Legislative Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2015)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.20

March 15, 2015

(Adopted at the Third Session of the Ninth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2000 and amended in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Legislative Law of the People's Republic of China made at the Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2015)

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Laws
Section 1 Scope of Legislative Powers
Section 2 Legislative Process of the National People's Congress
Section 3 Legislative Process of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Section 4 Interpretation of the Law
Section 5 Other Provisions
Chapter III Administrative Regulations
Chapter IV Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations and Special Regulations and Rules
Section 1 Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations and Special Regulations
Section 2 Rules
Chapter V Application of Law and Filing Review
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 The Legislative Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Law") is enacted in accordance with the Constitution in order to standardize legislative activities, improve state legislative institutions, improve the legislative quality, perfect the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, give play to the leading and promotion role of lawmaking, safeguard and develop socialist democracy, fully promote the governance of the country in accordance with the law, and build a socialist country under the rule of law.

Article 2 The enactment, amendment and repeal of any law, administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or special rule shall be governed by the Law.
The enactment, amendment and repeal of administrative rules promulgated by departments of the State Council and local rules promulgated by local governments shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law.

Article 3 Laws shall be made in compliance with the basic principles laid down in the Constitution, center around economic development, follow the socialist path, adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship, adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, adhere to Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, and insist on the reform and opening up.

Article 4 Laws shall be made in accordance with the statutory limits of power and procedures, on the basis of the overall interests of the State and for the puprose of safeguarding the uniformity and dignity of the socialist legal system.

Article 5 Laws shall be made in order to embody the will of the people, promote socialist democracy, insist on the openness of legislative work, and ensure the participation of the people in legislative activities in a variety of ways.

Article 6 Law shall be made by proceeding from reality and adapting to economic and social development and the requirements of comprehensively deepening of reforms, and shall, in a scientific and reasonable way, prescribe the rights and obligations of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, and the powers and duties of state organs.
Legal norms shall be clearly articulated, specific, targeted and enforceable.

Chapter II Laws

Section 1 Scope of Legislative Powers

Article 7 The legislative power of the State shall be exercised by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.
The National People's Congress enacts and amends criminal laws, civil laws, laws of state organs and other basic laws.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress enacts and amends the laws other than those that shall be enacted by the National People's Congress; during the period of prorogation of the National People's Congress, the Standing Committee thereof may make partial amendments and supplements to the laws enacted by the National People's Congress, but such amendments or supplements shall not contravene the basic principles of the corresponding laws.

Article 8 Laws may be enacted only in respect to matters relating to:
1. the state sovereignty;
2. the establishment, organization and authority of the people's congresses, people's governments, people's courts and people's procuratorates at all levels;
3. the system of regional ethnic autonomy, governance of special administrative regions, and autonomy system at the grass-root level;
4. crimes and criminal punishment;
5. the deprivation of political rights of citizens, or compulsory measures and penalties that restrict personal freedom;
6. the establishment of tax categories, determination of tax rates, tax collection management and other basic taxation systems;
7. the expropriation and requisition of non-state-owned assets;
8. basic civil systems;
9. the basic economic system and basic fiscal, customs, finance and foreign trading systems;
10. litigation and arbitration systems; and
11. other matters for which the laws must be enacted by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee.


Article 9 In the event that no law has been enacted with respect to any matter mentioned in Article 8 hereof, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may be entitled to make the decision on authorizing the State Council to enact administrative regulations in advance concerning the partial matters as needed actually, except for matters relating to crime and criminal punishment, deprivation of citizens' political rights, compulsory measures and penalties restricting a citizen's personal freedom and judicial system.

Article 10 The authorization decision shall specify the objective, matter, scope and term of the authorization as well as governing principles for the organ so authorized to execute the authorization decision and others.
The authorization term shall not exceed five years, unless otherwise prescribed in the authorization decision.
The organ so authorized shall, six months before the expiry of the authorization term, report the implementation of the authorization decision to the enabling organ, and shall give its opinions on whether to formulate relevant laws; may give relevant opinions on the continuance of the authorization as it considers necessary, which shall be decided by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.

Article 11 For legislative matters covered by an authorization, once circumstances are ripe for the enactment of a law after the practice examination, the National People's Congress and the Standing Committee thereof shall enact a law in a timely fashion. Upon the enactment of the law, the relevant authorization of lawmaking authority with respect to the matters accordingly shall be terminated.

Article 12 The organ so authorized shall exercise its power in strict compliance with the authorization decision.
The organ so authorized shall not re-delegate its authority to any other body.

Article 13 The National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may decide to temporarily adjust or suspend the application of certain legal provisions in certain places within a certain period with regard to the authorization on certain matters in the fields of administrative management and others based on the requirements of reform and development.

Section 2 Legislative Process of the National People's Congress

Article 14 The Presidium of the National People's Congress may propose a bill to the National People's Congress for deliberation in the current session.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and all special committees of the National People's Congress may propose a bill to the National People's Congress, and such bill shall be placed onto the agenda of the current session by the decision of the Presidium.

Article 15 A delegation may propose, or a group of not less than 30 delegates may jointly propose, a bill to the National People's Congress, and the Presidium shall decide whether to place such bill on the agenda of the current session, or whether to refer such bill to the special committee on deliberation, and such special committee shall suggest whether such bill shall be placed on the agenda of the current session, whereupon the Presidium shall decide whether or not to place the bill on the agenda of the current session.
In the course of deliberation on the bill, the special committee may invite the bill sponsor to attend the session and offer comments and suggestions.

