Report on the Work of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (2022)

Fellow Deputies,

On behalf of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), I now present this report on its work for your deliberation.

The Year in Review
The year 2021 was a milestone in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and our country. The Party celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding and convened the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee, at which the Party's major achievements and historical experience over the past century were reviewed and its third historical resolution was adopted. Having won the critical battle against poverty on schedule, the Party officially declared success in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving the First Centenary Goal, and it embarked on the new journey to build China into a modern socialist nation in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal.

With great historical initiative, tremendous political courage, and a strong sense of responsibility, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core responded calmly to changes and a pandemic of a magnitude not seen in a century and achieved new major progress in advancing all areas of the Party and country's endeavors. This further demonstrated the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the boundless might amassed by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people under the Party's leadership, and the great strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it fills us with greater confidence and resolve as we forge ahead on the new journey and make greater contributions in the new era.

2021 was also a year of particular importance in the history of the people's congress system. The Party Central Committee held the first-ever Central People's Congress Work Conference, where General Secretary Xi Jinping gave an important speech, providing profound answers to a number of major theoretical and practical issues concerning the development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics and the preservation and improvement of the people's congress system in the new era. He described the system of people's congresses as one of the Party's major institutional achievements of the past century, offered a systematic explanation of the important concept of whole-process people's democracy, and put forward the guiding thought, major principles, and main tasks for enhancing and improving the work of people's congresses. The Party Central Committee then issued the Guidelines on Upholding and Improving the People's Congress System and Enhancing and Improving the Work of People's Congresses in the New Era. The Party Central Committee's major plans and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech pointed the way forward and provided us with fundamental guidance for carrying out the work of people's congresses in the new era.

Over the past year, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the NPC Standing Committee remained closely aligned with the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans, the people's aspirations for a better life, and the need to modernize China's system and capacity for governance. We performed our duties in accordance with the law and fulfilled our responsibilities as we embarked on a new journey to develop China into a modern socialist nation in all respects. Our main work of the past year was as follows.

First, we further improved laws relating to the Constitution and safeguarded its supreme legal status, authority, and force.

The Constitution carries within it our Party's major achievements and historical experience from the past century, and it bears the great dream of over 1.4 billion Chinese people to realize national rejuvenation. For the Standing Committee, ensuring the full implementation of the Constitution is both a legal duty and an honorable mission.

''The implementation of the Constitution demands continuous improvement and development of relevant laws. ''

We enacted the Supervisory Officers Law in order to strengthen Party leadership over supervisory work, advance the reform of the national supervision system, and train high-caliber, professional supervisory officers.

To improve the system for electing deputies from the armed forces to people's congresses, we revised the Measures for Election of Deputies from the Chinese People's Liberation Army to the NPC and Local People's Congresses at or above the County Level. We formulated and deliberated a draft decision on the number of deputies to the 14th NPC and on issues related to their election.

We began revising the NPC Standing Committee Rules of Procedure in order to improve its meeting system and working procedures. The draft amendments have passed our first review.

We drafted and conducted two rounds of deliberation on amendments to the Organic Law of Local People's Congresses at All Levels and Local People's Governments at All Levels, which have been submitted to this session for further deliberation. The joint efforts of all present deputies will ensure the successful revision of this law, which will provide legal support for local people's congresses and governments to better perform their duties.

''We strengthened constitutional order and the rule of law in the special administrative regions based on China's constitution and their basic laws to better ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction there and that the two regions enjoy a high degree of autonomy. ''

In accordance with the relevant decision adopted at the fourth session of the 13th NPC, we exercised the legislative power conferred by the NPC to revise and improve Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), respectively titled Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR and Its Voting Procedures, imbuing them with the principle that Hong Kong should be administered by patriots.

By restructuring the HKSAR Election Committee and empowering it with new functions, and by establishing a sound system for reviewing the qualifications of election candidates, we saw the formation of a democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's legal status and realities. The new electoral system ensures that Hong Kong is administered by patriots. It provides fundamental political and institutional safeguards for good governance of Hong Kong that is based on China's constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law and that ensures genuine implementation of the policy of One Country, Two Systems. And it has initiated a new phase of our support for long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and for Hong Kong's integration into China's overall development.

We formulated and deliberated two draft methods for the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to elect deputies to the 14th NPC, which have been submitted to this session for deliberation.

''As stipulated in the Constitution, we exercised our authority to interpret the Constitution and oversee its implementation. ''

We reviewed and studied issues of constitutionality in the process of revising the Population and Family Planning Law, the Audit Law, and other laws, explained the substance and spirit of the constitutional system, and actively responded to public concerns.

Over the last year, in accordance with the law, we took the initiative to review16 administrative regulations, 1 supervisory regulation, 1,467 local regulations, 87 autonomous regulations and separate regulations, 40 special economic zone regulations, 251 judicial interpretations, 42 laws of the HKSAR, and 17 laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region. We studied and processed 6,339 recommendations for review from citizens and organizations, and we reviewed and studied 141 recommendations for review referred to us by relevant departments. We overhauled regulations, rules, and other regulatory documents concerning Yangtze River protection, administrative penalties, and population and family planning, and we conducted targeted reviews in priority areas. In total, we pushed relevant enacting bodies and organs of justice to amend or overturn 1,069 regulations and judicial interpretations.

We carried out research projects on local legislation in cities with subsidiary districts. We encouraged the standing committees of local people's congresses in cities with subsidiary districts and in autonomous prefectures to set up systems for hearing and deliberating reports on the work of recording and review. We supported certain provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government to build databases for their regulations, rules, and other regulatory documents.

