Government and politics 139

have been held, and continue to be held, by the same individual. The new version also restored clauses on the role of courts of law, which had been expunged from the previous version. It has been in operation since 1982 but has been amended several times: the version currently in force is the text that was amended at the Tenth National People’s Congress on 14 March 2004 and includes clauses on human rights, the mixed economy and private property.

National People’s Congress

Under the Constitution, the highest authority of the state is the NPC, which is a body of representatives elected by the provinces, autonomous regions and the largest cities. It stands at the apex of a nationwide hierarchical network of people’s congresses. Members of the NPC serve for a term of fi ve years, and the full NPC meets annually, normally for two weeks in Beijing in the fi rst quarter of each year (that is, during the spring), and has the authority to amend the Constitution, to enact legislation, to elect a Premier (who is nominated by the State Chairman) and the heads of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procuratorate (the state prosecution service), and to rule on economic plans. When the NPC is not in session, its functions are exercised by a Standing Committee, which has very wide powers, including the authority to conduct elections, to convene its own sessions, to interpret legislation enacted by the full Congress and to supervise other state bodies including the State Council and the courts.

The NPC elects the Chairman of the PRC, the equivalent of a President in many republics, who has the power to nominate a Premier and senior ministers and offi cials and has the supreme authority to act in relations with foreign countries. The NPC also elects the Chairman of the powerful Military Affairs Commission and the President of the Supreme Court. It maintains eight permanent special committees which have responsibility for drawing up legislation on key domestic and foreign policy areas: fi nance and economics; education, science, culture and public health; ethnic minorities; foreign affairs; overseas Chinese; internal and judicial affairs; legal matters; and the environment.2

The operation of the NPC

and its Standing Committee is governed by two documents, the Organic Law of the NPC and the Procedural Rules of the NPC, which were revised in 1982 and 1989 respectively.

The degree of formality and tradition that this entails may suggest that the functions and status of the NPC are equivalent to those of a parliament in a Western-style democracy, but this is not the case. It has approximately 3,000 members and this makes it too cumbersome to function effectively as a debating body. Many of its powers are delegated to the Standing Committee which has 153 members (2006 fi gure – the number can vary slightly) and meets on a bi-monthly basis. Although the NPC formally approves new legislation, it does not in general initiate it. Most legislation is originated by CCP bodies and passed to the NPC, in which the CCP has in any case a substantial built-in majority – over two-thirds. During the 1990s, the NPC began to fl ex its muscles and for a time appeared to be able to exercise a degree of independent judgement on some technical aspects of Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285  |  Page 286  |  Page 287  |  Page 288  |  Page 289  |  Page 290  |  Page 291  |  Page 292  |  Page 293  |  Page 294  |  Page 295  |  Page 296  |  Page 297  |  Page 298  |  Page 299  |  Page 300  |  Page 301  |  Page 302  |  Page 303  |  Page 304  |  Page 305  |  Page 306  |  Page 307  |  Page 308