China is a unified multiethnic country with a unitary political system. To ensure that the legal system remains unified yet at the same time adapts to the uneven economic, political and cultural development or different areas, China practices a unified, multilevel legislative system.
The NPC and its Standing Committee exercise the state power to make laws. The NPC enacts and amends basic laws pertaining to criminal offences, civil affairs, state organs and other matters. The Standing Committee enacts and amends all laws except for basic laws that should be enacted by the NPC. When the NPC is not in session, its Standing Committee may partially supplement and revise laws enacted by the NPC, provided that the changes do not contravene the laws’ basic principles.
The State Council formulates administrative regulations in accordance with the Constitution and other laws and reports them to the NPC for records.
In line with the specific conditions and actual needs of their administrative regions and on condition that they do not violate the Constitution or other state laws and administrative regulations, the people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as their standing committees, may work out local statutes and report them to the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council for record. In light of their specific conditions and actual needs and on condition that they do not conflict with the Constitution, other laws and administrative regulations or local statutes passed by their provinces or autonomous regions, the people’s congresses and their standing committees of larger cities may enact local statutes and submit them to the standing committees of the people’s congresses of their provinces or autonomous regions for approval before they take effect. In addition, these standing committees shall record the local statutes with the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council.
