The NPC is the highest organ of State power. It exercises the legislative power, the power to make appointments and removals, the power to make decisions, and the power of supervision.

      I.  Legislative Power of the State:

     The NPC has the power to amend the Constitution, and to enact and amend basic laws governing criminal offenses, civil affairs, the State organs and other matters.

     II.  Power to Make Appointments and Removals:

     The NPC enjoys the power to elect, decide on and remove leaders and members of the highest State organs.

     The NPC has the power to elect the members of its Standing Committee, and the president and vice-presidents of the PRC; decide on the choice of the premier and vice-premiers of the State Council, state councilors, ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the auditor-general, and the secretary-general of the State Council; elect the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and decide on the choice of all other members of the CMC; and elect the president of the Supreme People's Court and the procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. It has the power to remove from office any or all the members of the highest State organs it has elected or decided on.

     III. Power to Make Decisions:

     The NPC has the power to examine and approve the plan for national economic and social development and the report on its implementation; examine and approve the State budget and the report on its implementation; approve the establishment of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; decide on the establishment of special administrative regions and the systems to be instituted within them; decide on questions of war and peace; and exercise such other functions and powers as the highest organ of State power should exercise.

     IV.  Power of Supervision:

     The NPC has the power to supervise the enforcement of the Constitution. The Constitution stipulates that the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate are created by the NPC, and, therefore, supervised by and responsible to it. The NPC's exercise of this supervisory power is to oversee the government and other State organs on behalf of the people. This is an important guarantee for the normal operation of the State apparatus and administration according to law.

     Since 1954, the PRC has convened nine National People's Congresses

NPC	Convening Month/Year	Number of Deputies	Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee
1st	Sept. 1954	1,226	Liu Shaoqi
2nd	Apr. 1959	1,226	Zhu De
3rd	Dec. 1964	3,040	Zhu De
4th	Jan. 1975	2,885	Zhu De
5th	Mar. 1978	3,497	Ye Jianying
6th	June 1983	2,978	Peng Zhen
7th	Mar. 1988	2,970	Wan Li

     
Under the current Constitution and related laws, the NPC meets in session in the first quarter of each year, convened by its Standing Committee. The NPC is elected for a term of five years.

     The NPC Standing Committee is the permanent body of the highest organ of State power and legislation. It exercises the highest State power and legislative power when the NPC is not in session. The Ninth NPC Standing Committee has 134 members. No one on the NPC Standing Committee shall hold any post in any of the administrative, judicial or procuratorial organs of the State, so as to better supervise these organs.

     The NPC Standing Committee has the power to interpret the Constitution and supervise its enforcement; enact and amend laws, with the exception of those that should be enacted by the NPC; partially supplement and amend laws enacted by the NPC when the latter is not in session; and interpret laws.

     The NPC special committees are permanent working bodies of the NPC. When the NPC is in session, the main work of the committees is to examine, discuss and draw up relevant motions. When the NPC is not in session, the special committees work under the direction of the NPC Standing Committee. The Ninth NPC has under it nine special committees covering ethnic affairs, law, internal and judicial affairs, finance and economy, education, science, culture and health, foreign affairs, overseas Chinese affairs, environmental and resources protection, and agriculture and rural affairs.

     The Ninth NPC and Its Standing Committee

     The year 2000 was the third year in the tenure of the Ninth NPC and its Standing Committee. In it, the NPC and its Standing Committee accelerated the building of socialist democracy and a legal system in China by working in a democratic, practical and pioneering manner.

     Exercising State legislative power is the most important duty of the NPC and its Standing Committee as entrusted by the Constitution. In 2000, the NPC and its Standing Committee continued to give top priority to legislative work with the focus on national central tasks. They examined 26 draft laws and adopted 13 of them; examined and adopted two resolutions concerning legal matters; passed one item related to legal interpretation; and ratified 14 treaties concluded with other countries.

