 Over the past five decades, China has been on the road of the rule of law. A socialist legal system, with the Constitution as the kernel and base, has taken shape in China.
Throughout history, for more than two thousand years, China had been a country under the rule of power. But over the past five decades since the founding in 1949 of the People’s Republic, China has been on the road of the rule of law. Statistics show that China has issued over 300 sets of laws and resolutions, more than 800 administrative rules, and more than 8,000 local regulations.
China has been working on its “legal construction project” for the past two decades, and the Chinese people have realized that the legal system is perhaps the most important institution for a modern country. However, China is still in the early stage of developing the rule of law. Its entry into the WTO has ushered in another period of radical change in the Chinese legal system.
From 1978 to 1982, China drew lessons from the Cultural Revolution and began to recognize what it is that constitutes each citizen’s rights and freedoms and what “ruling the country by law” would entail.
The years 1982 to 1996 saw the further development of “legal construction.” In this phase, the pace of new civil and economic legislation accelerated.
For the first time in the Party’s history, the 15th National Congress of the CPC explicitly incorporated the rule of law as a basic guiding principle in the Party’s official document, and regarded Rule of Law as the unity of Communist Party’s leadership and democracy. The 16th CPC national congress further emphasized this principle, seeing it as the party’s general plan for administering the country and an important measure to develop political administration. It is of historic significance in the history of China as well as the International Communist Campaign.
Since late 1970s when China opened its door to the outside world, its economy has developed rapidly. Accordingly, the old legal system established on the basis of a planned economy should be changed to one based on market-oriented economic concepts. And the new legal system should emphasize market regulation and the establishment of a legal order that allows equal opportunity and fair competition.
China’s rapid economic development calls for anti-monopoly laws to effectively check restraints on market competition, safeguard the healthy development of the national economy and better protect the interests of consumers. Since 1980 when China enacted its first anti- monopoly regulation, China has enforced a series of laws and regulations. However, those laws and regulations could not resolve problems emerging from the growth of the market, such as inappropriate purchase or merger of companies. China is now in desperate need of a new anti-monopoly law.
During China’s tumultuous history, there were many instances of stringent, and at times draconian laws. However, China was never truly a country under the rule of law. Although laws may regulate the behavior of individuals, including that of senior government officials, there remained a notable exception—the emperor. The emperor embodied and was above the law. The legal system did not protect the political and social rights of citizens from the whims of the emperor. Hence, feudal China was in reality under the rule of power and not the rule of law, despite the existence of a fairly formalized legal system.
As the masters of their country and society, Chinese people themselves should enhance their legal and general civic awareness. Over the past two decades, China has been educating its people about basic legal knowledge and acquainting them with various aspects of law, such as the basic legislative, administrative and judicial processes. To popularize legal knowledge, China has so far carried out three five-year campaigns.
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