Article 16 During the period of prorogation of the National People's Congress, a motion that shall be made to the National People's Congress may be made to the Standing Committee, which shall, after the deliberation according to the procedure stipulated in Section 3 of Chapter II of the Law, forward the motion to the National People's Congress for deliberation, whereupon the Standing Committee or the bill sponsor shall make statements to the plenary session.
When deliberating the bill pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the Standing Committee shall solicit opinions from the representatives of the National People's Congress through various ways and provide the feedback on the relevant situations. The relevant representatives of the National People's Congress may be invited to participate in legislation investigations and researches carried out by the special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee.

Article 17 In case where the Standing Committee has decided to submit a bill to the upcoming session of the National People's Congress for deliberation, the bill in draft law form shall be distributed to the delegates one month prior to the commencement of the session.

Article 18 In case where a bill has been placed on the agenda of the current session of the National People's Congress, the plenary session shall, after hearing the statements of the bill sponsor, forward the bill to the delegations responsible for deliberation.
In the course of deliberation of the bill by the delegations, the bill sponsor shall send representatives to hear the comments and answer the questions.
In the course of deliberation of the bill by the delegations, relevant institutions or organizations shall send representatives to make statements to the delegations upon the request of the delegations.

Article 19 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of the current session of the National People's Congress shall be deliberated upon by the relevant special committee, which shall then submit its opinions to the Presidium for distribution to the session's delegates.

Article 20 For a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the current session of the National People's Congress, the Law Committee shall, on the basis of the deliberation opinions of the delegations and the relevant special committee, conduct a general deliberation on the bill, and afterwards shall submit to the Presidium a deliberation report and an amended draft law. The deliberation report shall include statements of important differences in opinions and, and after being deliberated and approved by the Presidium, shall be distributed to the session's delegates.

Article 21 For a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the current session of the National People's Congress, the executive chairman of the Presidium may, where necessary, convene a meeting of delegation leaders to hear the deliberation opinions of all delegations on key issues of the bill, hold discussions, and report the discussions and suggestions concerning key issues to the Presidium.
The executive chairman of the Presidium may also call a session of the relevant delegates selected by the delegations to discuss important special issues contained in the bill, and shall report its discussions and suggestions to the Presidium.

Article 22 If a bill sponsor requests the withdrawal of a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the current session of the National People's Congress but has not yet been brought to a vote, the bill sponsor shall explain his request; once the Presidium has given consent to the request and reported its decision to the plenary session, then the deliberation over the bill shall be terminated accordingly.

Article 23 If, during the deliberation of a bill, there are key issues that need to be studied further, the Standing Committee may, upon the suggestion of the Presidium and the consent of the plenary session, be authorized to conduct further deliberations based on the opinions of the delegates, make a decision and report its decision to the next session of the National People's Congress. The Standing Committee may also be authorized to hold further deliberations according to the opinions of the delegates, and put forward an amendment plan for deliberation and decision by the next session of the National People's Congress.

Article 24 After the deliberation by the delegations, the amended draft law shall be further amended by the Law Committee based on the deliberation opinions of the delegations; the Law Committee then shall present a version of the draft law so that the Presidium may make a case to the plenary session for adoption based on simple majority vote of all delegates.

Article 25 A law enacted by the National People's Congress shall be promulgated by the presidential order signed by the President of the State.

Section 3 Legislative Process of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Article 26 The Chairmen's Council may propose a bill to the Standing Committee for deliberation.
The State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and all special committees of the National People's Congress may propose a bill to the Standing Committee and such bill shall be placed on the agenda of the current session of the Standing Committee upon the decision of the Chairmen's Council, or the bill may be proposed to the relevant special committees for deliberations and a report shall be submitted by the special committee to the Chairmen's Council, which then decides whether to place it on the agenda of the upcoming session of the Standing Committee. If the Chairmen's Council is of the opinion that substantive issues concerning the bill require further study, it may suggest that the bill sponsor makes revisions first, and then submits the revised bill to the Standing Committee.

Article 27 Ten or more members of the Standing Committee may jointly propose a bill to the Standing Committee, and the Chairmen's Council shall decide whether to place the bill on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee, or whether first to refer it to the relevant special committees for deliberation and submission of comments on whether to place the bill on the agenda before deciding whether to place it on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee. When the decision is made not to place the bill on the agenda of the current session of the Standing Committee, the Chairmen's Council shall submit a report to the Standing Committee or provide an explanation to the bill sponsor accordingly.
In the course of deliberation, the special committee may invite the bill sponsor to be present and provide comments.

Article 28 For a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee, unless any special circumstance arises, the draft law shall be distributed to all the members of the Standing Committee seven days prior to the commencement of the session.
Where a bill is to be deliberated at the session of the Standing Committee, the related representatives of the National People's Congress shall be invited to attend the session.

Article 29 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee, in general, shall be deliberated three times at the sessions of the Standing Committee before being put to vote.
During the first deliberation, the Standing Committee hears the statements of the bill sponsor in the plenary session and refers the bill to group sessions for preliminary deliberation.
During the second deliberation, the Standing Committee hears the report of the Law Committee concerning the amendment and major issues concerning the draft law, and refers the bill to group sessions for further deliberation.
During the third deliberation, the Standing Committee hears the report of the Law Committee concerning the result of the deliberation over the draft law and refers the amended draft law to the group sessions for deliberation.
In the course of deliberation, the Standing Committee may, if necessary, convene joint group sessions or plenary sessions to discuss the key issues of the draft law.

