Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments for the First Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress

(Adopted at the First Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on March 10, 2023)

Pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the relevant laws, the Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments for the first session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress are formulated.

1. The current session shall elect the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China, elect the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, elect the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress, decide on the choice for the Premier of the State Council, decide on the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary-General of the State Council, decide on the choices for Vice-Chairpersons and members of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, elect the Chairperson of  the National Commission of Supervision, and elect the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

2. The choices for the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China, for the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, for the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, for the Chairperson of  the National Commission of Supervision, and for the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate shall be nominated by the Presidium. After consideration by and consultation among the delegations, the Presidium shall decide on the official list of candidates on the basis of the opinion expressed by the majority of the deputies. Among these, the choices for the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons, Secretary-General and members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall be nominated from among the deputies.

The choice for Premier of the State Council shall be nominated by the President of the People's Republic of China; the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary-General of the State Council shall be nominated by the Premier of the State Council; and the choices for Vice-Chairpersons and members of Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China shall be nominated by the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China.

3. An election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected shall be conducted for the election of the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China, the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, the Chairperson of the National Commission of Supervision, the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

4. The Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress shall be composed of 175 members.

Sixteen candidates shall be nominated for the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Secretary-General, for an election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected.

The number of the members to be elected shall be 159, and based on a differential of not less than eight percent, 172 candidates shall be nominated for an election in which the number of candidates is greater than the number of persons to be elected, the difference being thirteen in number.

The names of the candidates for the members of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress shall be listed in the order of the number of strokes in their surnames and names.

5. At the current session the election shall be conducted and the decision on appointments shall be made by secret ballot. A candidate or choice shall be elected or confirmed only if the number of the affirmative votes he obtains is more than half of the number of all the deputies.

6. For election and for decision on appointments for the current session, eight ballots for election and three ballots for acceptance or rejection of the nominations shall be prepared for per deputy.

The eight are for election of: the President of the People's Republic of China; the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China; the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China; the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress; the members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress; the Chairperson of the National Commission of Supervision; the President of the Supreme People's Court; and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The three are for acceptance or rejection of the nominations for: the Premier of the State Council; the Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary-General of the State Council; and the Vice-Chairpersons and members of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China.

7. The ballots for election and for decision on appointments for the current session shall be cast separately at three plenary meetings:

At the 3rd plenary meeting to be held on March 10, the ballots shall be cast for election of the President of the People's Republic of China; and the Chairperson of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China; the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress; and the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China.

At the 4th plenary meeting to be held on March 11, the ballots shall be cast to vote for the choice for the Premier of the State Council; to vote for the choices for the Vice-Chairpersons and members of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China; to elect the Chairperson of the National Commission of Supervision; to elect the President of the Supreme People's Court; to elect the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate; and to elect the members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

At the 5th plenary meeting to be held on March 12, the ballots shall be cast to vote for the choices for the Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary-General of the State Council.

8. In the course of election and decision on appointments, when the number of ballots for election or for a vote for the acceptance or rejection of nominations retrieved is equal to or less than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be valid for the election and the vote; when it is greater than that of the ballots distributed, the result shall be void, and election or a vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations shall be conducted anew.

9. With respect to the candidates on a ballot for election, deputies may vote for or against them or abstain from voting. Those who vote against a candidate may vote for another; those who abstain from voting may not vote for another. Where a vote is for another person instead of the candidate on the ballot, but the name of the said other person written down on the ballot is unclear and cannot be recognized, such a ballot, upon reexamination and confirmation by the chief canvassers, shall not be counted as a vote for another person.

With respect to the choices on a ballot for acceptance or rejection of the nominations, deputies may vote for or against them or abstain from voting, but they may not nominate others.

10. For an election in which the number of candidates is equal to the number of persons to be elected, another person may be voted only when a candidate is voted against. If the number of other persons voted for is smaller or equal to the number of candidates voted against, the ballot shall be valid; otherwise, it shall be void.

11. In the election of the members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, where the number of candidates is greater than the number of persons to be elected, the total number of candidates who are voted against and for whom voting is abstained from shall be not less than 13, i.e., the differential number; otherwise the ballot shall be void. Another person may be voted for only when one more candidate is voted against at least, in addition to the total number of 13 candidates who are voted against or for whom voting is abstained from; otherwise, the ballot shall be void.

12. In the election of the members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, if the number of candidates who obtain the number of the affirmative votes that is more than half of the number of the deputies exceeds the number of the members to be elected, those who obtain the greater number of the affirmative votes shall be elected; if the number of candidates who obtain the number of the affirmative votes that is more than half of the number of all the deputies is less than the number of the members to be elected, the vacancies shall be filled through by-election at the sessions after the First Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress.

If a vote is tied and makes it impossible to determine who is elected, a second ballot shall be cast on the tied candidates and the one who obtains the greater number of the affirmative votes shall be elected. The second ballot shall be held on the 5th plenary meeting on March 12.

13. The results of election and decision on appointments for the current session shall be tallied by electronic voting system. Should the electronic voting system break down in the process, voting shall go on, and after the ballots are cast, the backup electronic voting system shall be enabled for use under the supervision of the chief canvassers and the other canvassers.

Ballots identified as invalidated by the electronic voting system shall be reexamined and confirmed by the chief canvassers.

14. The ballots for election and for acceptance or rejection of nominations shall be printed in the standard written Chinese language and the languages of seven ethnic minority groups-Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak, Korean, Yi and Zhuang. Because the ballot for election of the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the ballot for voting for the choices for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary-General of the State Council are limited in space, they shall be printed only in Chinese language. Cross-reference tables for Chinese and languages of ethnic minority groups shall be prepared and distributed to deputies of ethnic minority groups together with ballots for elections or ballots for acceptance or rejection of nominations, so that the deputies may refer to the cross-reference tables when marking their ballots.

15. Ballot-writing booths shall be provided for election and for decision on appointments during the plenary meetings of the current session.

16. There shall be 35 canvassers to be recommended by the delegations from among the deputies who are not candidates or choices whose appointments are to be decided on. One canvasser shall be recommended by the delegation of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, and of the People's Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force. There shall be two chief canvassers to be designated by the Presidium from among the canvassers. The name lists of the chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall be submitted by the Presidium to the session for adoption. The chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall, under the guidance of the Presidium, supervise the distribution, casting and tallying of the ballots.

The staff members for tallying the ballots shall be designated by the Secretariat of the session.

17. There shall be 28 ballot boxes in the assembly hall and there shall be no mobile ballot boxes. Deputies shall cast their ballots into the designated boxes, and no one may entrust another to cast his ballot.

18. When the time comes for the casting of the ballots, the chief canvassers and the other canvassers shall cast their ballots first, to be followed by the other deputies in proper order.

19. When the casting of the ballots is over, the chief canvassers shall report the ballot results to the Executive Chairperson of the session, who shall declare the election or the vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations valid or invalid.

20. When the ballots have been tallied up, the chief canvassers shall report the result of the election and of the vote for acceptance or rejection of nominations to the Executive Chairperson of the session, who shall announce the result to the session.

21. The Measures for Election and Decision on Appointments shall come into force after they are adopted at the plenary meeting of the First Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress.