Sessions

This page provides an overview of the sessions the NPC and its Standing Committee have held since March 2013. This page also archives our blogposts that covered those sessions since October 2016, listed reverse-chronologically at the end of this page. In the tables immediately below, the ordinal numbers denote the NPC Standing Committee’s regular sessions unless otherwise noted. You can click on each hyperlinked number to view a list of relevant blogposts. Sessions that we did not cover are not hyperlinked.

13^th NPC (2018–)

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
January		8th (special)	—
February		9th	16th
March	1st (NPC) 1st	2nd (NPC)	—
April	2nd	10th	17th
May	—	—	18th (special) 3rd (NPC)
June	3rd	11th
July	4th (special)	—
August	5th	12th
September	—	13th (special)
October	6th	14th
December	7th	15th

12^th NPC (2013–2018)

	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
January		—	—	—	—	32nd (special)
February		7th	13th	19th	26th	33rd (final)
March	1st (NPC) 1st	2th (NPC)	3rd (NPC)	4th (NPC)	5th (NPC)
April	2nd	8th	14th	20th	27th
June	3rd	9th	15th	21th	28th
August	4th	10th	16th	22nd	29th
September	—	—	—	23rd (special)	—
October	5th	11th	17th	24th	30th
December	6th	12th	18th	25th	31st

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2020

3^rd Session of the 13^th NPC↩

• NPC’s Imminent Decision on National Security in Hong Kong Explained
• Agenda and Daily Schedule
• A Guide to China’s Civil Code

17^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: COVID-19 Responses, Copyright, Armed Police Reform & Silence on 2020 NPC

16^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• China to Postpone Annual NPC Session and Restrict Wide Animals Trade & Consumption
• China Postpones 2020 NPC Session “As Appropriate” & Imposes Near-Total Ban on Consuming Wild Animals

2019

15^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Civil Code, Securities Law, Yangtze River Protection, Taiwanese Investments & Export Control
• NPCSC Abolishes “Custody & Education” Detention System, Revises Securities Law & Approves Community Corrections Law, Civil Litigation Reform Pilot

14^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Encryption, Civil Code, Biosecurity, Child Protection & State Supervision Commission Rulemaking
• NPCSC Passes Cryptography Law, Grants State Supervision Commission Rulemaking Power & Approves New Free Trade Zone Pilots

13^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• Law Explainer: China’s State Medals and State Honorary Titles

12^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Public Health Laws, Civil Code & Supervision Law Companion Statute
• NPCSC Revamps Drug Law, Overhauls Rural Land Expropriation Rules & Passes Resource Tax Law

11^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Marriage, Vaccine, Community Corrections, Encryption & Solid Waste
• NPCSC Grants Amnesty to Convicts to Mark 70th P.R.C. Founding Anniversary

10^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Securities Law Revision, Civil Code & Foreign Investment Law Implementation
• NPCSC Revises Judicial Personnel Laws, Amends Trademark and Unfair Competition Laws

2^nd Session of the 13^th NPC↩

• Agenda and Daily Schedule
• Summary of China’s New Foreign Investment Law
• Documents List

8^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Adds Special Session for Second Review of Foreign Investment Law

2018

7^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Foreign Investment, Patent, Resource Tax, Local Government Debt & More
• Recording & Review Pt. 4: The Last Days of “Custody & Education”
• NPCSC Takes No Further Action on Foreign Investment Law (for Now), Adopts Two Tax Laws & Codifies Civil Service Reform

6^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Anti-Corruption, Judicial Reform, Stock Buybacks, Drug Approval & Patent Litigation
• NPCSC Amends Criminal Procedure Law, Overhauls Judicial System Organic Laws, Loosens Stock Buyback Restrictions & Designates SPC as National IP Appeals Court

5^th Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Separate Parts of Civil Code, Tax Bills, Criminal Procedure, and More
• NPCSC Adopts E-Commerce Law, Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law & Amends Individual Income Tax Law

3^rd Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: E-Commerce Law, Judicial Reform & Militarized China Coast Guard
• NPCSC Defers Vote on E-Commerce Law, Grants Law Enforcement Powers to Military-Controlled Coast Guard

2^nd Session of the 13^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC Session Watch: Historical Nihilism Crackdown, People’s Assessor System Reform, State Council Reorganization & Shanghai Financial Court

1^st Session of the 13^th NPC↩

• Agenda and Daily Schedule (with Explanations)
• Schedule of Press Conferences
• Exclusive: Demographics of the 13^th NPC
• Translation: 2018 Amendment to the P.R.C. Constitution
• A Guide to 2018 State Council Institutional Reforms
• Documents List

33^rd Session of the 12^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC to Prepare for Upcoming NPC Session & Revise Oath-taking Provisions
• NPCSC Revises Oath-Taking Provisions, Releases List of 13th NPC Delegates & Extends IPO Reform

32^nd Session of the 12^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC to Convene Special Session to Consider Draft Constitutional Amendment

2017

31^st Session of the 12^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC to End 2017 with Blockbuster December Session
• NPCSC Passes Two Tax Laws and “Confirms” Constitutionality of Hong Kong-Mainland Joint Checkpoint Plan

30^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC↩

• NPCSC to Consider New Criminal Law Amendment, Apply National Anthem Law to SARs & Hear Judicial Reform Reports
• Explainer: National Anthem Law, New Criminal Law Amendment, and Their Implications for Hong Kong
• NPCSC Criminalized National Anthem Disrespect, Applied National Anthem Law to SARs & Authorized Nationwide Supervision System and Armed Police Reforms

29^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Pt. 1: NPCSC to Consider Revisions of Laws Organizing China’s Judicial System
• Pt. 2: NPCSC Passes New Laws, Institutes New National Legal Profession Qualification Exam

28^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Pt. 1: National Intelligence, Soil Pollution, National Anthem, and Others on Agenda—But No Sign of State Supervision (Yet)
• Pt. 2: NPCSC Passes New Intelligence Law, Amends Clean Water Law, and Empowers Procuratorates to File Public Interest Lawsuits

27^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Pt. 1: NPCSC to Consider Securities Law Revision, Renew People’s Assessor System Reform
• Pt. 2: NPCSC Concludes Session with New Laws, Decisions

5^th Session of the 12^th NPC ↩

• Agenda and Daily Schedule
• Schedule of Press Conferences
• Press Conference Provides First Look at NPCSC’s Tasks in 2017
• Schoolchildren, Heroes, Good Samaritans & Draft Civil Law
• Legislations, Reports, Resolutions & More
• More Women, Fewer Cadres: A Preview of Next NPC’s Composition

26^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Pt. 1: NPCSC to Review Draft Revisions to Enterprise Income Tax Law and Anti-Unfair Competition Law
• Pt. 2: A Closer Look at the Three Bills Under Review

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2016

25^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Pt. 1: NPCSC to Consider E-Commerce Law and Several Reform Authorizations
• Pt. 2: NPCSC Reviewing a Draft National Intelligence Law—in Secrecy
• Pt. 3: NPCSC Passes New Laws and Reform Authorizations
• Pt. 4: More Information on the State Supervision System Reform

24^th Session of the 12^th NPCSC ↩

• Session Watch: The 24th Session of the 12th NPCSC
• Pt. 2: China Set to Pass New Cybersecurity Law
• Pt. 3: NPCSC to Interpret the HKSAR Basic Law—Again?
• Quick Note
• One Year on: Reform Pilots on Procuratorates Initiating Public Interest Litigation