Article 30 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee may be brought to a vote after the deliberation at two sessions of the Standing Committee if a general consensus has been reached; or may be brought to vote after the deliberation at one session of the Standing Committee if the matters to be adjusted are single or only a part of the contents of a bill is revised, and a general consensus has been reached.

Article 31 In the course of deliberation by the group sessions of the Standing Committee, the bill sponsor shall send representatives to hear comments and answer questions.
In the course of deliberation by the group sessions of the Standing Committee, relevant institutions or organizations, upon the request of a group, shall send representatives to brief the group.

Article 32 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee shall be deliberated by the relevant special committee in order to formulate deliberation opinions for distribution at the session of the Standing Committee.
During the deliberation of the bill, the relevant special committee may invite members of other special committees to attend the session to provide comments.

Article 33 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee will be deliberated uniformly by the Law Committee based on the deliberation opinions expressed by the members of the Standing Committee and the relevant special committees as well as the comments of all parties. The Law Committee shall submit a report on revision or report on deliberation results and the revised bill, which shall contain explanations to different important opinions. Where the deliberation opinions of the relevant special committees are not adopted, the feedback shall be provided to the relevant special committees.
Where a bill is to be deliberated by the Law Committee, members of the relevant special committees shall be invited to attend the session to voice their opinions.

Article 34 During the deliberation process of a bill, a special committee shall convene a plenary session for deliberation, and, where necessary, may request that relevant institutions or organizations dispatch the personnel in charge of relevant issues to make statements.

Article 35 When different opinions arise among the special committees on a key issue concerning the draft law, the committees shall report such differences to the Chairmen's Council.

Article 36 When a bill has been placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee, the Law Committee, the relevant special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee shall hear the comments of all parties by means of symposia, demonstrations, hearings and other ways.
Where any issue concerning the bill is quite professional and requires the feasibility evaluation, the demonstration conference shall be held to collect opinions from various parties including relevant experts, the departments and representatives of the National People's Congress. The information on the demonstration shall be reported to the Standing Committee.
Where any major difference in opinions or any material adjustment to the interest relationship occurs in respect of any issue concerning the bill and a hearing needs to be convened, a hearing shall be convened to collect opinions from the relevant grassroots, representatives of the groups, the departments, the people's organizations, experts, representatives of the National People's Congress, and the parties concerned of the society. The information on the hearing shall be reported to the Standing Committee.
The working bodies of the Standing Committee shall distribute the draft law to the representatives of the National People's Congress, the standing committee of local people's congress, relevant departments, organizations and experts in the relevant fields for comments.

Article 37 A bill that has been placed on the agenda of a session of the Standing Committee shall, after the session of the Standing Committee, be made available to the social public, showing the text of the draft law and explanations to drafting and revision, to solicit opinions, except for those not to be published as decided by the Chairmen's Council. The period for soliciting public opinions is generally no less than 30 days. The information on the solicitation shall be made known to the society.

Article 38 For a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee, the working bodies of the Standing Committee shall collect and sort out the deliberation comments made at group sessions and opinions of all parties and other relevant documents, and deliver them to the Law committee and other relevant special committees, and where necessary, shall distribute them at the current session of the Standing Committee.

Article 39 As to the bill proposed to be deliberated and adopted at a session of the Standing Committee, the working bodies of the Standing Committee may make evaluations on the feasibility, timing for introduction of the law, social effect of the law enforcement and potential problems in respect of the main institutional norms of the draft law, prior to the release of the report on the deliberation result by the Law Committee. The information on the evaluation shall be set out by the Law Committee in the report of the deliberation result.

Article 40 If the sponsor of a bill that has been put on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee agenda requests the withdrawal of such bill before it is brought to a vote, the bill sponsor shall state the reason, and the deliberation on the bill shall be terminated after the Chairmen's Council has granted its consent and reported to the Standing Committee.

Article 41 The revised version of a draft law shall, upon the deliberation by the Standing Committee, be amended by the Law Committee based on comments made by the members of the Standing Committee in order to formulate a version endorsed by the Chairmen's Council to be voted upon in the plenary session of the Standing Committee. The bill shall be adopted if more than half of the votes cast by all the members of the Standing Committee are affirmative.
Before the draft law to be voted is submitted to the session of the Standing Committee for voting, the Chairmen's Council may decide to submit important articles under material dispute to the session of the Standing Committee for separate voting according to the deliberations of the same at the session of the Standing Committee.
After the articles to be voted separately are voted at the session of the Standing Committee, the Chairmen's Council may, according to separate voting conditions, decide to deliver the draft law to be voted for voting, or not to deliver the same for voting temporarily, but submit it to the Law Committee and the relevant special committees for further deliberation.

Article 42 If the deliberation on a bill that has been placed on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee has been suspended for two years due to major discrepancies in opinions of all parties on major issues of the law, such as the necessity or feasibility of its enactment, or if the suspension of voting has exceeded two years and the bill has not been placed anew on the agenda of the session of the Standing Committee for deliberation, then the Chairmen's Council shall submit a report on the termination of bill deliberation to the Standing Committee.