In order to conduct more effective oversight of the implementation of the Constitution and the law, we formulated rules for coordinating recording and review work, revised relevant working procedures, and established a committee of relevant experts. In accordance with the principle that all documents that are subject to recording be put on record, that all recorded documents be reviewed, and that all errors identified be corrected, we rectified constitutional and statutory violations and maintained the uniformity of China's legal system.

''We continued to promote public awareness and education about the Constitution. ''

We implemented a system of pledging allegiance to the Constitution and organized five oath of office ceremonies for 22 officials who were appointed or whose nominations were approved by the Standing Committee, thus raising awareness among public servants of the Constitution and the principles set forth therein.

We held a symposium for the eighth National Constitution Day with the theme of ensuring full implementation of the Constitution and developing whole-process people's democracy, in an effort to boost society-wide understanding of the characteristics, essence, and efficacy of China's constitution.

Second, prioritizing the overall work of the Party and the country, we moved faster to formulate and revise laws to provide legal safeguards for building a modern socialist nation in all respects.

To accomplish the challenging mission of building China into a modern socialist nation in all respects, many different areas require high-standard legislation. Adhering to the principle of sound, democratic, and law-based legislation, and maintaining quality standards, the Standing Committee picked up the pace of its legislative work.

''Standing grounded in the new development stage, applying the new development philosophy, creating a new pattern of development, and promoting high-quality development through high-quality legislation: these are the ways in which the NPC focuses on the central task of economic development and serves the overall interests of the country. ''

We formulated the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law, revised the Seed Law, and drafted and conducted an initial review of revisions to the Animal Husbandry Law to improve the systems, measures, and mechanisms for rural revitalization and to strengthen intellectual property protection in the seed industry.

We revised the Scientific and Technological Progress Law to elevate the strategic importance of scientific and technological innovation, improve the national innovation system, and build up self-reliance in science and technology.

To support and guide the healthy development of capital, we conducted an initial review of draft amendments to the Anti-Monopoly Law, and we drafted a law on futures and derivatives and reviewed it twice. We drafted and conducted a first review of revisions to the Company Law, making substantive additions of and revisions to about 70 articles.

We formulated the Stamp Tax Law, appropriately simplifying the list of taxable items and cutting rates. This means we have now formulated laws on 12 out of the current 18 tax categories. We passed draft amendments to the Audit Law after two reviews, strengthening methods for audit oversight and establishing an audit oversight system in accordance with the law.

In coordination with the reform for separating operating permits from business licenses and the effort to improve the business environment, we revised the Road Traffic Safety Law, the Fire Prevention and Control Law, the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law, the Advertising Law, the Grassland Law, the Civil Aviation Law, the Customs Law, and the Food Safety Law.

In line with the requirements to deepen reform across the board and pursue high-standard opening up, we formulated the Hainan Free Trade Port Law. We also made four decisions which provided a legal basis for national development and major reforms: authorizing the State Council to temporarily adjust the application of certain laws in pilot free trade zones; authorizing the State Council to temporarily adjust the application of certain provisions of the Metrology Law in pilot cities for business environment innovation; authorizing the State Council to launch reform trials for property tax in certain regions; and authorizing the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and its standing committee to formulate regulations for Pudong New Area.

''The law is the institutional bedrock upon which national security is built. Adopting a holistic approach to national security and accelerating the establishment of a legal system supporting national security constitute an important part of the legislative work of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC. ''

We formulated the Data Security Law to enhance China's capacity to ensure data security. We drafted, reviewed, and adopted the Land Border Law to regulate the demarcation, surveying, defense, management, and development of land borders in accordance with the law. We revised the Maritime Traffic Safety Law.

We formulated the Law on Countering Foreign Sanctions to improve the legal system for opposing foreign sanctions, interference, and long-arm jurisdiction. According to this law, in order to resolutely defend China's sovereignty, security, and development interests and resolutely safeguard the lawful rights and interests of its citizens and organizations, China has the right to take proportional countermeasures in response to any country's acts of any form or under any pretense that interfere in China's internal affairs or harm its national interests or the interests of its citizens and organizations.

To implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the armed forces, we formulated the Law on the Protection of the Status, Rights, and Interests of Servicepersons, revised the Military Service Law and the Military Facilities Protection Law, and made a decision on temporarily adjusting the application of certain laws during the reform of the national defense mobilization system and a decision on the rank system for active-duty enlisted service members in the People's Liberation Army. We thus used the legal system to ensure that targets for military development are met.

''We accelerated legislation on ecological conservation, setting a legal red line for protecting natural resources and the environment. ''

We formulated the Wetlands Protection Law to strengthen wetland protection and restoration and to protect biodiversity.

Targeting the issue of noise pollution, which was widespread and of great public concern, we formulated the Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Law to create a more peaceful and harmonious environment for the people.

We held a symposium on legislation for the protection of the Yellow River. While remaining committed to the principle of concerted protection and coordinated remediation, we got involved early and accelerated the legislation process, which has resulted in a draft Yellow River protection law already having undergone an initial review.

After in-depth research and discussions, we drew up and conducted a first review of a draft law on black soil conservation in an effort to provide legal protection for this precious resource.

We guided the provincial people's congresses of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan in jointly launching legislation on conservation of the Chishui River basin, and we guided the Hebei Provincial People's Congress to do the same for Lake Baiyangdian, with the aim of promoting comprehensive, systematic, and law-based conservation.

We acted swiftly to fill gaps in legislation on public wellbeing in order to realize the people's aspirations for a better life.

We advanced our work on the enactment and revision of laws to provide stronger legal safeguards for public health. We formulated the Physicians Law and conducted an initial review of a draft law on emergency response and management.

Addressing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, we revised the Education Law, formulated the Family Education Promotion Law, and conducted two reviews of draft revisions to the Vocational Education Law to drive modernization in the education sector and to promote the well-rounded, healthy growth of minors.

We formulated the Personal Information Protection Law and drafted and conducted an initial review of a law on telecom and online fraud to safeguard citizens' lawful rights and interests online and to address telecom and online fraud, which has become an issue of great public concern.

We drafted and conducted an initial review of revisions to the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, carried out in-depth research into pronounced issues concerning the protection of women's rights and interests, and improved relevant provisions in areas such as preventive protection, handling of infringements, assistance measures, and accountability.

We formulated the Law on Food Waste and the Legal Aid Law, revised the Population and Family Planning Law, the Workplace Safety Law, and the Trade Union Law, conducted a first review of draft revisions to the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Law, and drafted and conducted an initial review of revisions to the Physical Culture and Sports Law.

We improved criminal and procedural laws and affirmed achievements in reform of the judicial system.

Putting equal emphasis on prevention and punishment, we formulated the Anti-Organized Crime Law and promoted regular, institutionalized, and lawful action to fight organized crime and root out criminal gangs.

When the reform trials we had authorized for improving civil litigation procedures were about to expire, we performed a comprehensive review and then revised the Civil Procedure Law accordingly to consolidate reform achievements. This led to the improvement of the judicial confirmation process, small claims litigation procedures, and simplified procedures and enhanced judicial efficiency and impartiality. We made a decision to authorize the Supreme People's Court to launch reform trials for defining the respective adjudicative functions of the four levels of courts. We made a decision on establishing the Chengdu-Chongqing Financial Court to foster a law-based, healthy financial environment.

Over the past year, we formulated 17 laws, revised 22 laws, and made 10 decisions on legal issues and major issues, and we are currently reviewing 19 legislative proposals. We ratified 6 bilateral treaties and international conventions. With these timely efforts, we improved China's socialist legal system in step with the times, we responded to the new development requirements of the Party and the country in the new era, and we translated the Party's propositions into the will of the state and the collective action of the people.

Third, we exercised more stringent and effective oversight of the lawful performance of the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to ensure the full implementation of the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans.

An important principle of the people's congress system and a basic requirement of its institutional design is that the power of all state organs and their staff must be subject to oversight and constraints. Last year, we diligently performed our constitutionally and legally prescribed oversight duties and employed various statutory oversight methods to help solve prominent issues impeding China's economic and social development. Our oversight ensured that laws and regulations were effectively implemented, that all state organs performed their duties and carried out their work within the scope prescribed by the Constitution and the law, and that administrative, supervisory, adjudicatory, and procuratorial powers were properly exercised in accordance with the law.

Committed to exercising appropriate, effective, and law-based oversight, we heard and deliberated 31 reports, carried out inspections on the implementation of 6 laws, conducted 2 special inquiries, launched 7 research projects, and adopted 1 resolution.

The NPC special committees and the Standing Committee working bodies are responsible for the organization and execution of specific oversight work. Last year they performed their legal duties and fully played their roles in carrying out oversight projects determined by the Standing Committee, most notably including 12 work reports and 7 research projects. Their work facilitated the implementation of the major strategies, tasks, and initiatives of the Party and the country.

Regarding the economy, we heard and deliberated a report on the implementation of the 2021 plan for national economic and social development adopted by the fourth session of the 13th NPC, provided regular analysis of economic trends, and monitored the state of the economy, so that the plan could come to full fruition.

We heard and deliberated a report on accelerating the development of a new system for agricultural operations and on encouraging small rural households to become involved in modern agriculture. We heard and deliberated a report on building a modern comprehensive transportation system and launched a relevant inquiry.

We conducted research into strengthening germplasm resource conservation and innovation in plant breeding and into leveraging the key role of overseas Chinese in the joint pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Regarding ecological conservation and environmental protection, we heard and deliberated the State Council's report on the state of the environment in 2020, progress on environmental protection targets for the year, and its handling of our inspection report and relevant recommendations on the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution.

We heard and deliberated reports on environmental protection in the Yangtze River basin and on ecological conservation in Xiongan New Area and at Lake Baiyangdian. We also conducted research on the development of the national park-based nature reserve system.

Regarding social affairs, we heard and deliberated reports on teacher training and the implementation of the Teachers Law and on preservation of cultural heritage and implementation of the Cultural Relics Protection Law.

We launched a research project on efforts to promote economic and social development for ethnic groups with smaller populations. We conducted studies on strengthening the rule of law in ethnic affairs and continued advancing law-based administration of ethnic affairs.

In our examination and oversight of budgets and final accounts, we worked diligently to ensure compliance with the requirements to implement proactive fiscal policy, cut taxes and fees, support technological innovation, and practice fiscal frugality.

We heard and deliberated a report on the central final accounts for 2020, which we approved after reviewing. In this process, we put more emphasis on performance and expanded the scope of performance-based evaluations of key programs, involving funds totaling 1.7 trillion yuan.

We heard and deliberated a report on budget execution, and we exercised follow-up oversight of the direct provision and use of 2.8 trillion yuan in central government funds.

We heard and deliberated an audit report on central budget execution and other fiscal revenues and expenditures for 2020 and a report on the rectification of problems discovered through that audit. In monitoring the execution of fiscal and tax policies to ensure their effective implementation, we oversaw relevant government departments' investigations into and handling of issues like irregularities in tax rebates, indiscriminate government borrowing, and misappropriation of environmental protection funds.

With further progress in developing an online budget oversight system, we achieved preliminary success in coordinating work and sharing data between different departments at different levels. We also made headway in establishing local liaison offices for our Budgetary Affairs Commission.

