Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 23rd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on November 24, 1987; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Amending the Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 8th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress on April 24, 2009; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 35th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on June 24, 2022)

Contents

Chapter I General Provisions

Chapter II Convening of Meetings

Chapter III Submission and Deliberation of Bills and Proposals

Chapter IV Hearing and Deliberating on Reports

Chapter V Addressing of Questions and Inquiries

Chapter VI Speaking and Voting

Chapter VII Promulgation

Chapter VIII Supplementary Provision

Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1 These Rules are developed based on the Constitution and the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and on a review of the practical experience from the work of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, so as to improve the rules of procedure of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and to ensure and regulate its exercise of functions and powers.

Article 2 The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China and hold meetings and carry out other work in accordance with legally prescribed functions and powers and procedures.

Article 3 The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall uphold and develop whole-process people’s democracy, remain closely engaged with the people, heed their opinions and suggestions, embody their will, and safeguard their rights and interests.

Article 4 When deliberating on bills and proposals and making decisions, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall practice the principle of democratic centralism, give full play to democracy, and exercise its functions and powers as a collective.

Article 5 When holding meetings, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall arrange meeting durations, agendas, and schedules reasonably to enhance deliberation quality and efficiency.

Chapter II

Convening of Meetings

Article 6 Meetings of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress generally shall be held every two months, and additional meetings may be held when necessary; when there is a special need, emergency meetings may be convened.

The Council of Chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall decide the dates on which meetings of the Standing Committee are held.

The Chairperson shall convene and preside over meetings of the Standing Committee. The Chairperson may entrust a Vice-Chairperson to preside over such a meeting.

Article 7 Meetings of the Standing Committee may be held only if more than half of the members of the Standing Committee are present.

Under special circumstances, members of the Standing Committee may attend such a meeting by video conferencing as decided by the  Council of Chairpersons.

Article 8 The Council of Chairpersons shall draw up draft agendas of meetings of the Standing Committee and submit them to plenary meetings of the Standing Committee for decision.

During a meeting of the Standing Committee, where the agenda needs to be adjusted,  the Council of Chairpersons shall propose the adjustments to the Standing Committee at its plenary meeting for approval.

The Council of Chairpersons shall decide on meeting schedules.

Article 9 When the Standing Committee shall hold a meeting, members of the Standing Committee and non-voting participants of the meeting shall be notified of the date and main proposed topics of the meeting; where an emergency meeting is convened, they may be notified at shorter notice.

Article 10 When the Standing Committee holds a meeting, the leaders of the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate shall attend the meeting as non-voting participants.

The chairpersons, vice chairpersons, and other members of the special committees of the National People’s Congress who are not members of the Standing Committee, the Deputy Secretaries-General of the Standing Committee, the directors and deputy directors of the Standing Committee’s working bodies; the chairperson and vice chairpersons of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee, the chairperson and vice chairpersons of the Macao Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee, and the leaders of the relevant departments shall attend the meeting as non-voting participants.

Article 11 When the Standing Committee holds a meeting, the chairperson or one of the vice chairpersons of the standing committee of the people’s congress of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, and any other relevant locality shall attend the meeting as a non-voting participant, and the relevant deputies to the National People’s Congress may be invited to attend the meeting as non-voting participants.

Under special circumstances, the Council of Chairpersons may decide to adjust the scope of non-voting participants.

Article 12 When the Standing Committee holds a meeting, it shall hold plenary meetings and group meetings, and may hold joint group meetings as needed.

Article 13 The Council of Chairpersons shall designate several conveners of group meetings of the Standing Committee, who shall take turns to preside over the meetings.

Where there are major differences of opinion or other important developments during deliberation at group meetings, the conveners shall promptly report them to the Secretary-General of the Standing Committee.

The list of groups shall be drawn up by the administrative body of the Standing Committee and reported to the Secretary-General of the Standing Committee for review and approval, and shall be adjusted regularly.

Article 14 The Chairperson of the Standing Committee shall preside over joint group meetings of the Standing Committee and may entrust Vice-Chairpersons to preside over them.

Joint group meetings may be held by all groups or two or more groups jointly.

Article 15 When the Standing Committee holds a meeting, its members shall attend the meeting; where they are unable to attend due to illness or other special reasons, they shall ask for leave from the Chairperson of the Standing Committee in writing through the administrative body of the Standing Committee.

The administrative body of the Standing Committee shall report to the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on the attendance of members of the Standing Committee at meetings and the reasons for their absence.

Members of the Standing Committee shall be diligent and responsible, carefully deliberate on each bill or proposal and report, and strictly observe meeting discipline.

