Imposing the law

The "socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics" the country promised to set up by 2010 has now officially been established.

National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo's report to the current session of the national legislature called this "an important milestone".

And it is. In a country where, for thousands of years, leader preference dictated the making and application of laws, formulating a complete set of laws up to contemporary jurisprudence standards is nothing short of revolutionary.