The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party has set clear requirements for the advancement of the rule of law in various fields of comprehensive deepening reforms, and has made specific arrangements for improving the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Judicial and administrative organs must integrate legal services into the reforms across all sectors and deepen the reforms of the legal system itself, leveraging their functions to ensure the effective implementation of key reform measures.

December 4 marks China's 11th National Constitution Day. From December 1 to 7, various regions across the country carried out the "Constitution Publicity Week" activities under the theme of "Vigorously Promoting the Spirit of the Constitution and Advancing Further Comprehensive Deepening of Reforms." The photo shows an event titled "Constitution Lectures Enter Campus" organized by the Luyang District Judicial Bureau in collaboration with the People's Court at Luyang Experimental Primary School in Hefei, Anhui Province, on December 4. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Justice.

Innovation strengthens government legislative review and continuously improves the quality and efficiency of legislative work. Government legislation encompasses a series of tasks, including the formulation, revision, authorization, and cleanup of laws, regulations, and rules, as well as the review of regulatory filings. It constitutes a vital component of national legislation and holds significant importance for refining the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics and advancing the comprehensive rule of law. Based on an in-depth analysis of the legislative needs for advancing Chinese modernization, it is essential to focus on key priorities, address urgent needs first while maintaining overall balance, scientifically and rationally arrange legislative projects, and effectively implement the annual legislative work plan. This approach ensures that sound laws and good governance support and safeguard the central tasks of the Party and the state.

We will take a holistic approach to formulating, revising, abolishing, interpreting, and codifying laws and regulations. We will strengthen legislative work in key fields, emerging fields, and foreign-related fields, focusing on accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, implementing the strategies for invigorating China through science and education and developing a strong culture, and promoting green development. We will improve the rule of law in fields such as national security, social governance, financial regulation, ecological conservation, and risk prevention and control. We will refine the laws, regulations, and institutions related to new technologies, industries, and business models such as artificial intelligence, unmanned driving, the platform economy, the digital economy, and the low-altitude economy. We will take targeted steps to strengthen government review of draft laws and regulations, further reform and refine the legislative model and working mechanisms, and make good use of small-scale and targeted legislative approaches to meet pressing needs in practice. We will lose no time in establishing a unified national information platform for laws, regulations, and regulatory documents, and ensure the implementation of the regulations on the recordation and review of regulations and rules, so as to safeguard the uniformity of China’s legal system.

We will make further progress in exercising law-based administration and intensify efforts to build a law-based government. Building such a government is a key task and the main part of the law-based governance of China, and it plays a demonstrative and leading role in developing a law-based country, society, and government. We will further advance law-based administration, fulfill our duties of conducting legal review of major decisions and regulatory documents, improve the review systems and mechanisms, and draft regulations on the formulation and management of administrative regulatory documents to ensure that all work and decision-making comply with the law.

In accordance with the unified plan, carry out the special campaign to regulate law enforcement involving enterprises effectively. Conduct thorough inspections in areas such as food, drugs, and workplace safety that directly affect the vital interests of the people. At the same time, strengthen oversight and correction of issues such as arbitrary fees, fines, inspections, property seizures, non-compliant cross-regional enforcement, and profit-driven law enforcement. Ensure strict and standardized administrative inspections of enterprises to enhance the authority and credibility of law enforcement. Improve the coordination and oversight system for administrative law enforcement. Refine the benchmark system for administrative discretion in areas such as administrative penalties. Enhance the two-way linkage system between administrative penalties and criminal penalties. Deepen the pilot program for standardizing the coordination mechanism between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice. Launch pilot projects to innovate the construction of a coordinated oversight system for administrative law enforcement, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of administrative law enforcement.

Multiple measures will be taken to promote the substantive resolution of conflicts and disputes, thereby better safeguarding social security and stability. The rule of law must address both the symptoms and root causes—tackling existing issues while preventing potential ones. Efforts will focus on resolving conflicts and disputes at the grassroots level and in their early stages, upholding and advancing the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era. The legalization of petitioning work will be implemented, and a mediation framework will be deepened, centered on people's mediation with coordinated support from various mediation methods. Comprehensive investigations will be conducted into frequent disputes in areas such as marriage and family, neighborhood relations, mass finance, and wage arrears, ensuring the safety and well-being of the people and maintaining social stability.

Strengthen administrative reconsideration work, solidly advance the substantive resolution of administrative disputes, enhance the correction of individual cases and the standardization of similar cases, and better leverage its role as the main channel for resolving administrative disputes. Adhere to treating education and rehabilitation, community corrections, resettlement assistance, dispute resolution, and legal publicity as an integrated effort, thoroughly implement the education and rehabilitation of offenders, rigorously carry out the resettlement assistance for released prisoners, and effectively prevent and reduce recidivism.

We will improve the mechanisms for advancing law-based governance in society and strive to make the rule of law a social consensus and a basic norm. A law-based society provides the foundation for building a law-based country and is a major objective of the law-based governance of China in all respects. Publicity and education on the rule of law is a fundamental part of advancing the law-based governance of China in all respects. We will make our legal awareness initiatives more targeted and effective, improve publicity and education on the rule of law, and carry out the concluding work for the Eighth Five-Year Plan for Publicity and Education on the Rule of Law and formulate the Ninth Five-Year Plan for this purpose. We will take extensive action to enhance citizens’ legal literacy and further strengthen the public awareness of the rule of law.

We will advance reforms of the lawyer, notary, arbitration, mediation, and judicial expertise systems, strengthen political guidance for legal service providers, and strive to improve the quality and efficiency of legal services. To meet people’s needs in areas such as employment, education, healthcare, and social security, we will further expand universal access to public legal services, better protect the rights and interests of workers in flexible employment and new forms of employment, and make full use of IT to coordinate public legal service resources more efficiently and provide better services to people at the community level. We will improve practice-oriented legal education and training mechanisms, coordinate the development of teaching materials and academic disciplines, and take solid steps to enhance collaboration in talent cultivation so as to produce more high-caliber legal professionals.

We will advance the rule of law in foreign-related matters as part of our efforts to promote high-standard opening up. The rule of law and opening up go hand in hand, and our efforts to advance the rule of law in foreign-related matters must keep pace with our efforts to open up. We must strengthen overall planning and coordination, conduct research and planning, and ensure implementation of relevant policies in accordance with our functions. We must take solid steps to advance legislation, law enforcement, the judiciary, and law observance in foreign-related matters as well as to provide legal services and train more legal professionals in this field.

We will strengthen the supply of foreign-related laws and regulations, accelerate efforts to address institutional shortcomings in urgent areas, and provide institutional support for creating a first-class, market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment. We will implement the project to foster world-class arbitration institutions and law firms with Chinese characteristics, strengthen the development of commercial mediation organizations, and accelerate the improvement of our capacity to provide foreign-related legal services. We will establish and strengthen innovation bases for the collaborative training of foreign-related legal professionals and national-level research bases for foreign-related law, and explore the training and employment of foreign-related legal professionals to meet the urgent demand for such professionals in foreign-related practice.

We will advance the development of a comprehensive platform for legal services under the Belt and Road Initiative, improve the mechanism for ascertaining the content of foreign laws, and better protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and citizens overseas. We will deepen international exchanges and cooperation in the field of rule of law and carry out practical cooperation in such areas as judicial assistance and the transfer of sentenced persons.