''Since the beginning of the current NPC's term, the Party Central Committee has entrusted it with new responsibilities and requirements to carry out reform for expanding the focus of budgetary examination and oversight and to conduct oversight of state-owned asset management. ''

Last year we heard and deliberated a report on the allocation and use of government funds for transportation, carried out research on the management and reform of government subsidies, and advanced the implementation of policies supporting scientific and technological innovation, environmental protection, social security, healthcare, and rural revitalization. In these endeavors, we ensured that fiscal expenditures prioritized the execution of major decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee.

For the fourth consecutive year, we deliberated the annual comprehensive report and a special report on the management of state-owned assets. We moved faster to advance online oversight of state-owned assets. We formulated guidelines on setting up a system of standards for NPC oversight and evaluation of state-owned natural resource asset management; we heard and deliberated the first-ever special report on state-owned natural resource asset management; and we encouraged the State Council to establish a rough inventory of 11 major categories of such assets that belong to the whole people. We now exercise oversight over the management of all four classes of state-owned assets: assets held by non-financial enterprises, assets held by financial enterprises, assets held by government offices and public institutions, and natural resource assets. Our oversight has had the effect of preventing damage to state-owned natural resources and losses of state-owned assets.

For the first time, the audit office of the State Council submitted a special report to the Standing Committee on an audit of state-owned assets. We revised our decisions to strengthen examination and oversight of central budgets and to strengthen oversight over economic work in an effort to establish long-term mechanisms.

In order to effectively guard against and mitigate local government debt risks, we pushed for the issuance and implementation of Party Central Committee guidelines for strengthening the examination and oversight of government debt by local people's congresses.

We intensified oversight of the implementation of the law.

In compliance with our statutory duties, acting within our statutory scope of authority, and following statutory procedures, we conducted inspections into the implementation of laws on an article-by-article basis.

We inspected the implementation of six laws: the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Law, the Animal Husbandry Law, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, the Notarization Law, and the Fire Prevention and Control Law. A total of 23 inspection teams led by members of the Council of Chairpersons were sent to provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government across the country, with attendance of members of the Standing Committee and various special committees reaching 133 and attendance of NPC deputies reaching 66. These inspections resulted in six reports, which have been heard and deliberated by the Standing Committee.

When inspecting the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, we organized the first-ever research project for NPC deputies, with participation by 240 deputies from 13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. We conducted a special inquiry based on joint group deliberations of the inspection report so as to ensure an accurate evaluation of the Law's implementation status. Coordinating our inspections with efforts to raise public legal awareness, we launched a quiz about the Law on an online learning platform, attracting approximately 32 million participants and helping to ensure the Law's full and effective implementation.

When inspecting the implementation of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, we made full use of legal assessment tools and big data analysis. Combined with scrutiny of related laws, these methods provided good reference for better implementation and revision of the Law in the future.

''We stepped up oversight of supervisory and judicial work to safeguard social fairness and justice. ''

We conducted research on the progress of efforts to extend supervisory oversight over all public employees, with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness of supervisory oversight.

We heard and deliberated reports from the Supreme People's Court on adjudication involving intellectual property rights and on its implementation of the Standing Committee decision on issues regarding litigation procedures for cases involving patents and other intellectual property rights, as well as a report from the Supreme People's Procuratorate on handling lawsuits and appeals.

We also heard and deliberated a report on the implementation of the resolution on the seventh five-year initiative to raise public awareness of the rule of law, and we adopted a resolution to launch the eighth five-year initiative. In doing so, we provided a strong foundation for accomplishing the goals laid out in the Outline for Building a Law-Based Society (2020–2025), including those to complete work on the eighth five-year initiative and to have the people fully embrace the rule of law by 2025.

Fourth, we provided support and safeguards for deputies to carry out their duties in accordance with the law and made sure that the idea of the people as masters of the country was reflected in how our deputies played their roles.

Deputies to people's congresses are members of organs of state power, and they participate in the exercise of state power on behalf of the people, thus playing an important role in developing whole-process people's democracy. Complying with the principles underpinning our work related to deputies, we further improved our performance and enhanced deputies' ties with state organs and the general public to help them serve as the bridge that links the Party and the country with the people.

Submitting proposals and suggestions is an important way for deputies to exercise their rights and perform their duties in accordance with the law.

All 473 proposals deputies put forward during the fourth session of the 13th NPC were reviewed by special committees. Among these, 30 legislative projects addressed in 90 proposals were reviewed and adopted or are currently under review, and 68 legislative projects addressed in 176 proposals have been included in our five-year or annual legislative plan. All 8,993 suggestions submitted by deputies during that session were forwarded to 194 organizations for examination and handling, which has now been completed. The 265 suggestions that were raised when the NPC was not in session were handed over to 98 organizations for examination and handling. These organizations have reported back to deputies on how each of their suggestions has been handled. As a result, a number of practical issues have been solved. Approximately 97.93 percent of deputies reported being satisfied or basically satisfied with how their suggestions were handled.

We strengthened our ties with deputies and grounded our work in the will of the people.

Among the members of the Standing Committee, 156 maintain direct contact with 439 deputies working at the primary level. NPC special committees and Standing Committee working bodies have also put in place mechanisms for staying in contact with deputies.

We sent more than 150 invitations to deputies to attend Standing Committee meetings in a nonvoting capacity and to join follow-up deputy discussions, and we promptly handled all 78 of their opinions and suggestions from the follow-up discussions, offering individualized feedback for each.

Deputies were invited to attend various Standing Committee activities, such as legislative research, drafting, debates, and assessments, with total attendance exceeding 200. For drafts of important laws concerning the immediate interests of the general public such as the Wetlands Protection Law and the Physical Culture and Sports Law, we solicited advice from deputies with backgrounds in relevant sectors.

There were over 300 instances of deputies participating in the work of the Standing Committee, including inspections into the implementation of laws, research projects, plan and budget examination and oversight, state-owned asset management oversight, and international exchanges.

We worked actively to support deputies in carrying out their activities.

