Section Four

Committees and Working Organs of Standing Committees

Article 56 The standing committee of each local people's congress at or above the county level shall establish a credentials committee.

Nominations for the chairperson, deputy chairpersons, and members of a credentials committee shall be made by the council of chairpersons of the standing committee from among the members of the standing committee and they shall be appointed or removed from office by the standing committee.

Article 57 The credentials committee shall examine whether elections of deputies are conducted in conformity with the provisions prescribed by law.

Article 58 The council of chairpersons or at least one fifth of the members of the standing committee jointly in written, may submit to the standing committee of their people's congress a proposal for organizing an investigation committee on specific issues, which shall be decided by the plenary meeting of the standing committee.

An investigation committee shall be composed of a chairperson, deputy chairpersons, and members, who shall be nominated by the council of chairpersons from among the members of the standing committee or other deputies and be submitted to the plenary meeting of the standing committee for approval.

An investigation committee shall present an investigation report to the standing committee of its people's congress. The standing committee may make an appropriate resolution on the basis of the report presented by the investigation committee.

Article 59 A standing committee may set up an administrative body and other working organs such as a legislative affairs commission, a budgetary affairs commission, and a deputy affairs commission according to its needs in work.

The standing committee of the people's congress of a province and autonomous region may set up working organs in the prefectures under its jurisdiction.

The standing committee of the people's congress of a district of a city or a city not divided into districts may set up working organs in subdistricts. Such working offices shall maintain contact with deputies to the people’s congresses residing in the subdistricts, organize activities for the deputies, convey the suggestions, criticisms and opinions of deputies and the public, handle work regarding supervision and election or other issues assigned by its standing committee, and report work to its standing committee.

The standing committee of the people's congress of a county or autonomous county may set up working organs in subdistricts by applying the provisions of the preceding paragraph mutatis mutandis.

Article 60 The standing committees, special committees, and working organs of the local people's congresses at or above the county level shall establish a sound working mechanism for the liaison between the deputies to these people's congresses and the members of the standing committees, the special committees, and the working organs; support and ensure that deputies perform their duties according to law; expand deputies' participation in all the work; and give full play to the role of deputies.

The standing committees of the local people's congresses at or above the county level shall maintain close contact with the people by establishing outreach offices at the grassroots level and deputy liaison offices in order to solicit comments and suggestions on legislation, supervision and other works.

Chapter IV

Local People's Governments

Section One

General Rules

Article 61 People's governments shall be established in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, cities, districts of cities, townships, ethnic townships, and towns.

Article 62 The local people's governments at all levels shall safeguard the authority of the Constitution and laws, adhere to law-based administration, and build themselves into law-based governments which have appropriately defined functions, perform statutory powers and responsibilities, and strictly enforce the law, which are open, impartial, smart, efficient, honest and trustworthy, and with which the people are satisfied.

Article 63 The local people's governments at various levels shall commit to a people-centered approach, wholeheartedly serve the people, improve administrative efficiency, and become more service-oriented.

Article 64 The local people's governments at various levels shall strictly implement the regulations on clean governance and strengthen efforts to build a clean government.

Article 65 The local people's governments shall adhere to the principle of integrity, strengthen government integrity-building, and build themselves into trustworthy governments.

Article 66 The local people's governments at various levels shall adhere to openness of government affairs; comprehensively promote the openness of decision-making, implementation, management, services, and outcomes; accurately disclose government information in accordance with the law and in a timely manner; promote the sharing of government data in an orderly manner; and improve government transparency.

Article 67 The local people's governments at various levels shall adhere to scientific, democratic, and law-based decision-making, in order to improve the quality of decision-making.

Article 68 The local people's governments at various levels shall be subject to supervision in accordance with law to ensure the proper and law-based exercise of administrative power.

Article 69 The local people's government at any level shall be accountable to and report its work to the people's congress at its corresponding level and the state administrative organs at the next higher level. The local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be accountable to and report their work to the standing committees of the people's congresses at their corresponding levels when the people's congresses are not in session.

The local people's governments at any level throughout the country are state administrative organs under the unified leadership of the State Council and shall be subordinate to the State Council.

The local people's governments at various levels shall implement the system of requesting instructions on major issues and the reporting system on major issues.

Section Two

Composition and Term of Office of Local People's Governments

Article 70 The people's government of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefecture or city divided into districts shall have, accordingly, a governor and deputy governors of the province, a chairperson and vice chairpersons of the autonomous region, a mayor and deputy mayors, or a prefect and deputy prefects, and shall have a secretary-general, department chiefs, bureau chiefs, and commission chiefs.

