III. Ensuring the People's Position as Masters of the Country
Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, the CPC has established systems that respect China’s actual conditions and ensure the people’s principal status as masters of the country. The main ones are people’s congresses, which form the fundamental political system of China, CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation, regional ethnic autonomy, and grassroots self-governance. These systems have laid a firm institutional foundation for protecting the fundamental interests of the people.
1. Ensuring Human Rights Through the Fundamental Political System
The system of people's congresses is China's fundamental political system. The essence of the system is to ensure that all power in the country belongs to the people and that the people participate in the management of state affairs and exercise power as masters of the country through the people’s congresses.
The system of people's congresses ensures the rights of the people as the masters of the country. First, the National People’s Congress (NPC) is the highest state organ of power. The NPC and the local people’s congresses at all levels are created through democratic election; they are responsible to the people and subject to their oversight. The right to vote and stand for election is a basic right. Constituencies and organizations have the power to elect deputies and to remove them from office in accordance with procedures prescribed by law.
Second, in strict accordance with the principle of democratic centralism, people’s congresses and their standing committees exercise state power, decide on matters collectively, and represent the will and the fundamental interests of the people. Each NPC and local people’s congress has a term of five years. An NPC session is held once every year, while each local people’s congress convenes at least once every year.
Third, state power is exercised through people’s congresses. All administrative, supervisory, judicial and prosecuting organs of the state are created by the people’s congresses, answer to them, and are subject to their oversight.
Fourth, the NPC and its Standing Committee exercise the legislative power of the state. Amendments to the Constitution must be adopted by a vote of at least two-thirds of NPC deputies, while laws and other bills shall be adopted by a majority vote of NPC deputies or of members of the NPC Standing Committee.
As of April 2021, there are more than 2.6 million deputies to people’s congresses at all levels. The deputies are broadly representative of all ethnic groups, sectors, social strata and political parties. Among them are a considerable number of deputies who are workers or peasants. Among the deputies to the 13th NPC, workers and peasants account for 15.7 percent. To ensure that state power is truly in the hands of the people, deputies must represent the interests and will of the people when performing their duties. Deputies are entitled to submit, examine and vote on bills and proposals. The statements and votes of deputies at meetings of people’s congresses are protected by the law.
The system of people's congresses is a unique political structure created by the people of China. It embodies the nature of the PRC as a socialist country and ensures that the Chinese people are the masters of the country. Through this system, the peoples of all ethnic groups hold the destiny of China and the nation firmly in their own hands.
2. Ensuring Human Rights Through the Political Party System
The political party system of China involves multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC. It is different from the two-party or multiparty systems of Western countries and the one-party systems of some other countries. In China, in addition to the governing CPC, there are eight other political parties. These are not opposition parties. They maintain good relations with the CPC, accepting the latter’s leadership and cooperating fully with it; they are participants in governance under the framework of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This framework of multiparty cooperation and participation under CPC leadership and governance is the defining feature of China’s political party system. This system is a new model that has grown out of the soil of China. It was established and developed by the CPC, other political parties and prominent individuals without party affiliation (non-affiliates) over the long period of China’s revolution, economic development and reform. It was a historical necessity; it represents great ingenuity; it possesses enormous strengths.
The CPC encourages the free airing of views. Through multiparty cooperation and political consultation it is committed to developing socialist democracy and advancing extensive, multilevel and institutionalized consultative democracy. In participating in governance, the main duties of the other political parties and the non-affiliates are assuming government office, and participating in consultations over major policies and candidates for key leadership positions, the management of state affairs, and the formulation and implementation of state policies, laws and regulations. Before decision-making on major issues concerning the country’s stability and the people’s wellbeing and during its implementation, the CPC carries out direct consultation with the other political parties and the non-affiliates and holds extensive consultations with people from all sectors of society at the sessions of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, central committees of the other political parties and non-affiliates have submitted more than 730 proposals to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. From the First Session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee held in March 2018 to April 2021, the CPPCC National Committee received 23,048 proposals. Many of these have been adopted, playing an important role in building consensus and helping to modernize the country.
The CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation system has realized unity between governance and participation in governance, leadership and cooperation, and consultation and oversight. It embodies the essential requirement of socialist democracy. It is conducive to protecting the interests of all social groups in China and ensuring that their expectations are met; it is conducive to making the voice of the people heard, reflecting their wishes, and improving their wellbeing. This structure ensures that people’s rightful claims are honored through a procedure guaranteeing the supremacy of the people.
3. Ensuring Human Rights Through the System of Regional Ethnic Autonomy
China is a unified multiethnic state. Heightening a sense of identity of the Chinese nation, always maintaining the integrity and unification of the country, and all ethnic groups working jointly for common prosperity and development are the goals of the CPC’s ethnic policies. The system of regional ethnic autonomy means that areas with large ethnic minority populations shall practice regional autonomy, establish autonomous organs, and exercise the power of self-government under the unified leadership of the state. This basic political system is clearly specified in the country’s Constitution and its Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy.
Territorial integrity and national unification are preconditions for regional ethnic autonomy. They combine unification with autonomy and ethnic factors with regional factors, and are perfectly suited to China’s realities. China’s regional ethnic autonomy is autonomy under the unified leadership of the state. All ethnic autonomous areas are inseparable parts of the country, and all autonomous organs of these areas are local governments subject to the unified leadership of the central government.
Regional ethnic autonomy provides institutional and policy guarantees to ensure that ethnic minority citizens enjoy rights to equality and freedom and to economic, social and cultural services. On all standing committees of people’s congresses of the 155 ethnic autonomous areas, there are citizens from the ethnic groups exercising autonomy assuming the office of chair or vice chair; all governors, prefectural commissioners, heads of counties, or banners of ethnic autonomous areas are citizens from the ethnic groups exercising autonomy. China considers the characteristics and needs of all ethnic minorities, and assists all ethnic minority areas in accelerating their economic and cultural development.
4. Ensuring Human Rights Through the Institutions of Grassroots Democracy
The institutions of grassroots democracy are crucial to protecting the immediate interests of the people. Grassroots democracy operates in multiple forms, including self-governance through villagers committees in rural areas, self-governance through urban residents committees, and self-governance in enterprises and public institutions through workers congresses. Through these organizations, the people participate extensively and directly in the management of social affairs. The Constitution, the Organic Law of the Villagers Committees, the Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees, the Trade Union Law and other laws and regulations contain provisions on the system of democratic self-governance at the grassroots level, providing a legal basis and institutional guarantee.
Through grassroots urban and rural organizations for self-governance, the people directly exercise their rights to democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight and manage their own affairs by involving the local residents in educating and serving the community and exercising public scrutiny. Urban and rural residents have elected almost 2.8 million members of the grassroots committees. The systems of committee meetings and congresses are improving, and the channels for urban and rural residents to participate in democratic decision-making are widening. Localities conduct discussions and consultations in flexible and diverse forms such as councils, hearings and others. All rural villages and urban communities have formulated their codes of conduct and the self-regulation of urban and rural residents has become more rule-based. Oversight committees have been universally established; the work to make community affairs more transparent is expanding; democratic appraisal and economic responsibility audit are carried out as a norm.
Across the country, 28 provinces and equivalent administrative units have formulated 35 local regulations concerning democratic management of enterprises. A preliminary institutional framework has been formed, with workers congresses as the basic element. The framework features open access to enterprise affairs, employees serving as board directors and board supervisors, and negotiation of collective contracts on an equal footing, supplemented by employees committees for democratic management and employees democratic councils.