Deputy attendance of inspection tours and research projects surpassed 1,600, leading to the compilation of over 100 reports. A total of 473 deputies participated in inspections and discussions organized by the State Council and its departments; 471 attended court trials or participated in meetings, forums, inspections, and research activities organized by the Supreme People's Court; and 465 took part in inspections and meetings organized by procuratorial bodies.

We arranged for Hong Kong deputies to the NPC to remotely inspect economic and social development and ethnic solidarity in Xinjiang via video. We also arranged for NPC deputies from Macao to travel to Hainan province to conduct research on the development of the free trade port there.

Some NPC deputies from provinces and municipalities including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui carried out joint field research and inspections on issues such as the enforcement and supervision of the Yangtze River basin fishing ban.

''We helped deputies improve their ability to perform duties. ''

We arranged for NPC deputies to study the history of the CPC, the People's Republic of China, reform and opening up, and the development of socialism, and we arranged for them to attend celebrations of the Party's centenary in-person or tune in via video. We also arranged visits to revolutionary sites for deputies from Hong Kong and Macao to strengthen their love for the Party, the country, and socialism. We built an online NPC deputy work platform. We held six online and offline special study sessions with a total deputy attendance of 5,824.

In performing their duties, our deputies faithfully represented the interests and will of the people, showed a strong sense of commitment to the people as their elected representatives, and reflected public opinion in their proposals and suggestions. This proved that China's socialist democracy not only has a complete set of institutions and procedures, but it also has full-fledged civil participation, and it is a whole-process people's democracy to the broadest extent, of the truest nature, and to the greatest effect possible.

In line with the overall arrangements of the Party Central Committee and in accordance with the newly-revised Electoral Law, we stepped up guidance on elections of people's congresses at the county and township levels to ensure their success. At present, elections for new people's congresses at the county and township levels have been largely completed across the country, and over two million deputies have been directly elected by more than one billion voters.

Fifth, focusing closely on China's overall diplomatic objectives and tasks, we advanced the NPC's international exchanges.

Under the guidance of Xi Jinping's thinking on diplomacy, we adopted more forms of international exchange. We organized 127 bilateral video events, attended 75 international conferences via video, made 21 diplomatic phone calls, launched 35 offline foreign affairs events, and exchanged nearly 800 diplomatic letters.

''To implement diplomatic consensus between heads of state, we actively carried out high-level exchanges and deepened bilateral exchanges between legislatures. ''

We held the seventh meeting of the China-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the first cooperation meeting between local-level Chinese and Russian legislative bodies, and we carried out exchanges with relevant committees of the Federal Assembly of Russia and with young Russian parliamentarians. These activities helped to boost high-level development of China-Russia relations in the new era.

We held online and offline exchanges with parliaments of 63 countries and exchanged letters with foreign parliaments through 132 friendship groups in the hope of winning support for China's stances on certain major issues, enhancing political trust, and promoting practical cooperation. In response to questions related to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, territorial waters, Covid-19, and human rights, we made clear China's position and stood firm against all forms of encirclement, suppression, disruption, and subversion, determined to fight to the end against any attempt to subvert the leadership of the Communist Party of China or our country's socialist system or to hinder or obstruct China's advance toward national rejuvenation.

''We took an active part in multilateral parliamentary events and worked to produce more multilateral outcomes that reflect Chinese characteristics and approaches. ''

We attended the fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the fourth Speakers Conference of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, the seventh G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit, the parliamentary leaders meeting on the role of parliamentarians in strengthening international peace and trust, the Collective Security Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly, the BRICS Parliamentary Forum, the assemblies of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and related meetings, the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and an online meeting of leaders of friendship organizations of China and Arab states. We also held three regional seminars for parliaments of Central Asian and African countries, building on and developing our friendship and cooperation with them.

On these occasions, we took the initiative to make China's voice heard and worked toward the inclusion of China's major ideas and initiatives, such as a people-centered approach, a human community with a shared future, the Global Development Initiative, the joint pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative, a global health community, solidarity against Covid-19, and sustainable development, in conference outcome documents. We stood firm in protecting China's national interests and preserving a fair and just international order.

Parliaments, parliamentary leaders, and parliamentarians of many countries highly commended China's contributions, commitments, and actions in the global anti-Covid effort and supported China's stance of respecting science and working together to fight the pandemic.

We strengthened our international communications and outreach.

At bilateral and multilateral diplomatic events, we actively promoted understanding of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, held in-depth exchanges on governance experience, and shared with the world the Party's major achievements and historical experience over the past century.

Through the spokespeople of the Standing Committee, the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, we stood up in legal conflicts by clarifying facts, refuting rumors, and explaining legal issues.

Through the work of the people's congress system, we vividly demonstrated the idea of whole-process people's democracy. Over 30 NPC deputies from the primary level participated in our foreign affairs activities, sharing their stories of participating in the exercise of state power and serving public interests and presenting an accurate, three-dimensional picture of China's path, system, and achievements.

Sixth, we advanced whole-process people's democracy and intensified self-improvement efforts in line with our fundamental identity.

By maintaining political resolve, respecting the rule of law, promoting democracy, serving the people, and functioning with high efficiency, we worked hard to improve the quality of our work. We worked to build the NPC and its Standing Committee into political institutions that consciously uphold the Party's leadership, institutions of state power that ensure the running of the country by the people, working institutions that assume functions conferred in the Constitution and the law, and representative institutions that always maintain close ties with the people.

''We enhanced theoretical competence. ''

We thoroughly studied, understood, and put into action Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which is guiding thought for the Party and the country, to ensure that the work of the NPC moves forward in the right direction.