The people's government of a county, autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or district of a city shall have, accordingly, a head and deputy heads of the county, a mayor and deputy mayors of the city, or a head and deputy heads of the district, and shall have bureau chiefs and section chiefs.

The people's government of a township or ethnic township shall have a head and deputy heads of the township. The head of an ethnic township shall be a citizen of the ethnic minority that establishes the ethnic township. The people's government of a town shall have a head and deputy heads of the town.

Article 71 After the leading persons of a new people's government are elected in accordance with the law, they shall, within two months, request the standing committee of the people's congress at its corresponding level to appoint the secretary-general, department chiefs, bureau chiefs, commission chiefs, or section chiefs of the people's government.

Article 72 The term of office of a local people's government at any level shall be five years.

Section Three

Powers and Functions of Local People's Governments

Article 73 A local people's government at or above the county level shall exercise the following powers and functions:

(1) to implement the resolutions of the people's congress and its standing committee at its level as well as decisions and orders of the state administrative organs at higher levels, formulate administrative measures and issue decisions and orders;

(2) to direct the work of its subordinate departments and of the people's governments at lower levels;

(3) to alter or annul inappropriate orders and directives of its subordinate departments and the inappropriate decisions and orders of the people's governments at lower levels;

(4) to appoint or remove personnel in state administrative organs, train them, appraise their performance and award or punish them in accordance with the provisions of laws;

(5) to prepare and implement the outline of the plan for national economic and social development, the plan for national economic and social development, and the budget, administer the economy, education, science, culture, public health, sports, urban and rural construction, etc., and conduct administrative work concerning ecological environment protection, natural resources, finance, civil affairs, social security, public security, ethnic affairs, judicial administration, population and family planning within its administrative area;

(6) to protect the socialist property owned by the whole people and the property collectively owned by the working people, protect the legitimate private property owned by citizens, maintain public order, and safeguard the personal, democratic and other rights of citizens;

(7) to perform duties for the management of state-owned assets;

(8) to protect the legitimate rights and interests of all kinds of economic organizations;

(9) to consolidate the strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, promote broad exchanges and interactions among ethnic groups, and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of ethnic minorities, safeguard the freedom of ethnic minorities to retain or reform their folkways and customs, assist the ethnic autonomous areas within its administrative area to exercise regional autonomy in accordance with the Constitution and laws, and assist the various ethnic minorities in their political, economic and cultural development;

(10) to safeguard women's rights as endowed by the Constitution and laws, such as equality with men, equal pay for equal work and freedom of marriage; and

(11) to handle other matters assigned by state administrative organs at higher levels.

Article 74 The people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government may formulate rules in accordance with laws, administrative regulations, and the local regulations of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, and report them to the State Council and the standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level for the record. The people's government of a city divided into districts or autonomous prefecture may, within the limits of statutory authority, formulate rules in accordance with administrative regulations and the local regulations of its province and autonomous region, and report them to the State Council, the standing committee of the people's congress and the people's government of its province or autonomous region, and the standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level for the record.

Rules to be formulated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph must be discussed and decided by the executive meeting or the plenary meeting of the people's government at the corresponding level.

Article 75 When formulating normative documents concerning the rights and obligations of individuals and organizations, the local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with their statutory limits of authority and procedures, conduct evaluations and argumentation, solicit public opinions, carry out legality reviews, make decisions through collective discussion, publish the normative documents and put them on the record.

Article 76 The people's government of a township, ethnic township, or town shall exercise the following powers and functions:

(1) to implement the resolutions of the people's congress at its corresponding level and the decisions and orders of state administrative organs at higher levels, and to issue decisions and orders;

(2) to implement the plan for economic and social development and the budget of its administrative area, administer the economy, education, science, culture, public health, sports, etc., and conduct administrative work concerning ecological environment protection, finance, civil affairs, social security, public security, ethnic affairs, judicial administration, population and family planning within its administrative area;

(3) to protect the socialist property owned by the whole people and the property collectively owned by the working people, protect the legitimate private property owned by citizens, maintain public order, and safeguard the personal, democratic and other rights of citizens;

(4) to protect the legitimate rights and interests of all kinds of economic organizations;

(5) to consolidate the strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, promote broad exchanges and interactions among ethnic groups, and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of ethnic minorities, safeguard the freedom of ethnic minorities to retain or reform their folkways and customs;

(6) to safeguard women's rights as endowed by the Constitution and laws, such as equality with men, equal pay for equal work and freedom of marriage; and

(7) to handle other matters assigned by state administrative organs at higher levels.

Article 77 The leader responsibility system shall be practiced by local people's governments in which overall responsibility for the work of the local people's governments shall be assumed accordingly by the governors of provinces, the chairpersons of the autonomous regions, the mayors, the prefects, the heads of counties, the heads of districts, the heads of townships, and the heads of towns.

