As we bid farewell to 2025, we reflect on the work of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and of this publication over the past year.
Continue reading “Year in Review: The NPC and This Observer in 2025″Changhao Wei
Changhao Wei is the founder, manager, and editor of NPC Observer. He is a Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School, where he focuses on China’s legislative process and constitutional enforcement mechanisms. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
NPC Calendar: January 2026
The following laws take effect on January 1:
- Value-Added Tax Law [增值税法] (adopted on Dec. 25, 2024);
- revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law [治安管理处罚法] (adopted on June 27, 2025);
- National Parks Law [国家公园法] (adopted on Sept. 12, 2025);
- amendment to the Villagers’ Committees Organic Law [村民委员会组织法] (adopted on Oct. 28, 2025);
- revised Urban Residents’ Committees Organic Law [城市居民委员会组织法] (adopted on Oct. 28, 2025);
- amendment to the Cybersecurity Law [网络安全法] (adopted on Oct. 28, 2025); and
- revised Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language [国家通用语言文字法] (adopted on Dec. 27, 2025).
The Atomic Energy Law [原子能法] (adopted on Sept. 12, 2025) takes effect on January 15.
The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is seeking public comment on the following bills through January 25:
- draft State-Owned Assets Law [国有资产法];
- draft Childcare Service Law [托育服务法];
- draft Antarctic Activities and Environmental Protection Law [南极活动与环境保护法]; and
- draft revision to the Banking Supervision and Administration Law [银行业监督管理法].
It is also seeking public comment on a draft revision to the Trademark Law [商标法] through February 9.
The NPCSC will meet for its next regularly scheduled session in late February.
NPC (Finally) Responds to Controversy over Sealing Drug-Use Records
It has been a month since the revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law (PSPAL) [治安管理处罚法] returned to the spotlight—this time because of Article 136, a new provision that generally requires the police to seal the records of all PSAPL violations.1 We explained and commented on the controversy in this piece for The Diplomat (summarized for our newsletter here). Here is the gist: Several official social-media accounts, in promoting the law ahead of its taking effect on New Year’s Day, focused public attention on Article 136’s application to drug offenses specifically. Netizens criticized both the substance of the record-sealing requirement—worried that it signals a softened official stance on drugs—and the process whereby the provision was adopted.
Continue reading “NPC (Finally) Responds to Controversy over Sealing Drug-Use Records”NPCSC Session Watch: Environmental Code, Antarctic Policy, Ethnicity & Language, State Assets, Childcare, Banking Regulation & Trademarks
UPDATE (Dec. 22, 2025): The NPCSC has revealed that it will indeed submit the first three bills discussed below to the 2026 NPC session for approval and will pass the draft revisions to the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and to the Foreign Trade Law on December 27.
China’s top legislature, the 14th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC), will convene for its nineteenth session, its final meeting of the year, from December 22 to 27, the Council of Chairpersons decided on Monday, December 15. It will be the longest legislative session—lasting six days—since December 2019, with a suitably packed agenda. The NPCSC will review 14 legislative bills and hear almost two dozen reports, in addition to other business. As usual, we preview the session’s legislative agenda in detail below, while highlighting a few notable reports.
Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Environmental Code, Antarctic Policy, Ethnicity & Language, State Assets, Childcare, Banking Regulation & Trademarks”NPC Calendar: December 2025
UPDATE (Dec. 5, 2025): On December 5, the State Council leadership approved a draft National Fire and Rescue Personnel Law [国家消防救援人员法], which the NPCSC is likely to review at this month’s session as well.
The amendment to the Food Safety Law [食品安全法] (adopted on Sept. 12, 2025) takes effect on December 1.
The 14th NPC Standing Committee is expected to convene for its nineteenth session in late December. The Council of Chairpersons is expected to meet in mid-December to decide on the agenda and dates of the session.
The session is expected to review the following bills:
- draft Ecological and Environmental Code [生态环境法典] (or parts thereof);
- draft Law on National Development Plans [国家发展规划法];
- draft revision to the Banking Supervision and Administration Law [银行业监督管理法]; and
- draft amendment to the Certified Public Accountants Law [注册会计师法].
The session will likely further review one or more of these pending bills:
- draft Financial Stability Law [金融稳定法];
- draft Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law [危险化学品安全法];
- draft revision to the Fisheries Law [渔业法];
- draft revision to the Civil Aviation Law [民用航空法];
- draft revision to the Prisons Law [监狱法];
- draft Social Assistance Law [社会救助法]; and
- draft Healthcare Security Law [医疗保障法].
The session may also take up one or more additional bills scheduled for initial review in 2025.
NPC Calendar: November 2025
Here is our recap of NPC-related events in November 2025 at our newsletter.
The Public Health Emergency Response Law [突发公共卫生事件应对法] and the Law on Publicity and Education on the Rule of Law [法治宣传教育法] (both adopted on Sept. 12, 2025) take effect on November 1.
The NPC Standing Committee is seeking public comment on the following bills through November 26:
- Part on Pollution Prevention and Control and Part on Legal Liability and Supplementary Provisions of the draft Ecological and Environmental Code [生态环境法典];
- draft Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Law [检察公益诉讼法]; and
- draft Cultivated Land Protection and Quality Improvement Law [耕地保护和质量提升法].
It will meet for its next regularly scheduled session in late December.
