General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at a central conference on work related to people's congresses that was held from Oct 13 to 14, 2021. From a strategic perspective on improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and on advancing the modernization of our system and capacity for national governance, he put forward the guidelines, major principles, and main tasks for strengthening and improving the work of the people's congresses in the new era. He provided thorough answers to major theoretical and practical questions regarding the development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, as well as how we should adhere to and improve the system of people's congresses.

The question of institutions has implications for the foundations, the overall situation, the stability, and the long-term development of our Party and country. Both past and present tell us that stable institutions make a stable country, and that strong institutions make a strong country. The greatest strengths of a country lie in its institutions. To build a modern socialist country and realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must have strong institutional guarantees. Xi Jinping said, "The system of people's congresses is an effective system that conforms to the national conditions and current realities of our country, reflects its nature as a socialist country, ensures that the people are the masters of the country, and guarantees the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It represents a great innovation in the history of human political institutions made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC. It is an entirely new political system of great significance in the history of China's political development and even in the history of global political development." The implementation of the system of people's congresses in China reflected all the painful lessons learned from China's political life since modern times began. It was the result of Chinese society's dramatic transformation and development over more than a century, and the inevitable choice made by the Chinese people who had finally become masters of the country and taken control of their own destiny.

As an entirely new political system, that of people's congresses is a great innovation of the CPC and the Chinese people. It embodies a series of political concepts and theoretical principles that are closely connected and interrelated, and contains a complete set of important political institutions and codes of conduct that are well founded and coordinated in their operation. This set of institutions upholds the leadership of the CPC and the basic principles of Marxist state theory, conforms to the state system of the people's democratic dictatorship, and effectively ensures that the country continues to advance along the path of socialism. It upholds the principle that all power in the country belongs to the people, guarantees that the people are the masters of the country to the greatest possible extent, and ensures unity between the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance, thereby functioning as an effective guarantee for escaping the historical cycle of order succumbing to chaos and prosperity followed by decline in national governance. Over the past six decades, and particularly in the four decades since the launch of reform and opening up, the system of people's congresses has been consolidated and improved, effectively mobilizing all the people to participate in building socialism as masters of the country and to advance toward the great goal of national development with unswerving commitment. It has ensured coordinated and efficient operations of state organs as well as unified and effective mobilization of various undertakings, and also vigorously safeguarded national unity, ethnic solidarity, and social harmony and stability. In doing so, it has provided important institutional guarantees for the CPC to lead the people in bringing about the two miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, under the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core and the guidance of Xi Jinping's important ideas on upholding and improving the system of people's congresses, even more fruitful results have been achieved through theoretical and practical innovation in the system of people's congresses, and historic progress has been made in both the development of this system and in the work of the congresses.

Every law, every policy, and every resolution has been aligned with the CPC's propositions and the people's wishes, and has moved in step with the cause of national rejuvenation in the face of adversity. The timely adoption of a constitutional amendment defined the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; the arrival of the Civil Code offered a compendium of rights for the Chinese people and fulfilled a wish that went back generations; the formulation of the National Security Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the amendment of the region's electoral system promoted long-term stability of the One Country, Two Systems policy; the introduction and revision of environmental protection laws that have been described as the strictest in history in close succession ensured steady progress for the Beautiful China Initiative; and the revision of the Organic Law of the National People's Congress and the Rules of Procedure of the National People's Congress for the first time in more than 30 years incorporated the term "whole-process democracy" into these documents. These are just a few examples of how the strengths of the system of people's congresses have been consistently translated into effective governance, demonstrating the system's impressive vitality.

The key to the great vitality and remarkable strengths of the system of people's congresses is that it is deeply rooted in the people, and maintains whole-process people's democracy on both the theoretical and practical levels.

"A long rainbow bridge that connects the people at one end to the highest organ of state power at the other." This is how people describe the contact point for grassroots legislation in Hongqiao Subdistrict, Changning District, Shanghai. On June 1, 2021, the newly revised Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors came into force. Provisions regarding the payment of security deposits by guardians of minors were removed from the revised draft, a modification which came from the suggestion of an ordinary middle school student. The suggestion was passed up to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee via the contact point in Hongqiao Subdistrict. Adopting a more open approach to legislation, listening to the voice of the people, and establishing contact points for grassroots legislation are new innovations in the legislative work of the NPC. This case constitutes a vivid example of China's whole-process people's democracy.