Article 16 Meetings of the Standing Committee shall be held publicly. The durations, agendas, schedules, and content of the meetings shall be made public. When necessary, the relevant agenda items may be temporarily withheld from the public as decided by the Council of Chairpersons.

Article 17 Meetings of the Standing Committee shall employ modern information technology including the digitization of meeting documents and materials, video conferencing and other means to make it more convenient for and provide services to members of the Standing Committee and non-voting participants in the discharge of their duties.

Chapter III

Submission and Deliberation of Bills and Proposals

Article 18 The Council of Chairpersons may submit to the Standing Committee bills and proposals that are within its functions and powers, for deliberation at meetings of the Standing Committee.

The State Council, the Central Military Commission, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the special committees of the National People’s Congress may submit to the Standing Committee bills and proposals that are within its functions and powers; the Council of Chairpersons shall decide whether to place them on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee, or to refer them to the relevant special committees for deliberation and submission of reports and then decide whether to place them on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee.

Ten or more members of the Standing Committee may jointly submit to the Standing Committee bills and proposals that are within its functions and powers; the Council of Chairpersons shall decide whether to place them on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee, or may first refer them to the relevant special committees for deliberation and submission of comments on whether to place them on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee and then decide whether to place them on the agenda of such a meeting; where a proposal is not placed on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee, a report shall be made at the meeting or an explanation given to the sponsors.

Article 19 Bills and proposals submitted to a meeting of the Standing Committee for deliberation shall be submitted at least 10 days before the meeting is convened.

The provision of the previous paragraph does not apply to emergency meetings of the Standing Committee.

When a bill or a proposal is submitted to the Standing Committee, its text and explanation shall be submitted at the same time.

Article 20 The Council of Chairpersons may, according to the needs of its work, entrust the working bodies or General Office of the Standing Committee to draft bills and proposals and to make explanations at meetings of the Standing Committee.

Article 21 With respect to the bills and proposals listed on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee, the sponsor organs, the relevant special committees of the National People's Congress, and the relevant working bodies of the Standing Committee shall provide the relevant materials.

Proposals of appointment or removal shall include the basic information of the persons to be appointed, removed, or removed from office and the reasons for their appointment or removal; when necessary, the relevant leaders shall attend the meetings to answer questions.

Article 22 The Standing Committee hears explanations of bills and proposals at plenary meetings. Bills or Proposals with related contents may be explained together.

The Standing Committee, after hearing explanations of bills and proposals at plenary meetings, shall deliberate on these bills and proposals at group meetings or joint group meetings, and the relevant special committees shall also deliberate on them and submit deliberation reports.

Article 23 After the Standing Committee hears an explanation of and conduct preliminary deliberation on a legislative bill or proposal placed on the agenda of a meeting, the bill or the proposal shall be referred to the Constitution and Law Committee for deliberation; and the Constitution and Law Committee shall submit a deliberation report to the next or a later meeting of the Standing Committee.

After the Constitution and Law Committee conducts deliberation of a bill or a proposal on a decision concerning legal issues or a bill or a proposal to amend a law, it may submit a deliberation report to the current meeting of the Standing Committee or may submit a deliberation report to the next or a later meeting of the Standing Committee.

The special committees shall deliberate on the relevant legislative bills or proposals and submit deliberation reports which shall be distributed at a meeting of the Standing Committee.

When the National People’s Congress is not in session, a legislative bill or proposal submitted to it may first be submitted to its Standing Committee which, after having deliberated on the bill or the proposal at a meeting, shall decide to submit it to the National People’s Congress for deliberation.

Article 24 Bills or Proposals for approving proposed adjustments to plans for economic and social development, budgets, or for approving final accounts shall be referred to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee for review, and may at the same time be referred to other relevant special committees for review; and the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee shall submit its review report to a meeting of the Standing Committee. The review reports of the relevant special committees shall be distributed at the meeting.

At least 45 days before the Standing Committee convenes a plenary meeting, proposed adjustments to plans for economic and social development shall be submitted to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee for a preliminary examination.

Proposed budget adjustments and draft final accounts shall be submitted to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee for a preliminary examination at least 30 days before the Standing Committee convenes a plenary meeting.

Article 25 A bill or a proposal of submitting a treaty or an important agreement for ratification or accession shall be referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee for deliberation, and may at the same time be referred to other relevant special committees for deliberation; the Foreign Affairs Committee shall submit a deliberation report to the current meeting of the Standing Committee or may submit it to the next or a later meeting of the Standing Committee. The deliberation reports of the relevant special committees shall be distributed at that meeting of the Standing Committee.