     In 2000, the legislative work of the NPC featured earnest implementation of the principles of democratic centralism, extensive solicitation of opinions from the people and endeavors to ensure democratic and scientific legislation. The Ninth NPC Standing Committee held its 19th Meeting in December 2000, during which a form of joint meeting was adopted for the examination of the amendments to the Marriage Law in accordance with the Legislative Law and the Rules of Procedure for the Standing Committee of the NPC. Through extensive debate, all participants fully elaborated their opinions. The news media reported the discussions through various means and forms, which helped raise the transparency of the legislative work and enabled the people to know about the NPC Standing Committee's work in a more specific and direct way. While listening to the opinions of various departments, localities and interested parties, the NPC Standing Committee promulgated the draft amendments to the Marriage Law in newspapers to solicit opinions from the masses of people. The NPC Standing Committee has attached equal importance to the formulation of new laws and revision of existing laws. In 2000, amended draft laws accounted for two-thirds of the total number of draft laws examined by the NPC Standing Committee.

     The formulation of laws is aimed at enforcement. China currently has more than 250 effective laws. It is impossible for the NPC Standing Committee to examine the enforcement of each law every year. Therefore, it has focused on examination of the enforcement of several laws each year in light of the actual national situation, with an aim of enhancing the enforcement of all laws. In 2000, the NPC Standing Committee examined the enforcement of the Law on Township Enterprises, the Land Administration Law, the Organic Law of the Urban Residents Committees and the Criminal Procedure Law.

     In the past year, the NPC Standing Committee conducted its supervisory work around the central tasks of the State and the problems about which the people were most concerned. It brought hearings to reports of relevant organs so as to oversee their work. It heard the reports of the State Council on the management of the cultural market, the progress of work for China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the implementation of the strategy of revitalizing the country through science and education, the implementation of western development strategy, the treatment of major river valleys, and the use of funds raised from the long-term treasury bonds for construction.

     The duty performance capability of Standing Committee members has improved. At the suggestion of Chairman Li Peng, the NPC Standing Committee has formed a system of holding a legal affairs lecture every two months. Over the past three years, it has sponsored 18 such lectures, and the Ninth NPC Standing Committee plans to hold 30 lectures during its term of office. In 2000, in addition to the lectures on the NPC system, the work of the NPC and departmental legal system, the NPC Standing Committee also sponsored lectures on other topics in light of the legislative tasks for the year and in relation to major policy decisions. For instance, it held a lecture on the marriage legal system related to the need to revise the Marriage Law, and a lecture on the WTO and the required preparatory legislation for China¡¯s accession to it. This helped improve the capability of NPC Standing Committee members in fulfilling their duties and promote the NPC Standing Committee work, while setting an example for local people's congresses.

     The Fourth Session of the Ninth NPC £¨March 5, 2002£©

     The Fourth Session of the Ninth NPC was held in Beijing March 5-15, 2001. Of its 2,979 deputies, 2,789 attended.

     During the session, deputies earnestly examined and discussed the Outline of the 10th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the report on the outline delivered by Premier Zhu Rongji. The State Council made revisions to the outline and the report according to the opinions and proposals raised by NPC deputies and CPPCC members during the examination and discussion.

     This session received a total of 1,040 proposals, the largest number since the First Session of the Ninth NPC. Of the total, 25 were proposed by delegations and 1,015 were jointly advanced by 30 or more deputies. According to Article 10 of the Organic Law of the National People's Congress and Article 21 of the Rules of Procedure for the NPC, upon receiving the proposals, the secretariat of the session promptly distributed them to various special committees. After conferring with these committees, the secretariat suggested that 268 of the 1,040 proposals be submitted to relevant special committees for examination, and the remaining 772 suggestions, criticisms and opinions, along with those proposed by deputies during the session, be handed over by the working body of the NPC Standing Committee to relevant institutions and organizations for handling and giving replies to deputies.

Editor: Wings