7. We actively carried out foreign relations work.
In accordance with the overall arrangements of the Party and state on diplomatic work, we have actively engaged in exchanges and cooperation with foreign parliaments and multilateral parliamentary organizations, making full use of the NPC's unique strengths in developing foreign relations.
1) We consolidated and expanded the NPC's mechanism-based exchanges with foreign parliaments.
The NPC, the Russian Federation Council, and the State Duma of Russia jointly established the new China-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. The committee held its first meeting, which was co-chaired by the leaders of the legislative bodies of the two countries. This initiative has helped to maintain a high level of parliamentary cooperation between China and Russia. We arranged for a high-level delegation of the United States House of Representatives to visit China, which included the first ever visit to Tibet. We held two meetings with the European Parliament under the mechanism of regular exchanges and resumed our parliamentary exchanges with Japan, which had been suspended for years. We officially implemented the mechanism of regular exchanges with the State Great Hural of Mongolia and established mechanisms for political dialogue with Peruvian and Argentine congresses. We strengthened diplomacy with the parliaments of other major countries of the world in a bid to enhance mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation.
2) We steadily promoted multilateral diplomatic activities among parliaments.
The year 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Global War against Fascism and the founding of the United Nations. As Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, I led a delegation to the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. At the conference, I proposed that peace and development be made a theme of the meeting and that eradicating poverty and promoting economic and social development be made core objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. I also attended the first BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Russia, which further enriched cooperation among BRICS countries and enhanced their confidence and cohesion.
We actively participated in the activities of multilateral organizations such as the Inter Parliamentary Union, the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, and the Asian Parliamentary Assembly. During these activities, we projected China's voice and worked to expand the international influence of developing countries and safeguard their common interests.
3) We conducted friendly international exchanges at all levels.
We actively engaged in high-level exchanges with the parliaments of Russia, the Republic of Korea, India, France, and Hungary and received 49 parliamentary or other delegations from countries including Pakistan, Italy, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. We gave play to the role of the NPC's Foreign Affairs Committee as a window for international exchanges, and encouraged the relevant special committees and working committees to engage in exchanges with their counterparts in foreign parliaments. With a view to deepening pragmatic cooperation and promoting the alignment of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (the Belt and Road Initiative) with the development strategies of the relevant countries, we engaged in a continued effort to foster policy and legal environments that are more conducive to cooperation by stepping up policy coordination and providing stronger legal guarantees. We also encouraged mutual learning, drawing on the experience of other countries with reference to our key legislative items.
During our international exchanges, we resolutely safeguarded China's sovereignty, security, and development interests. On numerous occasions and in a variety of ways, we publicized the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, informed the outside world of China's achievements in development, explained the meaning and significance of the Chinese Dream, and shared the story of the NPC, thereby winning China more understanding, trust, and support from the international community.
8. We redoubled self-improvement efforts.
Attaching primary importance to enhancing theoretical competence and fostering political integrity, we armed ourselves with Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and the guiding principles from General Secretary Xi Jinping's major policy addresses, and used them to guide our practice and work. As a result, we have further strengthened our confidence in the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and fortified our shared ideals and convictions. Following in-depth study of the Three Stricts and Three Honests, we have become more purposeful in acting in line with them when carrying out the work of the NPC. In a persistent effort to improve our style of work, we continued to improve our meeting culture and style of writing, and actively carried out investigations and studies. We also advanced our effort to improve Party conduct, uphold integrity, and fight corruption, striving to foster a positive, upright, and clean working atmosphere. We continued to implement the system of collective study among members of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Standing Committee, and made good use of Standing Committee seminars to comprehensively raise our capacity to think and act in accordance with the rule of law as we carry out our work and strive to resolve problems. The bodies of the NPC, by earnestly following the requirements of the Three Stricts and Three Honests, made comprehensive improvements with regard to their political integrity, organization, work style, and institutions, thereby being able to give full play to their role as an advisor, assistant, and service-provider in the work of the NPC.