Whole-process people's democracy is a major concept put forward by the CPC Central Committee led by Xi Jinping that has deepened the CPC's understanding of the laws underlying the development of democracy. On Nov 2, 2019, Xi Jinping visited Hongqiao and had a cordial interaction with representatives of community residents who were participating in consultations on legislation. During this visit, he said, "People's democracy is a kind of whole-process democracy." Speaking at the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC, he stressed the need to "develop whole-process people's democracy." At the central conference on work related to people's congresses, he explained this concept on a deeper level: "China's whole-process people's democracy embodies the unity between democracy in process and democracy in outcome, between procedural democracy and substantive democracy, between direct democracy and indirect democracy, and between people's democracy and the will of the state. It covers all areas and every link in the chain, and represents the broadest, most genuine, and most effective socialist democracy." These important points clarify the essential characteristics and significant advantages of China's people's democracy, and demonstrate the confidence and vigor of China's socialist democracy.

Democracy is a value that is shared by the whole human race, and is a key tenet that the CPC and the Chinese people have adhered to with unswerving commitment. Transforming democratic values and ideas into sound and effective institutional arrangements and into concrete democratic practices requires that attention be paid to the integration of past and present, of theory and practice, and of form and content. It is impossible to judge whether a country's political system is democratic or not in an abstract way without taking into account specific social and political conditions. In this regard, Xi Jinping has put forward the following eight main criteria for judging whether or not a country's political system is democratic and effective: "whether the country can conduct leadership transitions in a lawful and orderly manner; whether the people can administer national, social, economic, and cultural affairs in accordance with the law; whether people can openly express their demands; whether various sectors of society can participate effectively in national political affairs; whether state decision-making is rational and democratic; whether talent from a variety of sectors can enter systems of national leadership and administration through fair competition; whether the governing party can exercise leadership over national affairs in accordance with the Constitution and the law; and whether the exercise of power is subject to effective constraints and supervision."

Democracy is not an ornament for decoration; it is to be used to solve the problems as the people wish so. Xi Jinping has said, "The key to whether a country is democratic or not lies in whether the people are the masters of the country. To make this judgment, we must consider not only whether the people have the right to vote, but also whether they have the right to broad participation; not only the promises that are made to the people during the election process, but also the degree to which these promises are fulfilled after the election; not only the political procedures and rules that are defined in systems and laws, but also whether these systems and laws are actually implemented; and not only whether the rules and procedures through which power is exercised are democratic, but also whether power is really supervised and circumscribed by the people." Regarding the Western-style democratic model as the standard is a very narrow-minded way of thinking. If the people are only woken up at voting time and then go back into hibernation afterwards, if they are hyped up by slogans during the election but have no voice once it is over, and if they are pandered to when votes are being canvassed but left out in the cold once the tallies are complete, then they are not living in a true democracy.

Democracy is the right of the people of all countries, not just the property of a few countries. Whether a country is democratic should be up to its people to decide, not a small group of critical outsiders. Whether or not a country in the international community is democratic should be judged together by the international community, and not by a few self-righteous countries. There are many ways to achieve democracy; it is not a case of one-size-fits-all. Measuring the rich and varied political systems of the world with a single yardstick, or viewing the diverse political cultures of humanity through a monochrome filter, is in itself undemocratic. The national conditions of each country are different, and so the political system of each country is unique: it is determined by the people of the country in question, and is the result of long-term development, gradual improvement, and endogenous evolution that is founded upon the country's historical heritage, cultural traditions, and economic and social development. The reason why the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics works and is vital and effective is that it grew out of China's soil, it conforms to China's national conditions and current realities, and it embodies the fundamental interests and common will of the Chinese people.