Giving play to the role of the leading Party members' group of the Standing Committee in providing political leadership, we organized 17 group meetings, held group study sessions, and hosted Standing Committee lectures, promptly communicating, studying, and implementing the Party's new theories and the Party Central Committee's major decisions and plans.

We carried out activities to study the history of the CPC and studied and implemented the guiding principles from the sixth plenary session of the 19th Party Central Committee, drawing wisdom and strength from the Party's past century of history.

We studied and implemented the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, putting a special study session on the Standing Committee meeting agenda, and we held the fourth seminar on studying and applying General Secretary Xi Jinping's key ideas on upholding and improving the people's congress system.

To fully strengthen Party organizations in special committees, we put in place a system under which the leading Party members' group of the Standing Committee regularly hears briefings on Party building from the branch groups in special committees.

We advanced whole-process people's democracy in every aspect and throughout the entire process of our legislative, oversight, and deputy-related work.

We improved the NPC's democratic platforms and vehicles through which the general public can express opinions, refined working mechanisms for soliciting public comments and collecting ideas from the people, and advanced consultation through people's congresses and on legislative issues, in an effort to protect the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people by taking into account all aspects of social conditions and public sentiment.

We have established 22 local legislative outreach offices (adding 12 last year), which now cover two thirds of China's provinces. This has inspired standing committees of provincial and municipal people's congresses to establish more than 4,700 legislative outreach offices of their own. On the NPC website, we added links to the system for soliciting public comments on draft laws and to the platform for receiving and processing recommendations for regulation review. Public comments were solicited through the NPC website on 34 draft laws, and we received 475,245 opinions from 108,221 visits.

There are a total of over 220,000 liaison and outreach offices for deputies to people's congresses around the country. These serve as an effective channel for NPC deputies to perform their duties close to home.

We improved the NPC's mechanisms for handling letters and visits from the public by making better use of relevant platforms and data at various levels. We received a total of 105,956 letters and visits, including 12,207 through the online platform.

We improved our operational systems and working mechanisms.

We improved the procedures and mechanisms for legislative work led by the NPC. Among the 68 draft laws and decisions deliberated by the Standing Committee, drafting work on half was led by relevant special committees and working bodies. With regard to draft laws that were prepared by other departments or organizations, the NPC was involved in the early stages of their formulation and provided effective organization and coordination, as well as quality assurance support through its deliberations.

We introduced guidelines on issues such as strengthening research for legislative work and better soliciting opinions on draft laws from relevant departments and local organizations. We formulated measures for Standing Committee inspections of implementation of the law, adopting new methods of legal assessment, big data analysis, and analysis of relevant laws and standardizing the inspection process. We issued guidelines on improving the preliminary work process for hearing and deliberating work reports on specific issues and on better applying special committees' research results. We improved the mechanisms for handling deputies' proposals and suggestions by strengthening comprehensive analysis and follow-up supervision. We refined the study and training system for NPC deputies. In line with the newly revised NPC Rules of Procedure, special committees and working bodies improved their deliberation procedures and working rules.

Adapting to the digital era's new requirements for NPC work, we launched a national database of laws and regulations and a mini-program on WeChat, made better use of the NPC Calendar database, and enhanced the quality of video conferences and the online audience experience at the NPC's fourth session.

The Standing Committee held seven meetings, where we carried out 189 deliberations of proposals and reports. Our meeting attendance rate exceeded 95 percent. The Council of Chairpersons held a total of 25 meetings last year, as an additional meeting was held in each odd-numbered month to discuss draft laws to be submitted to Standing Committee meetings for votes.

''The bodies that make up the NPC made advances across the board in Party building and all other work. ''

We improved systems and mechanisms for Party building in the NPC bodies; supported their leading Party members' group and its branch groups in special committees in fully playing their roles; made sure they understood their functions as political bodies; and pushed them to open up new vistas by studying CPC history, understanding Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and doing practical work.

In our persistent efforts to improve conduct and strengthen discipline, we strictly implemented the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving conduct along with the detailed rules for its implementation, and we guarded against pointless formalities and bureaucratism. As a result, the NPC bodies became better at serving and supporting us in the performance of our duties. We unswervingly advanced our efforts to improve Party conduct, maintain integrity, and fight corruption, and we worked to see that measures were implemented to rectify problems discovered by the central discipline inspection team.

We earnestly carried out our work on media, public communications, and theoretical research.

Led by members of the Council of Chairpersons, research projects were carried out on the theory of the people's congress system and the work of people's congresses. These efforts produced over 60 documents, which were of service to the Party Central Committee in its convocation of the Central People's Congress Work Conference and its issuance of important documents. We held the 27th National Forum on Local Legislation, at which in-depth exchanges were conducted on legislative theories and practices of people's congresses.

In order to raise public awareness and ensure the full implementation of newly introduced laws, we held symposiums on the implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law, the Biosecurity Law, the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law, and the Family Education Promotion Law. We gave full play to the role of the China Institute of Theory on the People's Congress System.

We organized the Deputies' Brief and Ministers' Brief press briefings in the Great Hall of the People during the annual NPC session and invited journalists to cover the Environmental Protection in China: Trip of the Century event.

We adopted new ways to carry out public communication work. We achieved progress in making our publications more thought-provoking, our website more influential, our public WeChat account more lively, and our public Weibo account higher quality; we deepened the integration of these media channels and platforms; and we upgraded the English website of the NPC, all in order to better share the story of China and the story of the people as masters of the country.

We took effective measures to further develop the NPC's online school. It now offers 7,110 courses covering 620 subjects and has 7,297 students, including 2,539 NPC deputies and 3,091 leading officials of local people's congresses. Its courses have received approximately 2.15 million views.

