to the Standing Committee.

The working bodies of the Standing Committee shall send the draft law to the deputies to the National People's Congress in the relevant fields, the standing committees of local people's congresses, and the relevant departments, organizations, and experts to solicit their opinions.

Article 40 For a bill placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, the draft law and an explanation of the drafting and amendment thereof, among others, shall, after the end of the session of the Standing Committee, be disclosed to the public to solicit opinions, unless a decision not to release the same is made at the Council of Chairpersons. The period during which public opinions are solicited on the same shall not be less than 3......