Rules of Procedure for the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (1987)

Article 1

These Rules are formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Organic Law of the National People's Congress and in the light of the practical experience of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 2

In deliberating on bills and proposals and making decisions, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall give full play to democracy and apply the principle of democratic centralism.

Article 3

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall meet in session once every other month; an interim session may be convened when necessary.

Meetings of the Standing Committee shall be convened and conducted by its Chairman. The Chairman may entrust any of the Vice-Chairmen to conduct a meeting on his behalf.

Article 4

Meetings of the Standing Committee may not be held unless more than half of the members of the Committee are present.

Article 5

The Council of Chairmen shall draft the agenda for a meeting of the Standing Committee and refer it to a plenary meeting of the Standing Committee for decision.

Article 6

Then the Standing Committee is to hold a meeting, its members shall be notified, seven days in advance, of the date of the meeting and the main items proposed for discussion. They may be notified of an interim session within a shorter time.

Article 7

Then the Standing Committee meets, leading members of the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall attend the meeting as nonvoting participants.

The chairmen and vice-chairmen of all the special committees of the National People's Congress, members and advisers of the relevant special committees and leading members of the relevant departments shall attend the meeting as nonvoting participants.

Article 8

Then the Standing Committee meets, the chairman or one of the vice-chairmen of the people's congress of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government shall attend the meeting as a nonvoting participant; when necessary, the relevant deputies to the National People's Congress may be invited to the meeting as nonvoting participants.

Article 9

Then the Standing Committee is in session, it shall hold plenary meetings, group meetings and joint group meetings.

Article 10

Then members of the Standing Committee are going to deliberate on bills or proposals or work reports at group meetings, the departments concerned shall be notified to send people to attend the meetings to listen to comments and answer questions.

When members of the Standing Committee are going to deliberate on bills or proposals or work reports at joint group meetings, leading members of the departments concerned shall be notified to attend the meetings to listen to comments and answer questions.

Article 11

When the Standing Committee meets, its members shall attend the meeting, except for those who ask to be excused on account of poor health or for other reasons.

Article 12

The Council of Chairmen may submit to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings bills and proposals that are within the scope of the functions and powers of the Standing Committee.

The State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the special committees of the National People's Congress may submit to the Standing Committee bills and proposals that are within the scope of its functions and powers. The Council of Chairmen shall decide whether to refer them to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings or to refer them to the relevant special committees for deliberation and the submission of reports before deciding whether to refer them to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings.

Bills and proposals that are within the scope of the functions and powers of the Standing Committee may be submitted to it by 10 or more of its members. The Council of Chairmen shall decide whether to refer them to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings or to refer them to the relevant special committees for deliberation and the submission of reports before deciding whether to refer them to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings. Bills and proposals that are not to be referred to the Standing Committee for deliberation at its meetings shall be reported to the Standing Committee at its meetings, or explanations shall be made to the sponsors.

Article 13

The Council of Chairmen may, on the basis of needs in work, entrust the working commissions and the General Office of the Standing Committee to draft bills and proposals on behalf of the Standing Committee and make explanations to the Standing Committee at its meetings.

Article 14

With regard to the bills and proposals that have been placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, the sponsor organs, the special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee concerned shall provide relevant information.

For proposals on appointments, the sponsor organs shall provide basic information on the appointees; when necessary, the responsible persons concerned shall attend the meetings to answer questions.

Article 15

The Standing Committee shall hold plenary meetings to hear explanations about the bills and proposals.

After that, the bills and proposals shall be deliberated on at group meetings and also by the special committees concerned.

Article 16

With respect to the draft laws placed on the agenda of a session, after hearing the explanations and making preliminary deliberations, the Standing Committee shall refer them to the relevant special committees for deliberation and to the Law Committee for overall deliberation. The Law Committee shall submit a report on the results of deliberation to the next session or a later session of the Standing Committee and the Standing Committee shall print the deliberation reports prepared by the relevant special committees and distribute them at a meeting of the Standing Committee.

After deliberating on the bills and proposals involving decisions on or amendments to laws, the Law Committee may submit a report on the results of deliberation to the current session or to the next session or a later session of the Standing Committee.

Article 17

A joint group meeting of the Standing Committee may hear and deliberate on the special committees' reports on their deliberations on bills and proposals and discuss the items on the agenda of the session.

Article 18

Reading members of organs sponsoring the bills or proposals may make supplementary explanations about them at plenary meetings or joint group meetings of the Standing Committee.

Article 19

Deliberations on a bill or proposal already placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee may be cancelled upon approval by the Council of Chairmen at the request made by the sponsor for its withdrawal before it is put to vote.

Article 20

If important issues requiring further study are raised during deliberations on a bill or proposal placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, decision on the bill or proposal by vote may be postponed, upon a proposal by the Chairman of the Standing Committee or the Council of Chairmen and its approval by a joint group meeting or a plenary meeting, until further deliberations are made and reports on the results are provided by special committees.

Article 21

The Standing Committee may, when it deems it necessary, organize investigation committees on particular issues and make decisions in the light of the reports prepared by the investigation committees.

Article 22

The Standing Committee shall hear the work reports made to it by the State Council, the ministries and commissions under the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Article 23

After hearing the work reports at its plenary meetings, members of the Standing Committee may examine them at group meetings or joint group meetings.

The Council of Chairmen may decide to refer such work reports to relevant special committees for deliberation and comments.

Article 24

The Standing Committee may, when it deems it necessary, adopt resolutions on the work reports.

Article 25

During a session of the Standing Committee, 10 or more members of the Standing Committee may jointly submit to the Standing Committee a written proposal for addressing questions to the State Council, the ministries and commissions under the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Article 26

In the proposals for the addressing of questions, the objects to be questioned and the topics and contents to be questioned about must be clearly stated.

Article 27

The Council of Chairmen shall decide to refer the proposals for the addressing of questions to the relevant special committees for deliberation or submit them to a session of the Standing Committee for deliberation.

Article 28

With respect to proposals for the addressing of questions, the Council of Chairmen shall decide whether responsible persons of the organs questioned shall give oral replies at a session of the Standing Committee or at meetings of the relevant special committees, or the organs questioned shall make written replies. For questions answered at meetings of the relevant special committees, these special committees shall submit a report to the Standing Committee or the Council of Chairmen.

Written replies to the questions addressed shall be signed by responsible persons of the organs questioned, then printed and distributed to members of the Standing Committee and to the relevant special committees.

When the special committees concerned deliberate on proposals for the addressing of questions, the Standing Committee members who raised such proposals may attend the meetings to express their opinions.

Article 29

Speeches made at plenary meetings by members of the Standing Committee and nonvoting participants shall not exceed 10 minutes; at joint group meetings, speeches made for the first time by such persons shall not exceed 15 minutes, and speeches made for the second time by the same persons on the same topics shall not exceed 10 minutes. Speeches may be longer if approved by the person conducting the meeting sat requests put forward in advance.

Article 30

Bills and proposals shall be adopted if they are voted for by a simple majority of all the members of the Standing Committee.

The person who presides over the meeting shall announce the result of the vote on the spot.

Article 31

If amendments are proposed to the bills and proposals to be put to vote, such amendments shall be voted on first.

Article 32

Proposals regarding appointments or removals shall be voted on person by person or may, in the light of specific circumstances, be voted on together.

Article 33

The voting on bills and proposals shall be conducted at sessions of the Standing Committee by secret ballot, a show of hands or other methods.

Article 34

These Rules shall go into effect as of the date of their promulgation.