The most important conclusion from our work over the past year can be summarized as follows: guided byXi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and resolutely uphold the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core; we must ensure unity between leadership by the Party, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance; we must fully leverage the role of the people's congress system as an important institutional vehicle for the Party's leadership over organs of state power and for the attainment of whole-process people's democracy in China; and we must ensure that the system of people's congresses develops in the direction set by the Party Central Committee and that the work of people's congresses moves forward along the path charted by the Party Central Committee.

Fellow Deputies,

Our achievements over the past year were made under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. They are the result of the diligent work of the NPC deputies, the members of the NPC Standing Committee and special committees, and the staff of the NPC bodies. They are the result of close cooperation from the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. They are the result of the strong support of local people's congresses at all levels and their standing committees. And they are the result of the active participation and full trust of the entire Chinese people. On behalf of the Standing Committee, I would like to express our sincere gratitude.

We are also keenly aware that there are areas in need of improvement in our work. These mainly include the following.

The quality and efficiency of legislation need to be further raised, and we need to more fully play our leading role in legislation. Oversight needs to be more effective, and we need to improve the systems and mechanisms for putting discoveries made throughout the oversight process to use. We need to better serve our deputies as they carry out their duties in accordance with the law, and we need to improve our communications with them as we process their proposals and suggestions.

The Standing Committee attaches high importance to these problems. We will constantly improve ourselves and the quality of our work so that we can better perform the honorable duties conferred upon us by the Constitution and the law.

The Year Ahead
In 2022, the Party will convene its 20th National Congress. This meeting is of great importance, as it will be held at this critical moment of our start on the new journey to build China into a modern socialist nation in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal. It will be an event of enormous political significance for the Party and the country.

In the coming year, coordinating the Covid-19 response with economic and social development, balancing development and security imperatives, and responding to various risks and challenges will present the people's congresses with new tasks and requirements. The general requirements for the work of the NPC Standing Committee are as follows.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must fully implement the guiding principles from the Party's 19th National Congress and the plenary sessions of the 19th Central Committee and carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party.

We must acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and of establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

We must be deeply conscious of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. We must stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership.

We must ensure unity between leadership by the Party, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance. We must pursue progress while prioritizing stability. In accordance with the plans set out at the Central People's Congress Work Conference, we will continue developing whole-process people's democracy and effectively carry out our work related to legislation, oversight, deputies, and international exchanges. We will work harder at improving ourselves and improving the quality of the NPC's work in order to make new contributions to realizing the Second Centenary Goal and building a modern socialist nation in all respects.

First, we will thoroughly apply the guiding principles from the sixth plenary session of the 19th Party Central Committee and the Central People's Congress Work Conference.

We will move forward with renewed efforts to study, disseminate, and implement the guiding principles from the sixth plenary session of the 19th Party Central Committee, we will nourish the love for our Party, our nation, and socialism that was inspired by the celebration of the Party's 100th birthday, and we will ensure that the Party's major achievements and historical experience over the past century are applied and embodied in the NPC's work and development.

We will fully implement Xi Jinping's thinking on the rule of law and his key ideas on upholding and improving the people's congress system. We will ensure the completion of every major task set at the Central People's Congress Work Conference and organize special training programs focused on the guiding principles from that conference. On major political principles and important issues, we must stand firm, prepare legal tools for conflicts in international relations, and be ready to use legal means to stand up for our country in the international arena and safeguard national security.

With a focus on the Party and the country's central work and greater initiative in taking on responsibilities, we will fully and faithfully apply the new philosophy of development, move faster to create a new development pattern, and use the NPC's achievements to drive high-quality development. Through these efforts, we can play our part in maintaining a steady and healthy economic environment, a peaceful and stable social climate, and a clean and honest political atmosphere.

Following the Party's 20th National Congress, we will diligently study and implement its guiding principles.

Second, we will use a complete set of institutions to ensure the implementation of the Constitution.

We will improve the laws and regulations pertaining to the Constitution. We will revise the Legislation Law, the Law on the Oversight by the Standing Committees of People's Congresses at All Levels, the Rules of Procedure of the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council Organic Law, and the Administrative Reconsideration Law.

We will see that the procedures and mechanisms for interpreting the Constitution are well implemented and that concerns about constitutional issues are attended to. We will enhance oversight and inspections of the implementation of the Constitution, expand channels for constitutional oversight, and refine the constitutionality review system. We will improve the quality of our recording and review work and preserve the uniformity of China's legal system.

We will improve the system in which the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the special administrative regions in accordance with the Constitution and their basic laws, ensure the implementation of the legal systems and enforcement mechanisms that safeguard national security in the special administrative regions, and refine the electoral system for the HKSAR.

We will conduct a review of the major achievements and valuable experience we have gained over the four decades since the current constitution took effect in 1982. We will promote public awareness and education about China's constitution and laws and do a good job of explaining Chinese constitutional theory.

Third, we will make our legislative work more systematic, integrated, and coordinated.

In our annual legislative plan, we have made preliminary arrangements for the deliberation of 40 pieces of legislation. To improve the legal system supporting the development of the socialist market economy, we will formulate laws on rural collective economic organizations, energy, futures and derivatives, and tariffs and other taxes, and we will revise the Company Law, the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the Anti-Monopoly Law, the Railway Law, the Mineral Resources Law, the Animal Husbandry Law, and the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Law.

We will move faster to advance legislation on the people's wellbeing, social affairs, and environmental protection. We will formulate laws on protection of the Yellow River, ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, black soil protection, social assistance, preschool education, civil enforcement, and telecom and online fraud. We will revise the Physical Culture and Sports Law, the Vocational Education Law, the Academic Degrees Regulations, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, the Charity Law, the Science and Technology Popularization Law, the Cultural Relics Protection Law, the Civil Procedure Law, the Public Security Administrative Penalties Law, and the Wild Animals Protection Law.