The Standing Committee strengthened leadership over the work of special committees while emphasizing the need to maximize their role. The special committees earnestly performed their legally mandated duties and functions in light of the actual conditions and carried out a large number of highly effective initiatives. First, they ensured the implementation of the legislative plan formulated by the Standing Committee. They led the efforts to draft legislation such as revisions to the Seed Law, the Securities Law, and the Wildlife Protection Law, and submitted the drafts for deliberation as prescribed by law. They were also involved in the drafting of laws by other state organs at an early stage, and produced reports after careful deliberation. The Law Committee, in particular,enhanced its unified deliberation of drafts of legislation, adopted comments and suggestions from all sectors of society, and built up broad consensus on legislation. Second, with a focus on oversight topics selected by the Standing Committee, the special committees organized and conducted inspections of compliance with laws, carried out in-depth research on selected topics, made pragmatic and pertinent comments and suggestions, and conducted follow-up oversight over the adoption of comments issued by the Standing Committee. The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, by strengthening analysis of economic performance, did a good job examining the government's 2015 draft plan for national economic and social development as well as draft budgets and final accounts in accordance with the law. Third, they conscientiously examined deputies' proposals, urged the relevant government departments to redouble their efforts in the handling of deputies' key suggestions, and strived to deliver a sound performance in international exchanges and the deliberation of treaties, thereby making a positive contribution to improving the work of the NPC and its Standing Committee.
Fellow Deputies,
The achievements made by the Standing Committee last year came under the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping. They were the result of the hard work of NPC deputies, members of the NPC Standing Committee and special committees, and the staff of all NPC bodies; the close cooperation of the State Council, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and local people's congresses at all levels and their standing committees; and the full trust and great support of all of China's people. On behalf of the Standing Committee, I would like to express our highest respect for and sincere gratitude to them all.
Looking back on our work over the past year, we realize that there are still some deficiencies that have caused us to fall short of the new requirements for advancing the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy in a coordinated manner, as well as the new expectations of deputies and the general public. We need to ensure that the NPC better plays its dominant role in the legislative process; devote major efforts to making our oversight more effective; improve and better implement systems enabling deputies to play their roles and maintain close ties with the people; address our inadequacies in carrying out research at the community level and responding to the concerns of the public; strengthen theoretical research on the system of people's congresses; and achieve new progress in the NPC's information and publicity work. Taking these problems seriously, we must listen to comments and suggestions from deputies and all sectors of society with an open mind, willingly subject ourselves to oversight, and consistently improve our work.
Major Tasks for This Year
The year 2016 represents the first year of our decisive push to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The overall requirements for the work of the NPC Standing Committee this year are as follows: hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics; comprehensively implement the guiding principles of the 18th National Party Congress and the third, fourth, and fifth plenary sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee; follow the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development; fully put into practice the guiding principles from General Secretary Xi Jinping's major policy addresses; work in accordance with the overall plan for promoting all-round economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy; firmly establish and put into effect the new vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development; remain committed to integrating leadership by the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and the law-based governance of the country; perform our functions and powers in accordance with the law; carry out our work actively and diligently, with a focus on legislation and oversight; and make new contributions to helping China secure a good beginning to economic and social development in the 13th Five-Year Plan period and clinch a momentous victory in its decisive push to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
1. Strengthening and improving legislative work under the new circumstances and accelerating the formation of a complete framework of laws and regulations
The rule of law constitutes a robust guarantee for development. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee called for accelerated efforts to bring economic and social development in line with the rule of law. The Standing Committee must fully enforce the revised Legislation Law and the adjusted legislative plan; focus and work effectively on legislation in key areas; make, revise, repeal, or interpret laws when necessary; and work to promote implementation of the new vision of development through legislation. We will make in-depth efforts to legislate effectively and democratically, become cognizant of and abide by the natural laws that surround legislative work, and pay extra attention to raising the quality of legislation, so as to ensure that every piece of legislation accords with the guiding principles of the Constitution, reflects the will of the people, and wins their support, and that we have good laws to promote development and ensure good governance.
1) We will improve the legal system underpinning the socialist market economy.
