Zhang Qiongli, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress from the Tujia ethnic group, has a firm belief that sport has a major role to play in bringing people from all of China's 56 ethnic groups together.

After the opening of the annual session of the NPC, China's top legislature, on Thursday, she was asked by journalists outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing about her call for more support in organizing sports events in ethnic areas.

Zhang, a teacher from a high school in the Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in Hubei province, said sport had proved to be a great way to unite people from different ethnic groups.

The popular "EnBA" basketball tournament held in the prefecture, for instance, had perfectly integrated people's passion for ethnic cultures and sports, she said.

"It's much more than a basketball tournament. It became a new platform for us to showcase our unique ethnic culture, which we are proud of, via performances during the games," she said, and it "boosts understanding and exchanges of people from different ethnic groups, and more importantly, strengthens the sense of the Chinese national community".

The NPC deputies are deliberating on a draft law promoting ethnic unity and progress, which asks people's governments at all levels to encourage and support the organization of exchange activities such as traditional Chinese festivals, folk culture events and sports competitions that are popular among and participated in by people of all ethnic groups.

The EnBA has been held for three consecutive years since it began in 2023, attracting participants from 38 ethnic groups, including the Tujia, Miao, Dong, Uygur and Han. The highest online viewership for a single game exceeded 2.4 million, with cumulative online and offline attention surpassing 5 billion, said Zhang, who is a big fan of the tournament.

"During the EnBA, I truly felt the interaction and integration among people of various ethnic groups, and the scenes of ethnic unity were very vivid," Zhang said.

She said as a lawmaker, she decided to draft suggestions to recommend promoting the EnBA model and hoped to receive support at the national level in the form of policy facilitation and improvement of cultural and sports facilities.

"Without a doubt, once passed, the law will greatly boost ethnic unity at the national level by the rule of law. It will significantly enhance national, civic and legal awareness among people of all ethnic groups in all areas calling for efforts to uphold unity," Zhang said.

Development integration

Formulation of the legislation, initiated in 2023 before undergoing extensive consultations, has followed the principle of promoting common ground while respecting and accommodating differences, Li Hongzhong, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said in his explanatory remarks on the draft on Thursday.

The first draft of the law was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for initial review in September.

It was subsequently made available on the NPC's official website to solicit public suggestions and also provided to all NPC deputies before collecting their opinions. The second draft was submitted to the fourth session of the 14th NPC for a third reading.

The draft law lays out the overall requirements, important principles, and responsibilities and duties of relevant entities concerning the promotion of ethnic unity and progress. It also outlines specific measures to build a common cultural home, facilitate interaction, exchanges, and integration, and promote shared prosperity and development.

Creating the law is in line with the overarching trend of the Chinese nation from the past to the future, from tradition to modernity, and unity in diversity, through State legislation, Lou Qinjian, spokesman of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, said at a news conference in Beijing.

"It will also ensure that ethnic regions are supported in integrating with the country's overall development at a faster pace, and that ethnic unity as well as the lawful rights and interests of people from all ethnic groups are better safeguarded,"Lou said. "All these efforts will further boost the cohesion and unity of the Chinese nation."

The proposed law is coordinated and connected with other existing laws and regulations, such as the law on regional ethnic autonomy, and focuses on fostering a stronger sense of community for the Chinese nation, further developing the community of the Chinese nation, and regulating ethnic relations nationwide, he added.

Meanwhile, many deputies believe drafting the law has been a milestone as it is aimed at strengthening the "consciousness" of the Chinese national community, which is more important than ever in the face of a complex international environment and risks and challenges.

In the past, the nation relied on policy guidance and education as well as other practical experiences to promote ethnic unity, said Yershat Tursonbay, an NPC deputy from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and governor of Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture.

"Once the draft law is passed, we will have legal boundaries and institutional foundations to transform the consciousness of the Chinese national community from 'ideological awareness' to 'legal awareness', and from people's 'popular will' to 'institutional commitment'," Yershat said.

Drafting the law is also a crucial step in enhancing the modernization of the governance system and capacity for ethnic affairs, he added.