Article 43 In the event of the modification to specific clauses of multiple laws involving issues of the same kind and the proposal of bills together, upon the decision of the Chairmen's Council, the voting may be carried out together or separately.

Article 44 A law adopted by the Standing Committee shall be promulgated by the presidential order signed by the President of the State.

Section 4 Interpretation of the Law

Article 45 The power to interpret the law shall be vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall issue the interpretation of a law when any of the following circumstances occurs:
1. the specific meaning of the provision of a law requires further clarification; and
2. after the enactment of a law, a new situation arises so that clarification of the rationale underlying its application is needed.

Article 46 The State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, all special committees of the National People's Congress and the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may make requests to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for legislative interpretations.

Article 47 The working bodies of the Standing Committee shall research and formulate draft legislative interpretations to be placed on the agenda of the forthcoming session of the Standing Committee upon the decision of the Chairmen's Council.

Article 48 After the deliberation by the Standing Committee, a draft legislative interpretation shall be deliberated and amended by the Law Committee on the basis of comments made by members of the Standing Committee in order to formulate a version of draft legislative interpretation to be put to a vote.

Article 49 The draft legislative interpretation put to a vote shall be adopted if affirmed by more than half of all members of the Standing Committee, and shall be promulgated by the Standing Committee by way of a public announcement.

Article 50 Legislative interpretations issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall have the same force as the law.

Section 5 Other Provisions

Article 51 The National People's Congress and its Standing Committee strengthen the organization and coordination relating to the legislation work and give play to the predominance function in the legislation work.

Article 52 The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall strengthen the overall arrangement for the legislation work through the legislative planning, annual legislative plan and other forms. For the preparation of the legislative planning and annual legislative plan, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall carefully study proposals and recommendations from representatives, collect opinions extensively, make scientific demonstration and evaluation, and determine the legislative program based on the demands of economic and social development and of the progress of democracy and rule of law, in order to make the legislation more timely, specific and systematic. The legislative planning and annual legislative plan shall be subject to the adoption at the Chairmen's Council and shall be made available to the society.
The working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall be responsible for the preparation of the legislative planning and for the draft of the annual legislative plan, and shall urge the implementation of the legislative planning and annual legislative plan according to the requirements of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 53 The relevant special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall take part in the draft of the relevant laws in advance; the relevant special committees or the working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress may organize the draft of the important bills involving the comprehensiveness, overall situation and fundamentality.
As for the draft of a bill involving much specialty, the experts of the relevant fields may be invited to take part in such drafting, or the relevant experts, academic and research units as well as social organizations may be entrusted to conduct such drafting.

Article 54 When a bill is proposed, the text of and comments on the draft bill and necessary reference materials shall be submitted concurrently. The text of the comparison for the law before and after the revision shall be provided in case of any law revision. Comments on the draft law shall elucidate the necessity for and feasibility of its enactment or revision and its main contents as well as the coordination and handling condition during the drafting of bill with respect to differences in the opinions solicited on the important issues.

Article 55 A bill proposed to the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee may be withdrawn by the bill sponsor prior to that the bill is placed on the agenda of the forthcoming session.

Article 56 Where a bill proposed to the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee for voting fails to be adopted at the plenary session, and the bill sponsor still deems it necessary to enact such legislation, he may propose it anew in accordance with legal procedures. The Presidium and the Chairmen's Council shall decide whether the bill is to be placed on the agenda; specifically, if a bill fails to be adopted by the National People's Congress, it shall be proposed to the National People's Congress for deliberation and decision.

Article 57 A law shall specify the date of its implementation.

Article 58 The presidential order signed for the promulgation of a law shall specify the enactment organ, and the dates of adoption and implementation.
After a law is signed and promulgated, it shall be published in a timely fashion in the Bulletin of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, on the website of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and in nationally circulated newspapers.
The version of the law published in the Bulletin of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall be considered as the standard version.

Article 59 The procedures for amendment and repeal of a law shall be governed by the provisions of this Chapter.
In case of any law revision, the text of the new law shall be promulgated.
Any annulment of law shall be announced with the presidential order signed by the President of the State, except for those annulled pursuant to other laws.

Article 60 In case of any inconformity between the draft law and other laws in respect of the relevant provisions, the bill sponsor shall provide the explanation and the opinions on handing such inconformity, and shall submit the proposal on the revision or annulment of the relevant provisions of other laws simultaneously when necessary.
When deliberating the bill, the Law Committee and the relevant special committees shall give opinions on handling if they think it is necessary to revise or annul the relevant provisions of other laws.

Article 61 A law may consist of Parts, Chapters, Sections, Articles, Paragraphs, Items, and Sub-items as appropriate for the law's contents.
The numbers for Parts, Chapters, Sections, and Articles are to be expressed sequentially in Chinese characters, while Paragraphs are not to be numbered; items are to be numbered sequentially in Chinese characters in parenthesis. And sub-items are to be numbered sequentially in Arabic numbers.
The caption of a law shall set forth the organ of enactment and the date of adoption. The revised law shall set forth the revision authority and the date of revision in proper order.