Focusing on the goal of ensuring the market plays the decisive role and the government better plays its role in resource allocation, we will strengthen the rule of law in economic and social development and in the operation of the market economy. We will formulate general provisions of civil law in order to improve the basic system of civil law. We will work on a law on environmental protection tax, a tonnage tax law, a tobacco leaf tax law, a grain law, and an asset valuation law. We will revise the Securities Law and the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. With a continued commitment to green development and ecological progress, we will revise the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, the Law on the Protection of the Marine Environment, and the Wildlife Protection Law, in a bid to put in place the most rigorous possible system for ecological conservation and environmental protection.
2) We will coordinate legislative work in social and cultural fields.
In an effort to strengthen and make innovations in social governance, we will work on a law on traditional Chinese medicine and a community correction law and revise the Law on the Promotion of Privately-Run Schools and the Law on the Red Cross Society. To deepen the reform of the cultural sector, we will formulate a law for guaranteeing public cultural services and a law on promoting the film industry. To promote integrated military-civilian development and deepen the reform of national defense and the armed forces, we will work on a law on transportation for national defense purposes and revise the Law on Officers on Active Service. To push forward anti-corruption legislation, we will formulate a law on international criminal judicial assistance and explore possible revisions to the Law on Administrative Supervision. We will also work on a law on the management of international NGOs in China and a cyber-security law.
3) We will take necessary steps to authorize trial reforms.
Acting in line with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, we will make law-based, timely decisions to authorize pilot reform projects so as to ensure that reform moves forward in line with the rule of law. We will carefully deliberate the mid-term and end-of-term reports of authorized pilot projects, conduct in-depth reviews and appraisals of practices developed in the projects and their effects, promote the spread of applicable practices to other areas in accordance with the law, and revise and improve the relevant laws at appropriate junctures.
4) We will ensure that the NPC plays the dominant role in legislative work.
In upholding the Party's leadership over legislative work, the Leading Party Members' Group of the Standing Committee will promptly request instructions from and submit reports to the CPC Central Committee on major issues and tasks in legislation, and will carry out the relevant tasks in accordance with the legally prescribed procedures. We will enhance the NPC's role in organizing, coordinating, and providing overall guidance for legislative work; further develop the mechanisms under which special committees of the NPC and working bodies of the Standing Committee organize the drafting of important laws; and keep the relevant departments on track in organizing the drafting of laws as scheduled in the legislative plan. We will work to ensure that legislative bodies play their important role of voicing, balancing, and adjusting the interests of different sectors of society. We will improve the systems for legislative debate, hearing, and evaluation; establish a mechanism of debates and consultations on any major adjustments affecting different interests that may result from legislation; and formulate procedures for collecting and discussing legislative items.
2. Exercising law-based, proper, and effective oversight
The oversight by the NPC and its Standing Committee over the work of the State Council, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and over compliance with laws, is an inherent requirement and institutional design of the system of people's congresses and a practice that embodies the constitutional principle that all state powers belong to the people. The Standing Committee must effectively exercise the power of oversight granted to it by the Constitution and other laws, bearing close reference to the new vision of development, reform measures, and requirements for rule of law introduced by the CPC Central Committee. Taking a problem-oriented approach, the Standing Committee will integrate oversight with support; ensure the effective enforcement of the Constitution and other laws; and facilitate the efforts of the State Council to carry out administration in accordance with the law and the efforts of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to administer justice in an impartial way, so as to advance structural reform and ensure comprehensive implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan.
1) We will strengthen oversight over the enforcement of the Constitution.
We will intensify publicity and education on the Constitution, promote the spirit of the Constitution, hold activities on the National Constitution Day, and organize government officials elected or appointed by the NPC or its Standing Committee to pledge allegiance to the Constitution. We will step up the recording and review of normative documents; take the initiative to review newly-formulated administrative regulations and judicial interpretations on an item-by-item basis; explore the Standing Committee-initiated review of local statutes in key areas; and carefully study, handle, and respond to suggestions from various sectors during reviews, so as to uphold the unity of our legal system and the authority of the Constitution and other laws.
2) We will strengthen oversight over compliance with laws.