"For regions like Ili (Kazak), where multiple ethnic groups coexist, the more robust the legal framework is, the more precise the governance can be," he said.

More importantly, the proposed law is a "powerful legal weapon" for maintaining national unity and opposing ethnic separatism. Its draft firmly opposes any attempts at infiltration, undermining, defamation, or suppression under the guise of ethnicity, religion, or human rights.

It also explicitly prohibits external interference in China's ethnic affairs, Yershat said.

"As an official from border areas, I deeply understand that unity is key in stabilizing the border, and long-term peace and stability rely on the law as the strongest protective net. In the face of a complex international environment and risks and challenges, the draft law clearly upholds national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and opposes all acts of separatism and extremist ideologies, providing legal support for the governance of ethnic affairs and strengthening the national security barrier," he added.

The draft law also outlined detailed and practical measures to encourage interaction, exchanges and integration among people from different ethnic groups. It calls for initiatives such as harmonious integrated habitation among various ethnic groups.

"This will ensure people from various ethnic backgrounds can live and work closely together, helping and supporting each other, and making the great family of the Chinese nation warmer and more cohesive," Yershat said.

He added that development is the material foundation of unity. The draft law aims to advance shared prosperity and development, promoting "inclination" of industries, projects, policies, and talents in favor of ethnic regions, making development more sustainable and its outcomes more widely shared.

"As a result, the lives of people from all ethnic groups will become increasingly prosperous, and their hearts will grow even closer," said Yershat, adding that lawmakers in the prefecture passed a local regulation in 2023 to encourage interaction, exchange and integration among people from different ethnic groups.

Common understanding

A series of local regulations on promoting ethnic unity has been introduced in ethnic autonomous regions, including Xinjiang, Xizang and Inner Mongolia, as well as some provinces such as Qinghai, Guizhou and Yunnan.

However, the changing social structure has brought about new governance demands as integration among various ethnic groups across the country has reached an unprecedented breadth and depth, said Xing Guangcheng, an NPC deputy from Xinjiang and head of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences'Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies.

"Formulation of a national law aims to ensure that the legal protection of ethnic unity effectively covers all regions and populations. This is equally important in areas with large populations of ethnic minorities and other parts of China," Xing said.

With the continuous advancement of China's modernization efforts, national unity and progress are becoming increasingly important. Its importance is underscored by the presence of separatist and extremist forces that keep trying to carry out violent and even terrorist activities by sabotaging the unity among people from different ethnic groups, he added.

"As the draft law states, any kind of discrimination against a certain ethnic group is prohibited because such acts can interfere with people's interactions and exchanges. More importantly, they can be used by separatist and extremist forces to sabotage the country's national sovereignty, security and developmental interests," said Xing, who advised on the draft law.

When the draft was submitted for a second reading at the NPC Standing Committee in December, it added that schools and other educational institutions should use standard Chinese as the basic language of teaching, as the promotion of standard Chinese is mandated by the Constitution and is also an important measure to foster a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Xing said he's not surprised that some Western media have used the legal provision to attack China's ethnic policies.

"People should understand that it's not a language issue, but an economic one. It's closely related to people's life. Without the ability to speak and write standard Chinese, people, especially young people from ethnic minorities, will surely find it difficult to seize the opportunities brought by China's development nationwide in all aspects," he said.

In fact, the use and promotion of ethnic languages are clearly protected by the draft law, which states that the State respects and guarantees the learning and use of ethnic languages and scripts, promotes the standardization, normalization, and informationization of minority languages and scripts, and supports the protection, compilation, research, and utilization of ancient books of minority groups, Xing added.

"It's very disappointing to see Western media's reports saying that we tend to prevent people from using the languages of their own ethnic groups just because we are promoting standard Chinese. It's a very irresponsible thing to say," Xing said.

He added that the significance of the draft law with practical legal provisions is to ensure that all Chinese citizens have a common understanding about how to be more united and foster a stronger sense of community for the Chinese nation.

"Regardless of ethnicity, all 56 of our ethnic groups should use the law as a benchmark to engage in positive actions and promote beneficial activities. In fact, I think it has set a good example in the world in law-based governance of ethnic affairs," Xing said.