Role of China's Constitution strengthened

BEIJING -- This December marks the 40th anniversary of China's current Constitution, which was promulgated on Dec 4, 1982.

Throughout the past four decades, the Constitution has been revised and improved in keeping with the times, and implemented to play its important role in the country's governance.

Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, the theories, systems and practices of the Constitution have seen sustained progress through innovative development.

ADVANCE WITH TIMES

In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC held in October 2022, plans for improving the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics -- with the Constitution at its core -- were laid out.

In March 2018, the latest amendments to the Constitution were adopted at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC). These amendments received support from various sectors of society.

Following the guidance of the Constitution, a wide range of laws in key, emerging, and foreign-related fields, including the Civil Code, the Foreign Investment Law, the National Security Law and the National Supervision Law, were formulated in the past decade.

Many laws and legal documents embedded the exact wording of "enacted in accordance with the Constitution," which demonstrated the leading role of the Constitution in the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and also the distinctive features of promoting the Constitution's enforcement through an improved legal system, said Zang Tiewei, a spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

UPHOLD CONSTITUTION'S AUTHORITY

Efforts have been made to strengthen oversight to ensure compliance with the Constitution and improve the system for ensuring its full enforcement, in order to better safeguard the authority of the Constitution.

The NPC established the Constitution and Law Committee, while the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee set up a Constitution office.

Concerning legislation, the highlights include amending the Legislation Law, formulating the National Anthem Law and revising laws on the national flag and the national emblem.

The Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was enacted and the electoral system of the HKSAR was improved to ensure the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems."

The system of pledging allegiance to the Constitution was implemented. In accordance with the Constitution, national medals and honorary titles were conferred on certain individuals.

Legislative bodies have been reviewing regulations and judicial interpretations to see if they comply with the Constitution and laws.

Over the past decade, the NPC Standing Committee has received more than 19,200 suggestions on the review work from citizens and organizations, leading to the revision or abolishment of more than 20,000 normative documents.

ENRICH SPIRIT OF CONSTITUTION

At an NPC Standing Committee session in 2014, legislators decided to designate Dec 4 as the country's National Constitution Day.

To further promote the spirit of the Constitution among the people, the country has held the weeklong Constitution publicity campaign every year since 2018.

Extensive activities have been conducted during this campaign, such as pledging allegiance to the Constitution, carrying out reading programs and lectures on the Constitution and launching Constitution-themed trains.

Alongside publicity for the Constitution, the past decade has also seen the country redoubling its efforts to enhance people's awareness of studying and abiding by the law, while providing essential support in building a socialist country based on the rule of law.