Chinese Legislature Seeks Public Comment on 4 Bills: Procuratorate-Initiated Public Interest Litigation, Arable Land Protection & Environmental Code
China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), is soliciting public comment on the following four bills through November 26, 2025.
| Draft Name | Chinese Text | Explanatory Document |
|---|---|---|
| Ecological and Environmental Code – Part on Pollution Prevention and Control (2nd Draft) 生态环境法典污染防治编草案二次审议稿 | ||
| Ecological and Environmental Code – Part on Legal Liability and Supplementary Provisions (2nd Draft) 生态环境法典法律责任和附则编草案二次审议稿 | ||
| Procuratorial Public Interest Litigation Law (Draft) 检察公益诉讼法草案 | PDF (English) | |
| Cultivated Land Protection and Quality Improvement Law (Draft) 耕地保护和质量提升法草案 |
English translations will be provided if available. All explanatory documents are in Chinese and compiled in a single PDF; the links above will take you to the corresponding pages in the PDF only if you use a desktop browser—this does not work on a phone or a tablet.
To submit comment online, please refer to this guide. Comments can also be mailed to the NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission [全国人大常委会法制工作委员会] at the following address:
北京市西城区前门西大街1号 邮编: 100805
1 West Qianmen Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing 100805
Please clearly write “<Draft Name in Chinese>征求意见” on the envelope.
NPCSC Session Watch: Procuratorate-Initiated Public Interest Litigation, Community Governance, Cybersecurity, Arable Land Protection & Environmental Code
China’s top legislature, the 14th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC), will convene for its eighteenth session from October 24 to 28, immediately after the Communist Party’s upcoming Fourth Plenum concludes on October 23, the Council of Chairpersons decided on Wednesday, October 15. According to the Council’s proposed agenda, the session will consider 9 legislative bills and hear 7 oversight reports, among other business. As usual, we preview the session’s legislative agenda in detail below.
Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Procuratorate-Initiated Public Interest Litigation, Community Governance, Cybersecurity, Arable Land Protection & Environmental Code”NPC Calendar: October 2025
Here is our recap of NPC-related events in October 2025 at our newsletter.
The revised Anti–Unfair Competition Law [反不正当竞争法] (adopted on June 27, 2025) takes effect on October 15.
The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is seeking public comment on the following bills through October 11:
- draft Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law [危险化学品安全法];
- General Part, Part on Ecological Conservation, and Part on Green and Low-Carbon Development of the draft Ecological and Environmental Code [生态环境法典];
- draft Law on National Development Plans [国家发展规划法];
- draft revision to the Prisons Law [监狱法];
- draft amendment to the Cybersecurity Law [网络安全法];
- draft Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress [民族团结进步促进法];
- draft revision to the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law [企业破产法];
- draft revision to the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language [国家通用语言文字法];
- draft amendment to the Environmental Protection Tax Law [环境保护税法]; and
- draft revision to the Foreign Trade Law [对外贸易法].
The Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee will convene for its Fourth Plenum from October 20 to 23. The Plenum is expected to approve the Central Committee’s Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development [关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十五个五年规划的建议].
The 14th NPCSC is expected to convene for its eighteenth session in late October. The Council of Chairpersons is expected to meet in mid-October to decide on the agenda and dates of the session.
The session is expected to review the draft Cultivated Land Protection and Quality Improvement Law [耕地保护和质量提升法] and the draft revision to the Banking Supervision and Administration Law [银行业监督管理法] that the State Council leadership approved on July 31 and September 19, respectively.
The session is also likely to review one or more of the following bills:
- draft Financial Stability Law [金融稳定法];
- draft revision to the Maritime Law [海商法];
- draft revision to the Fisheries Law [渔业法];
- draft revision to the Civil Aviation Law [民用航空法];
- draft Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law;
- draft revision to the Prisons Law; and
- draft amendment to the Environmental Protection Tax Law [环境保护税法].
Lastly, the session may review the draft amendment to the Cybersecurity Law, one or more parts of the draft Ecological and Environmental Code, as well as one or more additional bills scheduled for initial review in 2025.
Official Chinese Law Database Receives Major Upgrades: A Guide and Review
After a decade of development, the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s national legislature, launched the National Database of Laws and Regulations (Database) [国家法律法规数据库] on February 24, 2021. Initially approved for development in 2011, the Database was deployed for testing in November 2018. By January 202, all data had been uploaded, and the following month it was opened for trial use by select institutions. While recognizing its scale, ambition, and laudable goal, we nonetheless thought the Database’s initial version—which we will call “Phase I”—missed the mark. Due to glaring gaps in coverage and a broken search function, it was “good for reading the documents you are able to locate, but not much more,” we wrote.
Four and a half years later, the NPC quietly rolled out major upgrades to the Database on August 20, 2025. While this new version—or “Phase II”—has the same coverage (with a caveat, as we will note below), there have been significant improvements on all other fronts: it has a more modern look, upgraded core functionalities, and useful new features. In short, we believe Phase II will prove to be much more valuable for the average citizen, if not for legal professionals as well.
In this guide and review, we introduce the Database’s current collection, redesigned homepage, browsing and search experience, and individual document pages. Its WeChat Mini App has received similar upgrades, but we decided not to review it this time.
Continue reading “Official Chinese Law Database Receives Major Upgrades: A Guide and Review”