Category: Session Watch

NPC Amends Governing Law of Local People’s Congresses & Governments, Tightens Rules for NPC Elections in Hong Kong & Macao

The NPC concluded its annual session in 2022 on Friday, March 11. Among other actions taken, it approved four pieces of legislation: the first set of major amendments to the Organic Law of Local People’s Congresses at All Levels and Local People’s Governments at All Levels (“Local Organic Law”) [地方各级人民代表大会和地方各级人民政府组织法] in over two decades; a decision governing the elections of delegates to the next (14th) NPC; and two measures for electing 14th NPC delegates from Hong Kong and Macao, respectively. We will cover the decision on 14th NPC elections in a forthcoming post that looks at how seats in the NPC are allocated to various electoral units and demographic groups. Below, we briefly summarize the other three pieces of legislation.

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2022 NPC Session: Agenda & Daily Schedule

The National People’s Congress (NPC) has released its 2022 Session’s agenda and daily schedule of meetings. The Session will open on the morning of Saturday, March 5 and close on the morning of Friday, March 11, lasting a total of six and a half days. All times below are in China Standard Time (UTC +8:00). If you are new to the NPC and its annual sessions, remember to check out this FAQ.

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Translations: New Legislation on Chengdu-Chongqing Financial Court & Military Ranks for PLA Soldiers

The 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) concluded its 33rd session on Monday, February 28 adopted two short decisions that, respectively, established a Chengdu-Chongqing Financial Court and codified a system of ranks for the active-duty soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Below we translated the decisions and offered some brief explanations.

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NPCSC Session Watch: NPC Preparations, Military Ranks, Chengdu-Chongqing Financial Court & Report on SPC Intellectual Property Tribunal

Skyline of Yuzhong District, Chongqing. By arthurw王.

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Friday, February 18 to convene the 33rd session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from February 27 to 28. The main purpose of this two-day meeting is to prepare for the upcoming NPC session, which is scheduled to open on March 5. The meeting will, for instance, propose an agenda for the NPC session and discuss the NPCSC’s annual work report to the NPC. The meeting will therefore review only two simple bills and one report. A brief rundown follows.

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NPCSC Enacts Legislation to Improve Plant Variety Protections, Curb Noise Pollution, Protect Wetlands & Strengthen Legislative Oversight of the Economy

Last Friday, December 24, the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) concluded its 32nd session and adopted eight bills. To give the new Anti–Organized Crime Law [反有组织犯罪法] the attention it deserves and to limit the length of this post, we will publish a separate summary of that Law, likely in January [It was published in December 2022. —Ed.]. The other seven bills are discussed below.

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NPCSC Session Watch: Women’s Rights, Trade Unions, Yellow River & Black Soil Protection, Emergency Management Reform & More (Updated)

UPDATE (Dec. 16, 2021): According to a spokesman for the NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission, the NPCSC will additionally review a draft revision to the Company Law [公司法] and a draft amendment to the NPCSC Rules of Procedure [全国人民代表大会常务委员会议事规则] at its December 2021 session.

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Monday, November 29 to convene the 32nd session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from December 20 to 24. The session’s tentative agenda includes fourteen bills. A quick rundown follows.

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NPCSC Adopts New Laws on Family Education and Land Borders, Amends Audit Law & Authorizes New Regulatory and Military Reforms

The 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) concluded its 31st session on Saturday, October 23, with the approval of six bills. We already wrote about and translated the decision authorizing the State Council to carry out pilot projects on a property tax in selected regions. Below, we will briefly summarize the other five bills.

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NPC Standing Committee Authorizes Property Tax Pilots (with Translation of the Authorization)

On Saturday, October 23, China took an important, albeit small, step toward enacting a nationwide “real estate tax” [房地产税], commonly called “property tax” (we will use these terms interchangeably below). The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) adopted a decision authorizing the State Council to carry out property tax pilots in selected, as yet unspecified, regions, for at least five years. Reflecting the ongoing intense debates within the party-state, the decision lacks essential details about the proposed new tax and the pilots, and instead grants the State Council broad authority to design them.

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NPCSC Session Watch: Antitrust, Telecom Fraud, Agriculture, Local Governance, Reform Pilots & More (Corrected)

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Tuesday, September 28 to convene the 31st session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from October 19 to 23. The session’s tentative agenda includes fourteen bills. A quick rundown follows.

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NPCSC Codifies Three-Child Policy, Expands Legal Aid & Updates Military Service Law and Physicians Law

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) concluded its 30th session on Friday, August 20, with the adoption of seven bills. The headline item was, of course, the new Personal Information Protection Law [个人信息保护法], China’s first comprehensive national data privacy legislation. We decided not to add to the already extensive global coverage of that Law—see, for instance, the excellent analysis by the Stanford DigiChina Project—but will focus on the other bills that are no less important.

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