By ZHANG YIXIN

The report to the 20th CPC National Congress states that the comprehensive advancement of law-based governance has been a profound revolution in China’s governance. Law-based governance is important for the Party’s success in governing and rejuvenating the country, for the wellbeing of the people, and for the long-term stability of the Party and the country.

At the critical moment of making new strides in advancing the rule of law in China, scholars expressed confidence about the country’s new journey of exercising law-based governance on all fronts.

In the first 10 years of the new era, detailed survey data serves to illustrate the progress of the rule of law in China. By the end of September 2022, China had 293 laws and 598 administrative regulations in effect, with more than 13,000 regional regulations. 85% of judicial organs’ human resources were concentrated in the frontline of case handling, with a per capita volume increase of 20%. Case closing rates also rose by 18%; acceptance of verdicts (including after appeals) reached 98%, and the quality, efficiency, and credibility of the judiciary have all seen improvements. In the past decade, administrative reconsideration organs at all levels handled over 1.9 million cases, and the error correction rate of these cases reached 13.6% on average. The construction of a rule of law government and law-based administration has significantly improved. In 2021, the sense of security among Chinese citizens reached 98.6%. Today, China is recognized as one of the safest countries in the world.

To “exercise law-based governance on all fronts and advance the rule of law in China,” the Congress report proposed giving better play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, ensuring stable expectations, and delivering long-term benefits, striving to build a modern socialist country in all respects under the rule of law.

This important practical task is a summary and elevation of the Party’s experiences in advancing the rule of law since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. Zhu Jingwen, a professor of law from Renmin University of China, believes that efforts to advance the rule of law in China as set forth at the 20th CPC National Congress build upon proposals at the 18th and 19th Party congresses. Without this institutional basis and the rule of law foundation, a Chinese path to modernization would be unimaginable.

With the high-quality development of China’s economy and society, institutions and the rule of law must also be developed and improved to suit Chinese modernization. As Chinese modernization advances, establishing China as a socialist country under the rule of law will play a more obvious role in consolidating foundations, ensuring stable expectations, and delivering long-term benefits, Zhu said.

The report further clarified the relationship between the rule of law and modernization. According to Mo Jihong, director of the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, “the comprehensive advancement of law-based governance” is not only an important component of “building a modern socialist country in all respects,” but also provides solid and powerful legal underpinnings for doing so. The relationship between “the modernization of the rule of law” and “Chinese modernization” is a relationship between one part and the whole, and between means and goals. After the overall pattern of comprehensively advancing law-based governance takes shape, the crucial task of modernizing the rule of law is to further improve the quality of legislation, law enforcement, the judiciary, and the observance of the law, and to satisfy the people’s pursuit of the rule of law’s value on a higher level.

“Building a modern socialist country in all respects under the rule of law” is a deeper version of modernizing the system and capacities for state governance under the rule of law in Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, and has elevated the significance of advancing the rule of law in China to a new height. Qin Qianhong, a law professor from Wuhan University, noted that the key to implementing this deployment lies in upholding the supremacy of the Constitution. Law-based governance and law-based exercise of state power begin with compliance with the Constitution.

Qin emphasized that adhering to constitutional supremacy requires remaining firmly committed to the Party leadership, as mandated by the Constitution; upholding the people-centered philosophy; and strengthening the Constitution’s implementation and supervision, and maintaining the unity and sanctity of the national legal system.