Speech at the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress

Xi Jinping's speech at the meeting celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress on September 5, 2014. Contained in Selection and Compilation of Important Documents since the 18th National Congress (Vol. 2).

The “Speech” pointed out: implementation of the system of people's congresses represents a monumental innovation in humankind’s political history made by the Chinese people, and reflected all the painful lessons drawn from China's political process since the modern times began. It was the result of Chinese society's dramatic transformation and development over more than a century, and the inevitable choice made by the Chinese people who had finally become masters of their country and taken control of their own density.

Over the past six decades, it has been proven through practice that people's congresses system is a sound one that accords with China's national conditions and realities, embodies our country's socialist character, safeguards the role of the people as masters of their country, and guarantees the rejuvenation of our nation.

The system of the Peoples’ Congresses is the fundamental institutional arrangement for the organic unification of the Party’s leadership, the people becoming masters of the country and the rule of law. To uphold and improve the system of the People’s Congresses, we must unswervingly adhere to the leadership of the CPC, ensure and develop the practice that people are the masters of the country, comprehensively promote the rule-of-law and uphold democratic centralism to uphold the authority of the Party and government and guarantee unity within the Party and throughout the country. The supremacy of the people constitutes the core and essence of socialist democracy. People's democracy represents the life force of socialism.

At present and in the future, We must uphold the following principles: the people exercise state power through people's congresses; people's congresses at all levels are formed through a process of democratic election, and are accountable to the people and subject to their scrutiny; administrative, judicial, and procuratorial organs at all levels are created by people's congresses, accountable to them, and subject to their scrutiny.

The “Speech” profoundly pointed out that the kind of approach used to plan and promote the construction of socialist democracy in China has a fundamental, overall and long-term role in the political life of the country. As China is a large developing country and adhering to the correct path of political development is an even more important issue which is of fundamental and overall concern. In designing and developing the country’s political system, we must pay attention to the organic unity of history and reality, theory and practice, form and content. We must take into account our national conditions and realities, carrying on our long-established heritage and remaining mindful of the political experience we have accumulated and political principles we have established over our past course of development, while at the same time responding to current demands and focusing on current issues. We must not break with history or simply copy other political systems. Political systems are used to regulate political relations, establish political order, promote national development, and maintain national stability, and therefore they cannot be one-size-fits-all or abstractly judged without reference to specific social and political conditions.

The “Speech” said: Undoubtedly, we need to learn from the beneficial achievements of foreign political civilizations, but we must never abandon the fundamentals of Chinas political system. There is not any exactly the same political system in the world, nor is there a political system model applicable to all countries. Each country’s political system is unique and determined by its people, it is the result of long-term development, gradual improvement and endogenous evolution on the basis of the country’s historical heritage, cultural tradition and economic and social development. The reason why the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics is feasible, viable and efficient is that it grew up from the social soil of China. Socialist political system with Chinese characteristics has been growing in China’s social soil in the past and now, to continue to thrive in the future, it must also be deeply rooted in China’s social soil.

The "Speech" emphasized that evaluating whether a country’s political system is democratic and effective depends mainly on whether its leadership can be orderly replaced according to law, whether all the people can manage state affairs and social affairs, whether they manage economic and cultural undertakings according to law, whether the people can freely express their interests and demands, and whether all sectors of society can effectively participate in the political life of the country, whether the national decision-making can be scientific and democratic, whether talents from belonging to various strata can enter the leading state organs and management system through fair competition, whether the ruling Party can achieve the leadership of state affairs constrained with the provisions of the Constitution and laws, and whether the use of power by the government officers can be effectively restricted and supervised. China implements the peoples’ democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, the system of the Peoples’ Congresses, the system of multi-Party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, the system of regional national autonomy and the system of grassroots mass autonomy with distinct Chinese characteristics.

Such a set of institutional arrangements can effectively guarantee the peoples enjoyment of broad and more substantial rights and freedoms, guarantee the peoples wide participation in state and social governance; they can regulate the country's political relations, develop vibrant Party to Party relations including democratic parties, enhance ethnic relations, religious relations, relations among various strata and relations among compatriots at home and abroad, enhance national cohesion, and form a stable and concerted political situation; in this way, we should concentrate our efforts on major issues, effectively promote the liberation and development of social productive forces, promote various undertakings of modernization, and constantly improve the quality and level of people's lives; thus such institutional arrangements can effectively safeguard national independence, national sovereignty, security and development interests, and the well-being of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.

The "Speech" pointed out that the facts fully prove that Chinas socialist democratic politics has strong vitality, and the path of political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the right way which conforms to Chinas national conditions and ensure that the people are the masters of the country. Therefore, to strengthen the self-confidence of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, we must first strengthen the self-confidence of the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics and strengthen the confidence and determination to follow the path of political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the process of deepening the reform in an all-round way, we should actively and steadily promote the reform of the political system, take ensuring that the people are masters of the country as the foundation, and take the goal of enhancing the vitality of the Party and the state and mobilizing the enthusiasm of the people as the goal, so as to continuously build a socialist political civilization. In a word, we should constantly promote the institutionalization, standardization and proceduralization of socialist democratic politics, give better play to the superiority of the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics and provide a more perfect institutional guarantee for the prosperity and long-term stability of the Party and the state.