Article 62 Where any special matter shall be governed by specific supporting provisions enacted by any relevant state organ as definitely provided in the law, the relevant state organ shall make such provisions within one year as of the date of implementation of the law. If the law otherwise provides the period of formulation of such supporting provisions, the said provision shall prevail. If the relevant state organ fails to formulate specific supporting provisions within the prescribed period, it shall make explanations to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 63 The relevant special committees of the National People's Congress or the working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress may organize the post-enactment evaluation of the relevant laws or the related provisions under such laws, and report the information on such evaluation to the Standing Committee.

Article 64 The working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress may handle inquiries regarding a specific aspect of a law, issue responses, and submit the same to the Standing Committee for record.

Chapter III Administrative Regulations

Article 65 The State Council enacts administrative regulations in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
An administrative regulation may prescribe any of the matters mentioned below:
1. matters that demand the enactment of an administrative regulation for the purpose of implementing a law; and
2. matters subject to the administration of the State Council under Article 89 of the Constitution.
For a matter for which a law should have been enacted by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, the State Council may, according to the authorization decision of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, formulate an administrative regulation in advance. If such an administrative regulation proves viable in practice, when necessary conditions for enacting a relevant law are ripe, the State Council shall, in a timely fashion, propose such enactment of the law to the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee.

Article 66 The legislative affairs department of the State Council shall prepare the annual legislative plan of the State Council according to the national overall work deployment, and submit it to the State Council for examination and approval. Law programs in the annual legislative plan of the State Council shall be coordinated with the legislative planning and the annual legislative plan of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The legislative affairs department of the State Council shall track and know, in a timely manner, the implementation of the legislative plan by each department of the State Council, and shall strengthen the organization and coordination as well as the supervision and guidance.
If the relevant department of the State Council believes that it is necessary to formulate administrative regulations, it shall report to the State Council for project approval.

Article 67 The drafting of administrative regulations shall be conducted by the relevant department or legislative affairs department of the State Council, and the drafting of important laws and administrative regulations on public administration shall be conducted by the legislative affairs department of the State Council. During the drafting of administrative regulations, the relevant department or legislative affairs department of the State Council shall collect opinions extensively from related bodies, organizations, representatives of the people's congresses and the social public through symposiums, demonstration meetings, hearings and other forms.
The draft of administrative regulations shall be made available to the social public to solicit opinions, except for those defined as unavailable as decided by the State Council.

Article 68 Upon the completion of a draft administrative regulation, the drafting body shall submit the draft regulation and corresponding commentaries, opinions from all parties concerning the key issues of the draft regulation, and other relevant materials to the legislative affairs organization of the State Council for examination.
The legislative affairs organization of the State Council shall submit to the State Council an examination report along with a revised version of the draft; the examination report shall elucidate the major issues of the draft regulation.

Article 69 The enactment procedures for administrative regulations shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organization of the State Council.

Article 70 An administrative regulation shall be promulgated by way of an order of the State Council signed by the Premier.
Administrative regulations on national defense construction may be promulgated by the Premier of the State Council and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission jointly concluding an order of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

Article 71 After being signed and promulgated, an administrative regulation shall be published in a timely fashion in the Bulletin of the State Council, on the Website of Legislative Affairs Information of Chinese Government and in nationally circulated newspapers.
The version published in the Bulletin of the State Council shall be considered as the official version.

Chapter IV Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations and Special Regulations and Rules

Section 1 Local Regulations, Autonomous Regulations and Special Regulations

Article 72 The people's congress of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government and the Standing Committee thereof may, according to the specific circumstances and actual needs of the jurisdiction, enact local regulations provided that such enactment does not contravene any provision of the Constitution, laws or administrative regulations.
The people's congresses of cities with districts and their standing committees may formulate local regulations with respect to urban and rural construction and administration, environmental protection, historical and cultural protection and other aspects according to the specific circumstances and actual requirements of such cities and on the premise that such local regulations are not in conflict with the Constitution, laws and administrative regulations, as well as the local regulations of the provinces or autonomous regions where such cities are located. If the law provides otherwise matters relating to the formulation of local regulations by cities with districts, such provision shall prevail. The local regulations of cities with districts shall take effect after such regulations are reported to and approved by the standing committees of the people's congresses of the provinces or autonomous regions where such cities are located. The standing committees of the people's congresses of the provinces or autonomous regions shall examine the legality of the local regulations submitted for approval, and shall approve such regulations within four months if such regulations do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, administrative regulations and the local regulations of the provinces or autonomous regions where such cities are located.
If, in the course of reviewing a local regulation submitted by a city with districts for approval, the standing committee of the people's congress of the province or autonomous region finds it is in contradiction with the rules of the people's government of the province or autonomous region where such city is located, it shall decide how to handle such situation.
Except for the cities where the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions are located and the special economic zones are located, as well as the bigger cities with the approval of the State Council, the specific procedures and time for the cities with districts to formulate local regulations shall be determined by the standing committees of the people's congresses of the relevant provinces or autonomous regions, on the basis of overall consideration of the population size, territory area, economic and social development, legislation requirement, legislation capacity and other factors of the cities with districts under the relevant provinces or autonomous regions, and shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council for record.
People's congresses of autonomous prefectures and their standing committees may exercise the function and power of cities with districts with respect to the formulation of local regulations as stipulated in Paragraph 2 of this article. The specific procedures and time for the autonomous prefectures to formulate local regulations shall be subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Local regulations formulated by the cities where the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions are located and the special economic zones are located, as well as the bigger cities with the approval of the State Council involving matters other than those stipulated in Paragraph 2 of this article shall remain in force.