China's whole-process people's democracy not only comprises a complete set of institutional procedures, but also involves complete participation in practice. The people enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, and exercise democratic rights through multiple channels. These rights are embodied in the voting and elections conducted every few years, and in major public affairs decisions concerning the national economy and people's livelihoods; they are embodied in democratic elections, and other aspects of national governance such as democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision; and they are embodied in the political, economic, cultural, and social domains, and have become an integral part of the people's daily work and lives. For example, during the preparation of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi Jinping personally presided over seven meetings to solicit ideas, and the people contributed more than 1.018 million opinions and suggestions via the Internet. During the five-year process of compiling the Civil Code, the NPC Standing Committee held deliberations on 10 occasions, solicited public opinions on an additional 10 occasions, and received more than 1.02 million suggestions from 425,000 people. A variety of lively democratic practices and innovative forms of democracy are also emerging at the grassroots level, such as local community consultations in places like Beijing, Suzhou, and Wenling, which together compose an inspiring picture of whole-process people's democracy.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the arguments that humanity had reached the so-called "end of history" and that Western democracy represented "the ultimate form of human government" were all the rage. Some developing countries copied these systems blindly, and the result was political turmoil, social unrest, and the destruction of people's livelihoods. The successful and vivid practice of the whole-process people's democracy in China has proven a certain truth to the world: there is no universal model of democracy, and all countries can follow their own path. The well-known British scholar Martin Jacques has pointed out, "China's governing system, long derided in the West, has emerged as a formidable challenger to America's democratic system. Over the last 40 years, there is no question which has been more effective and which has delivered most for its people." Eduardo Roldan, former Consul General of Mexico in Hong Kong, has remarked that the distinctive feature of China's socialist democracy that distinguishes it from Western democracy is its whole-process democracy, and that this is a type of people-centered participatory democracy that carries great innovative value and practical significance.

People's democracy is the lifeblood of socialism. Without people's democracy, there would be no socialism, no socialist modernization drive, and no rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must continue to promote the whole-process people's democracy, and ensure that the principle of the people being the masters of the country is concretely and tangibly reflected in the policies and measures through which the CPC governs the country, in all aspects of the work of Party and government offices at all levels, and in efforts to fulfill the people's desire for a better life.

The system of people's congresses is an important institutional vehicle for realizing China's whole-process people's democracy. It is an important channel for ensuring that the Chinese people are the masters of their country, and constitutes the highest manifestation of this principle. The more that the strengths of the system of people's congresses are brought into play, the more whole-process people's democracy will be ensured.

To give full play to the strengths of the people's congress system, it is imperative that we implement the following six requirements put forward by Xi Jinping. First, the leadership of the CPC must be upheld. This is an inherent requirement and political strength of the system of people's congresses, and a fundamental guarantee for seeing that the work of the people's congresses is done well. Second, we must use our system of institutions to ensure that the people are the masters of the country by providing support and guarantees for the people to exercise state power through the people's congresses and expanding the political participation of the people at all levels and in all areas in an orderly manner. Third, we must advance law-based governance across the board, and regard the rule of law as the basic approach through which the Party leads the people in governing the country. Fourth, we must adhere to democratic centralism and ensure that the nation's undertakings are mobilized and advanced in a unified and effective manner. Fifth, we must follow the Chinese socialist path of political development, which is the right path, and one that conforms to China's national conditions and has been tested in practice. Sixth, we must push forward modernization of China's system and capacity for governance, and ensure that the strengths of the people's congress system are more readily translated into effective governance. These six requirements collectively summarize the new concepts, new thinking, and new imperatives resulting from theoretical and practical innovation in the system of people's congresses since the 18th National Congress of the CPC. They are the basic guidelines for the work of the people's congresses and the development of the people's congress system on the road ahead.

Giving full play to the strengths of the system of people's congresses requires us to uphold the system with unshakable commitment, to keep improving it in step with the times, and to enhance the work of the people's congresses in the new era. We must fully enforce the Constitution and maintain its authority and sanctity, move faster to refine the Chinese socialist legal system, and develop good governance through good laws. Moreover, we must make effective use of the supervisory power granted to the NPC by the Constitution, and carry out correct and effective supervision in accordance with the law. We must also maximize the role of deputies to the people's congresses, and see that they respond to the appeals of the people. Finally, we must boost awareness within people's congresses of their role as political organs, promote self-improvement of the congresses, and strengthen CPC's leadership over their work.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No 21, 2021)