Comprehensive Compilation of Chinese Constitutional Documents

Author: General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Secretariat Bureau II
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Preface Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, our country has successively promulgated four constitutions. The 1954 Constitution, the first constitution of the PRC, was a good constitution, a truly people's constitution. It played an important role in ensuring the establishment of China's socialist system and the completion of socialist transformation tasks. However, this constitution was not seriously implemented after 1957. The 1975 Constitution and the 1978 Constitution were formulated under the special political background of the "Cultural Revolution" and immediately after its end, and were severely flawed in both guiding ideology and specific content. This is a painful lesson in the history of constitutional drafting in our country. The current constitution of our country, adopted by the fifth session of the fifth National People's Congress in 1982, is based on the 1954 Constitution, formulated in accordance with the line and policies determined by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, summarizing the long-term practical experience of socialist construction since the founding of the PRC, especially drawing lessons from the "Cultural Revolution," and adopted after extensive public discussion. Practice has proven that this is a good constitution that fits the conditions of our country. With the continuous development of reform and opening-up and socialist modernization, the National People's Congress has successively adopted three amendments in 1988, 1993, and 1999, making necessary revisions to some provisions of the constitution. On March 14, 2004, the second session of the tenth National People's Congress adopted the fourth amendment to the current constitution. It incorporated the basic experience since the Fourth Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China into the constitution, and wrote into the constitution the major theoretical viewpoints and major policies and measures established at the Sixteenth National Congress, making the constitution more perfect, more in line with the national conditions, more reflective of the spirit of the times, and more adaptable to the requirements of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and creating a new situation for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The Party Central Committee attaches great importance to the study and publicity of the constitution. The collective study of the new Central Political Bureau is on the constitution. On December 4, 2002, General Secretary Hu Jintao pointed out in his speech at the grand meeting commemorating the 20th anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the current constitution: "Comprehensively implementing the constitution requires strengthening constitutional publicity and education, and enhancing the constitutional awareness and legal consciousness of the entire people, especially cadres at all levels and staff of state organs." On March 14, 2004, Chairman Wu Bangguo pointed out in his speech at the closing meeting of the second session of the tenth National People's Congress: "We should take this amendment to the constitution as an opportunity to widely publicize and study the constitution, so that all sectors of society, especially cadres at all levels and staff of state organs, firmly establish a sense of constitutional awareness, effectively safeguard the authority of the constitution, and ensure its effective implementation." On March 18, the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau was held to study and deploy further efforts to study and implement the constitution; on the same day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Notice on Further Studying and Implementing the Constitution of the People's Republic of China," requiring "concentrating efforts across the Party and the country to study and implement the constitution, further mobilizing Party members, cadres, and the public to participate in the great cause of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects." On September 15, General Secretary Hu Jintao, in his speech at the grand meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress in the capital, once again pointed out: "The constitution is the fundamental law of the country, the general for governing the country, and the legal foundation for ensuring national unity, ethnic solidarity, economic development, social progress, and long-term stability. It is the legal guarantee for the Communist Party of China to govern the country and lead the people of all ethnic groups in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. All Party members, staff of state organs, and people of all ethnic groups in the country must seriously study, abide by, and safeguard the constitution, ensuring its comprehensive implementation across society." Deeply studying and implementing the constitution is of great significance for building a socialist political civilization, implementing the basic strategy of governing the country according to law, and ensuring the long-term stability of the country. Governing the country according to law first requires governing the country according to the constitution; fundamentally, it requires governing the country according to the constitution. Governing according to law first requires governing according to the constitution; fundamentally, it requires governing according to the constitution. Therefore, to study law, one must first study the constitution; to enhance legal awareness, one must first enhance constitutional awareness; to safeguard the authority and dignity of law, one must first safeguard the authority and dignity of the constitution. Familiarizing oneself with the constitution, abiding by it, and safeguarding its authority, strictly adhering to the constitution in actions, and truly treating the constitution as the fundamental guiding principle of all activities are the responsibility and obligation of the entire society. The compilers have long been engaged in legislative work in the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and have personally experienced the gradual establishment of constitutional authority over the past 25 years. The current constitution of our country, after the fourth amendment, further embodies the constitutional concept of people-centeredness, and the construction of socialist democracy and the rule of law has entered a new stage of governing the country according to the constitution. The constitution, this guarantee of people's rights, is now entering ordinary households with unprecedented breadth, taking root in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people with unprecedented depth, and is also unprecedentedly regulating and restraining the power and responsibilities of state organs and their staff. All of this has great historical significance in the political history of China. History is a mirror. Looking back at the path the constitution has taken, understanding its evolution, and knowing the origins of today's constitution and constitutionalism, in order to explore the lessons of history, so that we can love the current constitution more, safeguard its dignity, and ensure its implementation, is the original intention behind compiling this book. During the editing and publishing process of this book, Professor Xu Xianming, Professor Zhou Yezhong, and Professor Han Dayuan provided care and support; Mr. Chen Zhiliang, a compatriot from the Gaoshan ethnic group and an alumnus of the Central University for Nationalities, went through great trouble to search for relevant materials from Taiwan; Wu Yunhao, who has now been transferred to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, copied materials from universities and research institutions. The leaders and colleagues of this organization have also provided many specific helps, especially Comrades Guo Qing, Zhang Wei, and Xiao Xuejun, who helped print and proofread the manuscript. Sincere thanks are expressed to all the above and other colleagues who have given help and support. This book references relevant research achievements in academia, and a list of main reference books is provided at the end. Compiled by the authors, September 20, 2004.