The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) has included the revision of the Law on Popularization of Science and Technology in its legislative plan for 2022.

The current law, adopted at the 28th session of the 9th NPC Standing Committee on June 29, 2002, is the world’s first that is dedicated to science and technology popularization and has played an important role in improving public science literacy and promoting economic and social development.

China's science and technology popularization now features government-led efforts with mass participation and extensive collaboration. Currently, 25 provincial-level regions have formulated regulations on science popularization, and four have formulated administrative measures for implementing the law.

However, there are many problems in the enforcement of the law, such as the limited role of the law in rectifying the unbalanced progress of science popularization between rural and urban areas, an inappropriate funding structure and ambiguities in determining the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the units engaged in science popularization.

It's against this background that a motion submitted to the fifth session of the 13th NPC called for amendment to the law at its 20th anniversary to meet the needs of development in the new era. 

The motion suggested to stress the legislation’s purpose of supporting long-term national development goals and the importance of technical self-reliance in the general provisions. In terms of organization and administration, priority should be given to ensuring the implementation of the National Action Plan for Scientific Literacy 2021-2035 released by the State Council, according to the motion. Other suggested revisions include an emphasis on the not-for-profit endeavors, support to various programs by governmental departments, media outlets and social organizations, and a guarantee of increased funding.

In addition, the NPC Standing Committee also started the first enforcement inspection of the law this year, with a focus on the law’s role in promoting economic and social development and building a scientific and technological powerhouse.