We will inspect compliance with six laws, specifically the Food Safety Law, the Water Law, the Law on Promoting the Application of Scientific and Technological Advances, the Environmental Protection Law, the Road Traffic Safety Law, and the Law on Workplace Safety. We will carry out dedicated inquiries based on our deliberations of the compliance inspection reports produced for the Food Safety Law, the Environmental Protection Law, and the Law on Workplace Safety, so that our inquiries will be more targeted and more effective. Intensifying follow-up oversight, we will hear and deliberate the State Council's reports on how it has responded to our compliance inspection reports for the Law on Guaranteeing the Rights and Interests of Senior Citizens and the Food Safety Law as well as our comments. We will hear and deliberate a report from the State Council regarding the enforcement of the Law on Entry and Exit Administration, and conduct an investigation into the state of enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution.
We will work to ensure that the rule of law permeates the whole of society and takes root among the people. We will hear and deliberate the State Council's report on the implementation of the resolution on launching the sixth five-year initiative to popularize knowledge of the law, and act in line with legally prescribed procedures to adopt a resolution on raising public awareness of the socialist rule of law.
3) We will strengthen oversight over government budgets and final accounts.
We will hear and deliberate reports from the State Council on the central government's final accounts for 2015, on the auditing of the performance of the central government budgets and other items of revenue and expenditure in 2015, and on the implementation of 2015 government budgets. In line with the mechanism under which the State Council reports to the NPC Standing Committee on the rectification of pronounced problems discovered in auditing, we will hear and deliberate the State Council's report on its correction of such problems, and link efforts to oversee the correction of problems with efforts to inspect and oversee the budgets and final accounts of the State Council and its departments. We will conduct surveys on the implementation of the Standing Committee's decisions on strengthening oversight over economic work and intensifying inspection of and oversight over the central government budgets, and put into effect all reform measures aimed at strengthening the NPC's inspection of and oversight over government budgets.
4) We will strengthen oversight aimed at promoting economic and social development.
To speed up the formation of systems and mechanisms for guiding the new normal in economic development, provide impetus to supply-side structural reform, and ensure adherence to and refinement of the basic economic system, we will hear and deliberate reports from the State Council on the implementation of the 2015 plan for national economic and social development, on the progress achieved in deepening reform of the system of transfer payments, on the management of state-owned assets and the reform of their management system, and on scientific and technological innovation in agriculture and forestry. We will carry out research on establishing a comprehensive government financial reporting system. We will hear and deliberate the State Council's reports on the environmental conditions and the fulfillment of environmental protection targets in 2015, on the reform and development of higher education, and on the development and management of nature reserves. We will carry out research on the formulation of supporting rules and regulations for the enforcement of the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and on issues concerning the development of community-level self-governance organizations in cities.
In an effort to ensure impartial administration of justice and enhance judicial credibility, we will exercise oversight under the topics of promoting judicial impartiality through greater judicial openness and safeguarding judicial impartiality through enhanced oversight over investigation, and hear and deliberate the relevant work reports of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
3. Giving full play to the principal role of NPC deputies and doing more to help them better maintain contact with the people
We will thoroughly implement the system whereby we maintain direct contact with NPC deputies, and solicit and give expression to, by multiple means, their comments and suggestions on the Standing Committee's legislative and oversight work. We will improve our efforts to brief deputies on the Standing Committee's important initiatives and solicit their opinions. We will promote the establishment of permanent mechanisms allowing deputies to observe Standing Committee meetings, participate in inspections of compliance with laws, and join the activities of special committees and working committees, making sure that all local-level deputies to the NPC have at least one opportunity to sit in on a Standing Committee meeting. In addition, we will establish a mechanism under which we solicit the opinions of deputies and people from all sectors of society before deliberating the national economic and social development plan and government budgets. We will organize specific-topic study sessions for deputies. We will urge the State Council, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to strengthen their ties with deputies and open up more channels for deputies to learn about state affairs and the government's work.
We will formulate guidelines on improving the system by which NPC deputies maintain contact with the people, enhance working and online platforms to facilitate contact between deputies and the public, establish a sound mechanism for relevant government departments to handle and give feedback on the comments and requests from the public that have been referred by deputies, and establish broader channels for the expression of social conditions and public sentiment, so as to give full play to the role that deputies play as a bridge between the government and the people.