Article 73 A local regulation may specify the following matters:
1. matters on which the specific provisions are required in light of actual circumstances of the jurisdiction for the purpose of implementing a law or administrative regulation; and
2. matters of local concerns for which the enactment of a local regulation is required.
Apart from those matters stipulated in Article 8 of the Law, a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, city with districts or autonomous prefecture may, according to the local specific circumstances and actual needs, first make local regulations for those matters for which no laws or administrative regulations have been enacted by the State. When a law or administrative regulation enacted by the State becomes effective, any provision of the local regulations that contravenes such law or administrative regulation shall become invalid, and the enacting body shall amend or repeal such provision in a timely fashion.
The local regulations formulated by cities with districts and autonomous prefectures according to Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of this article are limited to the matters stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 72 hereof.
For the formulation of local regulations, the contents having been explicitly stipulated in the higher-level law shall generally not be stipulated repeatedly.

Article 74 The people's congress and its standing committee of a province or a city where a special economic zone is located shall, pursuant to an authorization decision issued by the National People's Congress, enact regulations for implementation within the special economic zone.

Article 75 The people's congress of an autonomous ethnic region has the power to enact autonomous regulations and special regulations according to the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the ethnic minority groups in the region. An autonomous regulation or special regulation enacted by an autonomous region shall take effect after it is approved by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. An autonomous regulation or special regulation enacted by an autonomous prefecture or autonomous county shall take effect after it is approved by the standing committee of the people's congress of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government.
An autonomous regulation or special regulation may, according to the characteristics of the ethnic minority groups in the region, be flexible provisions of a law or administrative regulation, so long as such flexible provisions do not contravene the basic principles thereof, but such autonomous regulations or special regulations shall not be flexible provisions of the Constitution, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy, as well as other relevant laws or administrative regulations specifically enacted for the autonomous ethnic region.

Article 76 A local regulation concerning matters of major importance of the administrative region shall be adopted by the people's congress thereof.

Article 77 The procedures for proposing, deliberating and voting on a bill for a local regulation, autonomous regulation or special regulation shall, in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organizations of Local People's Congresses and Local People's Governments, be formulated by the people's congress at the corresponding level and the provisions of Sections 2, 3 and 5 of Chapter II of the Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the formulation thereof.
The deliberation report and revised draft shall be submitted by the institution in charge of the uniform deliberation on the draft of a local regulation.

Article 78 A local regulation enacted by the people's congress of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be promulgated by the presidium of the current session by means of a public announcement.
A local regulation enacted by the standing committee of the people's congress of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be promulgated by the Standing Committee by means of a public announcement.
Upon the approval, a local regulation enacted by the people's congress of a city with districts or an autonomous prefecture and the standing committee thereof shall be promulgated by the standing committee of the people's congress of the city with districts or the autonomous prefecture by means of a public announcement.
Upon the approval, an autonomous regulation or special regulation shall be promulgated by the standing committee of the people's congress of the autonomous region, autonomous prefecture or autonomous county respectively by means of a public announcement.

Article 79 After a local regulation, autonomous regulation or specific regulation of an autonomous region is promulgated, it shall be published in a timely fashion in the bulletin of the standing committee of the people's congress at the same level, on the website of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and the website of local people's congress as well as in the newspapers issued within the administrative region.
The version of the local regulation, autonomous regulation or special regulation that is published in the bulletin of the standing committee shall be the standard version.

Section 2 Rules

Article 80 All the ministries and commissions of the State Council, the People's Bank of China, the National Audit Office, and organs with administrative functions directly under the State Council may, in accordance with laws and administrative regulations, decisions and orders of the State Council, enact administrative rules within the scope of respective authority.
A matter for which a departmental rule has been enacted shall be one that is within the scope of enforcement laws or the administrative regulations, decisions or orders of the State Council. In the absence of the basis of laws or administrative regulations, decisions or orders of the State Council, the departmental rule may not lay down any regulations impairing the rights of, or imposing additional obligations upon, the citizens, legal persons or other organizations, or making the department have more rights or less legal duties.

Article 81 If a matter falls within the scope of authority of two or more departments under the State Council, the relevant departments shall request the State Council to enact an administrative regulation, or the relevant departments under the State Council shall jointly enact an administrative rule.

Article 82 The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities with districts or autonomous prefectures may enact rules according to laws and administrative regulations as well as local regulations of their respective provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government.
A local government rule may provide for matters below:
1. matters for which the enactment of a local rule is required for the purpose of implementing a law, administrative regulation or local regulation; and
2. matters that are within the specific administration scope of the administrative region.
The people's governments of cities with districts and autonomous prefectures may enact local governmental rules according to Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2 of this article, which are limited to matters relating to urban and rural construction and administration, environmental protection, historical and cultural protection and other aspects. The enacted local governmental rules involving matters other than those relating to the aforementioned aspects shall remain valid.
Except for the cities where the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions are located and the special economic zones are located, as well as the bigger cities with the approval of the State Council, the time for the people's government of any other city with districts or an autonomous prefecture to start formulating rules shall be the same as the time for the said city or autonomous prefecture to start formulating local regulations as determined by the standing committee of the people's congress of the province or autonomous region where the said city or autonomous prefecture is located.
If it is the time to enact local regulations but the enactment conditions have not been fully met yet, to satisfy the urgent need of administrative management, the local governmental rules may be enacted first. In case it is still necessary to implement the administrative measures provided by the local rules that have been implemented for two years, the local people's congress or its standing committee shall be requested to enact local regulations.
In the absence of the basis of laws, administrative regulations or local regulations, local governmental rules may not lay down any regulation impairing the rights of, or imposing additional obligations upon, the citizens, legal persons or other organizations.