The governor of a province, the chairperson of an autonomous region, the mayor, the prefect, the head of a county, district, township, or town shall direct the work of the corresponding local people's government.

Article 78 Meetings of a local people's government at or above the county level shall consist of plenary meetings and executive meetings. The plenary meetings shall be attended by all the members of that people's government. The executive meetings of the people's government of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefecture, or city divided into districts shall be attended, respectively, by the governor and deputy governors of the province, the chairperson and vice chairpersons of the autonomous region, the mayor and deputy mayors, or the prefect and deputy prefects, and additionally the secretary-general. The executive meetings of the people's government of a county, autonomous county, city not divided into districts, or district of a city shall be attended, respectively, by the head and deputy heads of the county, the mayor and deputy mayors, or the head and deputy heads of district. The governor of the province, the chairperson of the autonomous region, the mayor, the prefect, the head of the county, or district shall convene and preside over the plenary meetings and executive meetings of the people's government at the corresponding level. Important issues in government work must be discussed and decided at the executive meetings or plenary meetings of the respective governments.

Section Four

Institutional Setup of Local People's Governments

Article 79 Local people's governments shall establish necessary working offices in accordance with work requirements and the principle of compact and efficient organization.

Auditing bodies shall be established by the local people's governments at or above the county level. Local auditing bodies shall independently exercise their power of supervision through auditing in accordance with law and shall be accountable to their people's governments and to the auditing body at the next higher level.

The establishment, increase, reduction or amalgamation of such working offices as departments, bureaus, and commissions under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the establishment, increase, reduction or amalgamation of such working offices as bureaus and sections under the people's governments of autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous countries, cities, and districts of cities shall be reported for approval in accordance with the prescribed procedures and reported to the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding levels for the record.

Article 80 The local people's governments at or above the county level may, in accordance with the national strategy for regional development and in light of the actual local needs, jointly establish inter-administrative areas working mechanisms for coordinated regional development  , and strengthen regional cooperation.

The people's government shall guide, coordinate and supervise the work of the people's governments at lower levels on regional cooperation.

Article 81 The local people's governments at or above the county level may, in light of their needs for responding to major emergencies, establish inter-departmental command and coordination mechanisms.

Article 82 Each department, bureau, commission and section shall have a department director, bureau director, commission chairperson and section chief, respectively, and may have deputies to those positions when necessary.

A general office or office department shall have a director and, when necessary, deputy directors.

The people's government of a province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefecture, or city divided into districts shall have a secretary-general and deputy secretaries-general.

Article 83 The working offices of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be under the unified leadership of their respective people's governments and shall be under the operational guidance or leadership of the competent departments of the State Council in accordance with the provisions of laws or administrative regulations.

The working departments of the people's governments of autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, cities, and districts of cities shall be under the unified leadership of their respective people's governments and shall be under the operational guidance or leadership of the competent departments of the people's governments at higher levels in accordance with the provisions of laws or administrative regulations.

Article 84 The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, cities, and districts of cities shall assist in the work of the state organs, enterprises, and public institutions that are located in their respective administrative areas but not under their administration, and shall supervise them in the observance and implementation of laws and policies.

Article 85 When necessary and with the approval of the State Council, the people's government of a province or autonomous region may establish certain agencies.

When necessary and with the approval of the people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, the people's government of a county or autonomous county may establish district offices as its agencies.

With the approval of the people's government at the next higher level, the people's government of a district of a city or city not divided into districts may establish subdistrict offices as its agencies.

Article 86 The subdistrict offices shall, within their respective areas, handle public services, public administration, public security and other work assigned by the people's governments that established them, perform the duties such as comprehensive management, overall planning and coordination, emergency response and administrative law enforcement in accordance with law, and reflect the opinions and demands of residents.

Article 87 The people's governments of townships, ethnic townships, towns, districts of cities and cities not divided into districts or subdistrict offices shall guide, support and assist primary-level people's self-governance organizations in their work. Primary-level people's self-governance organizations shall assist the people's governments of townships, ethnic townships, towns, districts of cities and cities not divided into districts or subdistrict offices in their work.

Article 88 The people's governments of townships, ethnic townships, and towns and subdistrict offices may, in light of the actual situation, establish a system for residents to attend relevant meetings as nonvoting observers.

Chapter V

Supplementary Provisions

Article 89 In addition to exercising the powers and functions provided by this Law, the autonomous organs of autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties shall exercise the right of self-government in accordance with the Constitution, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and other laws.

Article 90 The people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and their standing committees may, in accordance with this Law and the actual situation, make specific provisions on problems that occur in the course of implementing this Law.