NPCSC Revamps Drug Law, Overhauls Rural Land Expropriation Rules & Passes Resource Tax Law

The 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) concluded its twelfth session on Monday with the adoption of three legislative bills: a revised Drug Administration Law [药品管理法], an amendment to the Land Management Law [土地管理法], and a new Resource Tax Law [资源税法]. Below we take a look at each.

Continue reading “NPCSC Revamps Drug Law, Overhauls Rural Land Expropriation Rules & Passes Resource Tax Law”

NPCSC Session Watch: Public Health Laws, Civil Code & Supervision Law Companion Statute

The Council of Chairpersons decided on Thursday (August 15) to convene the 12th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) from August 22 to 26. Per the Council’s recommendation, the session will consider seven legislative bills. A quick rundown follows.

Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Public Health Laws, Civil Code & Supervision Law Companion Statute”

NPCSC Solicits Public Comments on Draft Community Corrections Law, Encryption Law, Two Civil Code Parts & Three Other Bills (UPDATED)

UPDATE (July 5, 2019): The NPC Standing Committee today officially started the public consultation. We have updated the deadlines for comments.

UPDATE (July 4, 2019): The comments period has not officially started. We will update the deadline below once the NPC Standing Committee makes an official announcement to solicit public comments on the following bills. In the interim, the drafts will not be accessible on the NPC’s website.


The NPC Standing Committee is soliciting public comments on the following seven bills through August 3, 2019 (except that the comments period for the draft Encryption Law ends on September 2, 2019):

All linked files are PDF documents in Chinese. English translations will be linked to if and when available. The accompanying explanations of these drafts can be read here (PDF).

Continue reading “NPCSC Solicits Public Comments on Draft Community Corrections Law, Encryption Law, Two Civil Code Parts & Three Other Bills (UPDATED)”

NPCSC Session Watch: Marriage, Vaccine, Community Corrections, Encryption & Solid Waste (UPDATED)

UPDATE (June 27, 2019): The agenda of this month’s NPCSC session shows that the legislature is reviewing a draft decision that would grant special amnesty [特赦] to some prisoners ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic this October. State media has not reported on the details of the amnesty; we thus do not know which prisoners would be eligible or how many prisoners are estimated to be released. We do expect the decision to pass this Saturday and be released on the same day.


The Council of Chairpersons decided on Monday (June 17) to convene the 11th session of the 13th NPC Standing (NPCSC) from June 25 to 29. Per the Council’s recommendation, the session will consider eight legislative bills. A quick rundown follows.

Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Marriage, Vaccine, Community Corrections, Encryption & Solid Waste (UPDATED)”

NPCSC Seeks Public Comments on Draft Patent Law Amendment, Two Civil Code Parts, Vaccine Administration Law & Four Other Bills (UPDATED)

UPDATE (Jan. 27, 2019): For a summary of and comments on the key provisions of the draft Judges Law revision, please refer to this post on the Supreme People’s Court Monitor.


The NPC Standing Committee is soliciting public comments on the following eight bills through February 3, 2019:

All linked files are PDF documents in Chinese. English translations will be linked to if and when available. The accompanying explanations of these drafts can be read here (PDF).

Continue reading “NPCSC Seeks Public Comments on Draft Patent Law Amendment, Two Civil Code Parts, Vaccine Administration Law & Four Other Bills (UPDATED)”

NPCSC Session Watch: Foreign Investment, Patent, Resource Tax, Local Government Debt & More

The 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) will convene for its last session in 2018 from December 23 to 29, the Council of Chairmen decided on Friday. This session is another of those end-of-year, week-long NPCSC sessions that we have come to love (and definitely not hate). We counted 14 legislative bills plus several more decisions and reports on the agenda. And there is absolutely no festivity-related reason why we would rather not work around that period. Because we expect six of those bills to pass on December 29, we will publish summaries of them after the session concludes rather than in this session preview. Here is our rundown on the agenda.

Continue reading “NPCSC Session Watch: Foreign Investment, Patent, Resource Tax, Local Government Debt & More”

NPC Calendar: August 2018

August 1 is the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Anti-Monopoly Law (反垄断法).

The 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) is expected to convene for its fifth session later this month. The Council of Chairmen is expected to meet in mid-August to decide on the dates and agenda of the session.

The following draft laws have been tentatively scheduled for this upcoming session according to the NPCSC’s 2018 legislative plan:

It is possible that the draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law (刑事诉讼法) would be submitted for another round of deliberation as well.

Continue reading “NPC Calendar: August 2018”

NPC Standing Committee Releases 2018 Legislative Plan

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Friday released its annual legislative plan for 2018. As usual, the plan is divided into two sections—the first listing specific legislative projects slated for discussion at the NPCSC’s remaining five sessions in 2018, and second setting forth general guiding principles for its legislative work this year. We will discuss only the first part in this post.

Continue reading “NPC Standing Committee Releases 2018 Legislative Plan”