Article 83 The provisions of Chapter III of the Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedures for enacting rules of the departments under the State Council and local governments that shall be formulated by the State Council.

Article 84 The enactment of a departmental rule shall be decided by a ministerial session or a session of the commission.
The enactment of a local government rule shall be decided by an executive meeting or plenary session of the local government.


Article 85 The departmental rules shall be promulgated by way of an order signed by the head of the department.
Local governmental rules shall be promulgated by way of an order signed by the provincial governor, the chairman of the autonomous region, the mayor of the city or the governor of the autonomous prefecture.

Article 86 After being signed and promulgated, a departmental rule shall be published in a timely fashion in the Bulletin of the State Council or departmental bulletin, on the Website of Legislative Affairs Information of Chinese Government and in nationally circulated newspapers.
After a local governmental rule is signed and promulgated, it shall be published in a timely manner in the bulletin of the local people's government, on the Website of Legislative Affairs Information of Chinese Government and in the newspapers issued within the administrative region.
The version of the rule that is published in the Bulletin of the State Council or the department bulletin and the bulletin of the local people's government shall be deemed as the official version.

Chapter V Application of Law and Filing Review

Article 87 The Constitution is of the highest legal force; no law, administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation, special regulation or administrative or local rule may contravene the Constitution.

Article 88 A law is of higher legal force than an administrative regulation, local regulation, or administrative or local rule.
An administrative regulation is of higher legal force than a local regulation, or administrative or local rule.

Article 89 A local regulation is of higher legal force than a rule made by the local government at the same or lower level.
A local rule enacted by the people's government of a province or autonomous region is of higher legal force than that made by the people's government of a city with districts or autonomous prefecture within the jurisdiction of the province or autonomous region.

Article 90 Where an autonomous regulation or special regulation is the flexible provision of a law, administrative regulation or local regulation in accordance with the law, the provisions of such autonomous regulation or special regulation shall prevail in the autonomous region.
Where a regulation of a special economic zone is the flexible provision of a law, administrative regulation or local regulation on the basis of an authorization decision, the provisions of the regulation of the special economic zone shall prevail in the special economic zone.

Article 91 The rules made by different departments, or the rules made by the departments and that made by the local governments, are of the same legal force, and are implemented within their respective realms of authority.

Article 92 For the laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, autonomous regulations, special regulations, administrative rules or local rules enacted by the same body, if a special provision is different from a general provision, the special provision shall prevail; if a new provision differs from an old provision, the new provision shall prevail.

Article 93 The laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, autonomous regulations, special regulations, administrative rules or local rules do not have retroactive force, with the exception of special provisions made for the purpose of better defending the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.

Article 94 Where any discrepancy occurs between a new general provision and an old special provision of a law concerning a same matter and it cannot be decided which provision shall apply, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall have authority to make a ruling.
Where any discrepancy occurs between a new general provision and an old special provision of an administrative regulation concerning a same matter and it cannot be decided which provision shall apply, the State Council shall have authority to make a ruling.

Article 95 Where any discrepancy occurs between a local regulation and a rule, a ruling shall be made by the relevant institution according to the scope of authority specified as follows:
1. where any discrepancy occurs between a new general provision and an old special provision enacted by the same institution, it is up to the enacting institution to make a ruling;
2. where any discrepancy occurs between a local regulation and an departmental rule concerning a same matter and it cannot be decided which provision shall apply, the State Council shall give its opinion; where the State Council deems that the local regulation shall apply, it shall decide on that the local regulation shall be applied in the region; where the State Council deems that the departmental rule shall apply, it shall request the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to make a ruling; and
3. where any discrepancy occurs between departmental rules, or between a departmental rule and a local government rule concerning a same matter, a ruling shall be made by the State Council.
Where any discrepancy occurs between regulations formulated upon the authorization and a law, and it cannot be decided which one shall apply, a ruling shall be made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 96 If any of the following circumstances occurs concerning a law, administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation, special regulation, administrative rule or local rule, the relevant body shall amend or repeal it in accordance with the authority specified in Article 97 of the Law:
1. the enactment goes beyond the scope of authority;
2. a law at a lower level contravenes the law at a higher level;
3. discrepancies exist between different rules concerning a same matter, and one of the rules shall be amended or withdrawn pursuant to a relevant ruling;
4. the provision of a rule is deemed as inappropriate and shall be amended or withdrawn; and
5. the enactment has been made in violation of legally prescribed procedures.