We will strengthen the legal framework for national security. We will formulate an emergency response and management law, a public health emergency response law, and a food security law, and we will revise the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law.

We will upgrade our legal toolkit and develop a more complete system of laws and regulations relating to foreign affairs. We will do a good job of ratifying treaties and agreements with foreign countries and approving international conventions.

We will better align decision making for reforms and development with legislative decision making and effectively carry out work with regard to authorization and reform decisions. We will continue to formulate codes in mature areas of legislation. We will give full play to the leading role of the NPC in legislative work and make China's legal system better designed and more complete, unified, and authoritative.

Fourth, we will earnestly conduct oversight of the implementation of the law and of work performance.

In our annual oversight work plan, we have prepared 32 oversight programs. In order to promote high-quality development, we will hear and deliberate reports on the implementation of the plan for national economic and social development, on the alignment of efforts to consolidate and expand achievements in poverty alleviation with efforts to promote rural revitalization, on the development of the digital economy, and on financial work. We will also inspect the implementation of the Rural Revitalization Promotion Law, the Science and Technology Popularization Law, and the Foreign Investment Law.

We will carry out research projects on the efforts to encourage small rural households to become involved in modern agriculture, to develop high-quality farmland, and to manage and reform special local government debt.

We will conduct budget and final account reviews and oversight and state-owned asset management oversight. We will hear and deliberate the State Council's reports on central final accounts, auditing work, and budget execution, on the rectification of problems discovered through auditing, and on the allocation and use of government funds for social security. We will conduct a special inquiry based on our hearing and examination of a comprehensive report on the management of state-owned assets. We will carry out research into improving the individual income tax system to help regulate income distribution.

In an effort to ensure and improve living standards, we will hear and deliberate reports on employment, child health work, the well-rounded, healthy growth of students in compulsory education, and work related to our senior citizens. We will carry out research projects on the effort to foster a strong sense of community among the Chinese people and the implementation of the national strategy for addressing population aging.

With a focus on ecological conservation, we will hear and examine the State Council's report on the state of the environment in 2021, progress on environmental protection targets for the year, and its handling of our inspection report and relevant recommendations on the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes.

We will carry out inspections of the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law and the Yangtze River Protection Law and conduct a special inquiry based on our deliberation of the inspection report on the former.

We will enhance oversight of law enforcement, supervisory, and judicial work. We will hear and deliberate a report on addressing illegal entry, residence, and employment of foreign nationals in China, conduct research on the efforts of supervisory bodies to make their work more procedure- and law-based and standardized, and hear and deliberate the Supreme People's Court report on foreign-related adjudication and the Supreme People's Procuratorate report on procuratorial work relating to minors.

We will improve the mechanisms and methods for conducting oversight, step up follow-up supervision to ensure genuine resolution of prominent issues, and make our oversight better conceived and more targeted, binding, and effective.

Fifth, we will give full play to the role of NPC deputies.

We will take solid steps to organize the election of deputies to the 14th NPC, maintaining strict standards for deputies and tightening oversight of the entire election process, in order to ensure that the process is fair, open, and accessible and that the results earn the approval of our people.

We will enhance our ability to carry out work related to deputies, fully implement the specific measures for strengthening and improving our deputy-related work, and closely rely on deputies to carry out the NPC's work.

We will arrange for relevant organizations to handle deputies' proposals and suggestions effectively and efficiently, work toward the establishment of a detailed record of commitments to resolve issues raised in deputies' suggestions, and improve the mechanism for overseeing the handling of key suggestions.

We will deepen deputies' participation in the work of the Standing Committee, special committees, and working bodies and encourage the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate to enhance and improve their engagement with NPC deputies.

We will make sure our deputies reach out to the public on a greater variety of issues and in more diversified ways, and we will develop sound mechanisms for handling and giving feedback on public opinions and suggestions as passed along by deputies.

We will provide deputies with more systematic, standardized, and professional training programs and organize four study sessions for chairpersons of county-level people's congress standing committees. We will advance the development and use of an online platform enabling NPC deputies to access study resources, perform their duties, and foster close ties with members of the general public.

We will strengthen management and oversight of deputies' performance of duties and make further progress in standardizing records on their performance.

Sixth, we will effectively carry out international exchanges.

Giving top priority to implementing the major diplomatic outcomes achieved by President Xi Jinping, we will step up exchanges with parliaments of other countries and international and regional parliamentary organizations, advance cooperation with the parliaments of key nations and major countries from various regions, and consolidate and deepen our foreign exchanges at multiple levels and through multiple channels.

We will promote greater integration of the NPC's diplomatic work with its communications with the international community and make our foreign relations work more targeted and effective. We will open up new fronts and adopt new methods in legal conflicts in international relations and make full use of NPC spokespeople.

Seventh, we will strengthen our self-improvement efforts in line with the requirement to uphold the four-fold role of the Standing Committee.

We will earnestly implement the systems of the Party's leadership and take further steps to better uphold our four-fold role. We will remain committed to exercising full and rigorous governance of Party organizations and make genuine efforts to see the NPC bodies' political integrity enhanced, their theoretical competence strengthened, their organization consolidated, their conduct improved, their discipline reinforced, and their institutions strengthened.

We will step up theoretical research on the people's congress system and improve the NPC's public communications and information work. We will do a good job of handling letters and visits from the public. We will promote the application of digital, smart, and information technologies in the NPC bodies. We will strengthen our ties with local people's congresses and enhance the overall effectiveness of the work of people's congresses.

Fellow Deputies,

On the new journey ahead, we must unite more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and be deeply conscious of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. We must stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We must properly exercise our powers of legislation, oversight, decision-making, and appointment and removal of officials and march forward together with determination and perseverance. And we must strive to contribute to the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and set the stage for the Party's 20th National Congress with concrete action.