Article 26 Regulations, autonomous regulations or separate regulations, etc., that by law need to be reported to the Standing Committee for approval, shall be reported to the Standing Committee by their enacting bodies, shall be placed on the agendas of meetings of the Standing Committee as decided by the Council of Chairpersons, and the relevant special committees shall deliberate on these regulations and submit  deliberation reports.

Article 27 Where it is necessary to add to or delete from the lists of laws in Annex III to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China or in Annex III to the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, after consulting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or the Macao Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee and the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the Council of Chairpersons shall draw up a bill or a proposal and submit it to a meeting of the Standing Committee for deliberation.

Article 28 The Standing Committee may, at joint group meetings, hear and deliberate on the special committees’ deliberation reports on bills or proposals and discuss the items on the meeting’s agenda.

Article 29 The leaders of organs submitting bills or proposals may make supplementary explanations of them at plenary meetings or joint group meetings.

Article 30 Where a sponsor requests withdrawal of a bill or a proposal that has been put on the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee before it is put to the vote, deliberation of the bill or the proposal shall be terminated after the withdrawal is approved by the Council of Chairpersons.

Article 31   If important issues requiring further study are raised during deliberation on a bill or a proposal which is to be submitted to a plenary meeting of the Standing Committee for the vote, the vote may be postponed upon a proposal by the Chairperson of the Standing Committee or the Council of Chairpersons and upon  approval by a joint group meeting or a plenary meeting of the Standing Committee, until further deliberation is made and deliberation reports are provided by special committees.

Article 32 When the Standing Committee deems it necessary, it may organize committees for the investigation of specific questions and make corresponding resolutions based on the committees’ reports.

Chapter IV

Hearing and Deliberating on Reports

Article 33 The Standing Committee, based on its annual work plans and needs, hears special work reports by the State Council, the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

The Standing Committee shall hold regular plenary meetings to hear the following reports:

(1) reports on the implementation of the annual plans for economic and social development and of the annual budgets, and reports on the mid-term assessment of the implementation of the five-year plans for national economic and social development;

(2) reports on final accounts, reports on audit work, and reports on rectifying the issues identified by audits;

(3) reports of the State Council on the annual environmental condition and fulfillment of environmental protection targets;

(4) reports of the State Council on its management of state-owned assets;

(5) reports of the State Council on the financial work;

(6) law implementation inspection reports submitted by the law implementation inspection groups of the Standing Committee;

(7) deliberation reports of the special committees on the bills or the proposals submitted by deputies and referred to the special committees by the presidium of a session of the National People’s Congress;

(8) reports of the General Office of the Standing Committee and the relevant departments on the handling of the suggestions, criticisms, and opinions submitted by the deputies to a session of the National People’s Congress;

(9) reports of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee on filing and review; and

(10) other reports.

Article 34    After hearing work reports at the plenary meetings of the Standing Committee, members of the Standing Committee may examine them at group meetings or joint group meetings of the Standing Committee.

The Council of Chairpersons may decide to refer such work reports to relevant special committees for deliberation and comments.

Article 35 The Standing Committee shall refer the deliberation comments on the reports to the relevant organs for handling. The relevant organs shall submit written reports on their handling to the Standing Committee.

When the Standing Committee deems it necessary, it may make resolutions on the relevant reports. The relevant organs shall report to the Standing Committee on the implementation of the resolutions within the periods prescribed by the resolutions.

Based on the recommendations in work reports or the deliberation comments of members of the Standing Committee, the Council of Chairpersons may draw up bills or proposals concerning decisions on legal issues or other major issues and submit them to the Standing Committee for deliberation; when necessary, the Standing Committee may submit them to the National People’s Congress for deliberation.

Chapter V

Addressing of Questions and Inquiries

Article 36 When the Standing Committee deliberates on bills or proposals or the relevant reports at group meetings, it shall notify the relevant departments to send personnel to attend the meetings to listen to opinions and answer questions.

When the Standing Committee deliberates on bills or proposals or the relevant reports at joint group meetings, it shall notify the leaders of relevant departments to attend the meetings to listen to opinions and answer questions.

Article 37 The Standing Committee may hold joint group meetings or group meetings to conduct specific issue questioning about major issues that concern overall reform, development, and stability in China and the vital interests of the Chinese people or that are of public concern.

According to the topics of specific issue questioning, the leaders of the State Council and its departments as well as the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Court, or the Supreme People’s Procuratorate shall attend the meetings to listen to opinions and answer questions.

The opinions expressed during specific issue questioning shall be referred to the relevant organs for handling, and the relevant organs shall submit reports on their handling to the Standing Committee in time. When necessary, the Council of Chairpersons may submit the reports on handling to the Standing Committee for deliberation and decision.