Article 97 The scope of authority to amend or withdraw a law, administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or special regulation, administrative rule or local rule shall be as follows:
1. the National People's Congress has the power to amend or withdraw any inappropriate law enacted by its Standing Committee and any autonomous regulation or special regulation approved by its Standing Committee that is in contradiction with the Constitution or the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 75 of the Law;
2. the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has the power to withdraw any administrative regulation that contravenes the Constitution or any law, any local regulation that contravenes the Constitution or any law or administrative regulation, and any autonomous regulation or special regulation approved by the standing committee of the people's congress of any province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government that is in contradiction of the Constitution or the provision of Paragraph 2 of Article 75 of the Law;
3. the State Council has the authority to amend or withdraw any inappropriate departmental rule or local government rule;
4. the people's congress of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government has the power to amend or withdraw any inappropriate local regulation enacted or approved by its standing committee;
5. the standing committee of a local people's congress has the authority to withdraw any inappropriate rule enacted by the people's government at the same level;
6. the people's government of a province or autonomous region has the power to amend or withdraw any inappropriate local rule enacted by the people's government at the next lower level; and
7. the enabling organ has the authority to withdraw the regulation that has been enacted by the enabled organ acting beyond its scope of authorization or in contradiction with the objective of the authorization decision, and where necessary, the enabling organ may revoke the authorization.

Article 98 An administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation, special regulation, or administrative or local rule shall, within 30 days after its promulgation, be submitted to the relevant body for record filing in accordance with the following provisions:
1. an administrative regulation shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for record filing;
2. the local regulation enacted by the people's congresses of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government and their standing committees shall be filed with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council; and those enacted by the people's congresses of the cities with districts or autonomous prefectures and their standing committees shall be filed with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council through the standing committees of the people's congresses of the provisions or autonomous regions;
3. the autonomous regulations and specific regulations enacted by the people's congresses of the autonomous prefectures or autonomous counties shall be filed with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council through the standing committees of the people's congresses of the provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government. The autonomous regulations and specific regulations to be filed shall state the appropriate adaptations to the laws, administrative regulations and local regulations;
4. a departmental rule or local governmental rule shall be submitted to the State Council for record filing; a local governmental rule shall be concurrently submitted to the standing committee of the local people's congress at the corresponding level for record filing; a local rule enacted by the people's government of a city with districts or autonomous prefecture shall be concurrently submitted to the standing committee of the people's congress and the people's government of the province or autonomous region for record filing; and
5. the regulations enacted upon the authorization shall be filed with the enabling organ stipulated in the authorization decision; the regulations enacted by the special economic zones to be filed shall state the appropriate adaptations to the laws, administrative regulations and local regulations.

Article 99 Where the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and all the standing committees of the people's congresses of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government deem that an administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or special regulation contravenes the Constitution or any law, they may make a written request to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review, and the working bodies of the Standing Committee shall distribute such request to the relevant special committees for review and comments.
Where any state organ, social group, enterprise, public institution or citizen other than those mentioned in the preceding paragraph deems that an administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or special regulation contravenes the Constitution or any law, it may make a written proposal to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for review, and the working bodies of the Standing Committee shall study such proposal, and where necessary, shall distribute such proposal to the relevant special committees for review and comments.
The relevant special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee may take the initiative to review the normative documents submitted for record filing.

Article 100 Where, in the process of review and research, a special committee, or a working body of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress deems that an administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous or specific regulation contravenes the Constitution or any law, it may present a written comments of review and research to the enacting body, or the Law Committee and the relevant special committee or the working body of the Standing Committee may hold a session for joint review, summon the enacting body to the session to give clarification and thereafter propose a written comment of review to the enacting body. The enacting body shall, within two months, decide whether amendments are to be made, and report back to the Law Committee and the relevant special committee or the working body of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The Law Committee, the relevant special committee or the working body of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall give comments of review and research to the enacting body pursuant to the preceding paragraph, and the review shall be terminated when the enacting body revises or abolishes the administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or specific regulation according to the given comments.
Where the Law Committee, the relevant special committee and the working body of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, upon the review and research, deem that an administrative regulation, local regulation, autonomous regulation or specific regulation contravenes the Constitution or any law, but the enacting body refuses to make amendments, they may submit a motion or proposal to the Chairmen's Council to invalidate such regulation; the Chairmen's Council shall decide whether it is to be brought to the session of the Standing Committee for deliberation and decision.

Article 101 The relevant special committees and the working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall, according to requirements of provisions, give the feedback on the review and research status to the state organs, social groups, enterprises and public institutions and citizens proposing the review advice and may disclose such status to the public.

Article 102 The procedures of review for other organs accepting the record filing of local regulations, autonomous regulations, special regulations, and administrative or local rules shall be formulated by the organ accepting the record filing according to the principle of the guarantee of unified legal system.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 103 The Central Military Commission enacts military regulations in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.
All headquarters, arms of services, military commands of the Central Military Commission and Chinese Armed Police Force may, within their respective authority, make military rules on the basis of the relevant laws as well as military regulations, decisions and orders of the Central Military Commission.
Military regulations and military rules shall be implemented within the armed forces.
The measures for the enactment, amendment and repeal of military regulations and rules shall be formulated by the Central Military Commission on the basis of the principles provided by the Law.

Article 104 The interpretation of the application of specific laws in the judicial or procuratorial work made by the Supreme People's Court or the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall be aimed at the specific legal provisions and in line with the purpose, principle and original intention in respect of the legislation. In a circumstance prescribed in Paragraph 2 of Article 45 hereof, a request for legal interpretation or a proposal on new enactment or amendment of the relevant existing laws shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The interpretation of the application of specific laws in the judicial or procuratorial work made by the Supreme People's Court or the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for record within 30 days as of the date of promulgation.
The judicial organs and procuratorial organs other than the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall not provide any interpretation of the application of specific laws.

Article 105 The Law shall take effect as of July 1, 2000.