We will improve mechanisms and approaches for examining deputies' proposals and handling their suggestions, so as to ensure that the process of examining and handling proposals and suggestions becomes a process whereby state bodies maintain close contact with deputies and improve their work. We will ensure NPC deputies play a bigger role in the drafting and revising of laws, and earnestly study and draw upon their comments and suggestions. We will urge and coordinate the efforts of relevant departments to handle deputies' suggestions, helping these departments to improve their work through the handling of key suggestions.
In line with the CPC Central Committee's guidance on strengthening and improving the deputy-related work of the NPC, we will work to enhance the political integrity and conduct of deputies and support electoral bodies in strengthening their law-based supervision over deputies' fulfillment of their duties, so as to ensure that deputies cherish the power granted to them by the people, carry out their duties in strict accordance with the law, observe the Constitution and other laws in an exemplary manner, and take the initiative in upholding common moral values.
4. Making further progress in our work on foreign relations, information and publicity, and theoretical research while strengthening self-improvement
In accordance with the overall principles and plans of the CPC Central Committee for the country's diplomatic work, we will strengthen the planning and management of the NPC's foreign relations work, giving priorities to developing contact with the parliaments of major countries, China's neighbors, and other developing countries. We will expand the scope of mechanism-based regular exchanges with foreign parliaments and explore more diverse ways of conducting exchanges. In addition to top-level exchanges, we will also make full use of exchanges at various other levels, such as those conducted by NPC special committees, friendship groups, and local people's congresses. We will also promote multilateral contacts with foreign parliaments. We will make sure that these initiatives not only enhance China's international influence and its weight in international discourse, but comply with and serve the Belt and Road Initiative and China's overall development.
We will improve the NPC's information and publicity work. We will channel great energy into publicizing the system of people's congresses; strengthen publicity and explanation of the NPC's work regarding legislation, oversight, decision making, and election; and intensify activities to illustrate how exemplary NPC deputies perform their duties and how the work of local people's congresses is carried out. We will explore new ways of carrying out the NPC's publicity work, giving full expression to the functions of both traditional and emerging media, so as to improve the effectiveness of our publicity initiatives.
We will advance the NPC's theoretical research work, increasing our efforts to study and explain the new theories and practices with regard to upholding and improving the system of people's congresses and fully advancing the law-based governance of China developed by the CPC Central Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping since the 18th National Party Congress. We will enhance the development of think tanks for the NPC's theoretical research, and actively study the features and underlying laws of the NPC's work. These efforts will help to provide theoretical and intellectual support for the sound performance of the NPC under new circumstances.
We will maintain close ties with and provide guidance for local people's congresses. We will urge local people's congresses to fully implement the CPC Central Committee's guidelines on strengthening the work and development of people's congresses at the county and township levels. We will maintain close contact and improve coordination with local people's congresses, and strengthen guidance over their work, so as to maximize the overall efficiency of people's congresses. We will hold a national forum on local legislation, continue to provide training on the revised Legislation Law, and better guide local people's congresses in their legislative work.
We will ensure that a good job is done in the elections of new people's congresses at county and township levels across the country. Adhering to the Party's leadership, we will fully promote democracy, follow procedures in strict accordance with the law, and strengthen guidance and monitoring of the election work, in order to ensure that elections are held honestly and election results meet public expectations.
We will further strengthen the self-improvement of the Standing Committee, conscientiously uphold the Party's leadership, and ensure that political discipline and rules are strictly observed. We will work to raise our awareness of the need to uphold political integrity, keep in mind the bigger picture, follow the CPC as the core of the Chinese leadership, and act consistently with CPC Central Committee policy as we perform our duties and functions in accordance with the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans. In addition, we will work toward the establishment of a permanent effective mechanism for practicing the Three Stricts and Three Honests; launch a drive to help our Party members better meet Party standards by studying the Party Constitution, Party regulations, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's major speeches; and make unremitting efforts to improve our work style, foster integrity, and create a healthy political environment.
Fellow Deputies,
The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation beckons us on the horizon, and the great mission of finishing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is inspiring us to press forward. Rallying even closer around the CPC Central Committee headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, let us set our sights on the future, keep our feet firmly on the ground, and forge ahead with confidence and determination, so as to ensure that China's economic and social development gets off to a good start in the 13th Five-Year Plan period, that we clinch success in the decisive push to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and that the Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation can be fulfilled.