Article 38 Based on the Standing Committee’s work plans or as entrusted by the Council of Chairpersons, the special committees may carry out investigations, research, and questioning on the relevant issues, and submit reports on the results.

Article 39 During a meeting of the Standing Committee, ten or more of its members may jointly submit to the Standing Committee written inquiries against the State Council and its departments as well as the National Commission of Supervision, the Supreme People’s Court, or the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Article 40 Written inquiries must specify the entities to be inquired as well as the questions and contents of the inquiries.

Article 41 The Council of Chairpersons shall decide to refer written inquiries to the relevant special committees for deliberation or to submit them to the Standing Committee for deliberation.

Article 42 As decided by the Council of Chairpersons, the leaders of the organs inquired shall give oral responses to written inquiries at meetings of the Standing Committee or meetings of the relevant special committees, or the organs inquired shall give written responses. Where responses are given at meetings of special committees, the special committees shall submit reports to the Standing Committee or the Council of Chairpersons.

Where written responses are given to written inquiries, the responses shall be signed by the leaders of the organs inquired and shall be printed and distributed to members of the Standing Committee and to the relevant special committees.

When the special committees deliberate on written inquiries, the members of the Standing Committee who submitted the written inquiries may attend the meetings and express opinions.

Chapter VI

Speaking and Voting

Article 43 When speaking at plenary meetings, joint group meetings, and group meetings, members of the Standing Committee shall focus on the agenda items of the meeting.

Where members of the Standing Committee request to speak during the deliberation of relevant agenda items at a plenary meeting or a joint group meeting of the Standing Committee, they shall personally submit the requests to the administrative body of the Standing Committee before the meeting, and shall speak in turn as arranged by the person presiding over the meeting. Where members request to speak at a plenary meeting or a joint group meeting without prior notice, they may speak only with the approval of the person presiding over the meeting. Those who request to speak at a group meeting may do so with the approval of the person presiding over the meeting.

The relevant provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the non-voting participants of the meeting wishing to speak.

Article 44 Speeches given at plenary meetings and joint group meetings shall not exceed 10 minutes each; the first speech given at a group meeting shall not exceed 15 minutes, and the second speech on the same topic shall not exceed 10 minutes. Where it is requested in advance and approved by the person presiding over the meeting, the speaking time may be extended.

Speeches given at meetings of the Standing Committee shall be recorded by the staff members of the administrative body of the Standing Committee, and after being checked and signed by the speakers, shall be compiled as meeting briefings and be archived. Meeting briefings may be in hard copy and may also be in electronic form.

Article 45 Bills or proposals put to the vote shall be adopted by a simple majority vote of all members of the Standing Committee.

The person presiding over a meeting shall announce the result of a vote on the spot.

Members of the Standing Committee who attend a meeting shall cast a vote. When voting, they may vote Yes, or No, or abstain from voting.

Article 46 Where the bills or the proposals put to the vote include amendments, the amendments shall be voted on first.

Article 47 Appointment or removal proposals and removal from office proposals shall be voted on person-by-person, and may also be voted on together depending on the circumstances.

Article 48 The Standing Committee shall vote on bills or proposals by anonymous ballot using voting devices. Members of the Standing Committee shall use the voting devices to cast a vote. Where the voting devices malfunction during use, votes shall be cast by a show of hands or other methods.

Members of the Standing Committee who attend a meeting through video conferencing shall cast votes by a show of hands or other methods.

Chapter VII

Promulgation

Article 49 Laws adopted by the Standing Committee shall be promulgated by orders of the President signed by the President of the People’s Republic of China.

Resolutions or decisions adopted by the Standing Committee shall be promulgated by the Standing Committee.

Legislative interpretations adopted by the Standing Committee, as well as matters such as the election, by-election, resignation, and removal of deputies to the National People’s Congress, shall be promulgated by public announcements of the Standing Committee.

Article 50 Decisions of the Standing Committee to appoint or remove the vice premiers or state councilors, as well as the ministers or directors of ministries and commissions, president of the People’s Bank of China, auditor general, or secretary-general of the State Council, shall be promulgated by orders of the president signed by the President of the People’s Republic of China in accordance with the decisions of the Standing Committee.

Article 51 Laws, resolutions, and decisions adopted by the Standing Committee, as well as their accompanying explanations, reports on the results of revisions, and deliberation reports, public announcements issued by the Standing Committee, treaties and important agreements the Standing Committee decides to ratify or accede to, statements by the Standing Committee or special committees, and other such documents, shall be published in time in the Gazette of the Standing Committee and on the National People's Congress website.

Chapter VIII

Supplementary Provision

Article 52 These Rules of Procedure shall take effect on the date of promulgation.