It is rare for a bill to “die” in the Chinese legislature. It is rarer for two bills introduced at the same time to later meet that fate together. Recently, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) disclosed in its official publication, the NPCSC Gazette, that it decided to “terminate deliberations” [终止审议] on two bills that it reviewed in June 2022: a draft Compulsory Civil Enforcement Law [民事强制执行法] and a draft decision authorizing to the State Council to pilot certain reforms of rural residential land. In other words, the two bills in their current form have been shelved indefinitely. This post recounts the history of the deliberation-termination procedure and discusses the two bills at issue.
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