China has actively promoted the building of democracy and the legal system, constantly perfected the people's congress system and the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and made great efforts to strengthen the building of democracy at the grass-roots level and earnestly safeguard citizens' political rights.

The people's congress system is China's fundamental political system. All power in China belongs to the people. The organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People's Congress (NPC) and the local people's congresses. The NPC is the supreme organ of state power. It decides state policies and principles, and exercises the state legislative power. Since the Third Session of the Ninth NPC, the NPC and its Standing Committee have examined 30 proposed laws, of which 18 have been approved. The Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China, promulgated for implementation in 2000, is an important law concerning the state legislation system, and is of great significance in perfecting that system, safeguarding its unification, setting up and improving the law system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the building of democracy and the legal system.

The NPC and its Standing Committee have vigorously reinforced the implementation of the laws and the supervision over the administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs, and notable results have been achieved. In 2000, the NPC Standing Committee organized a law-enforcement inspection group, which has checked the implementation of four laws, such as the Criminal Procedure Law and the Organic Law of the Urban Neighborhood Committees, thus effectively supervising the implementation of these laws. The NPC Standing Committee supervises the work of the State Council, Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate by various means, such as inspection, law-enforcement examination, and hearing and deliberating work reports. To strengthen the supervision of the budget and economic work, the NPC Standing Committee adopted the Resolution on Strengthening the Examination and Supervision of the Central Budget in February 1999, and the Resolution on Strengthening the Supervision of Economic Work in March 2000. In addition, the NPC Standing Committee is working out a Supervision Law. Deputies to the NPC have increased their enthusiasm for participating in the exercise of state power. At the Fourth Session of the Ninth NPC held in March 2001, the deputies raised 1,040 proposals, a record number since the Sixth NPC.

The multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the CPC is an important component of China 's democratic political system. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) consists of representatives of the CPC, democratic parties, personages without party affiliation, people's organizations, ethnic minorities and other walks of life, as well as representatives of compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, returned overseas Chinese and specially invited individuals. Hence, the CPPCC has extensive representation. The committees of the CPPCC at all levels and the democratic parties are playing a more and more important role in political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in the deliberation and administration of state affairs. Now the chairmen of the central committees of the eight democratic parties, the chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and 13 other people from the democratic parties, personages without party affiliation and non-Party personages from all walks of life, totaling 22, serve as vice-chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee or vice-chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee. Twenty-seven democratic party personages and personages without party affiliation serve as vice-governors, vice-chairmen, vice-mayors or assistants in the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities; nearly 10,000 democratic party personages and personages without party affiliation hold leading posts in the governments, government departments and judicial organs at or above the county level; more than 140,000 democratic party personages and personages without party affiliation have been elected deputies to the people's congresses at different levels; and more than 220,000 democratic party personages and personages without party affiliation are members of the CPPCC committees at different levels.

In 2000, the CPPCC National Committee actively participated in the deliberation and administration of state affairs, offered advice and suggestions, organized CPPCC National Committee members to make special investigations and inspections of a number of important issues concerning economic and social development during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005), held special forums and symposiums, and submitted to the CPC Central Committee more than 10 reports, such as Opinions on Promoting the Readjustment of the Economic Structure During the 10th Five-Year Plan Period, and the Proposal on the Need for the 10th Five-Year Plan to Embody Systems Innovation, thus providing important reference material for the state's formulation of the Outline of the 10th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. On the basis of special research, the CPPCC National Committee has raised many opinions and suggestions to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on implementing the strategy for the all-out development of the western region, speeding up the project to divert water from the south to the north, perfecting the social security system, quickening the reform of the distribution system, promoting the building of communities, deepening the reform of the judicial system, and guaranteeing judicial fairness and social stability.

The channels for the CPPCC committees at all levels, all democratic parties and all personages without party affiliation to engage in democratic supervision have been further widened. Now, tens of thousands of democratic party personages and personages without party affiliation serve as special advisors to the people' s procuratorates, and to supervision, auditing, education, land resources, taxation, personnel and public security departments, participating in legal and administrative supervision. Members of CPPCC committees at all levels reflect the opinions and demands of the masses of all walks of life and exercise their right to democratic supervision through discussing significant issues, criticizing the work of state organs and their work personnel, making suggestions and other means. In 2000, members of CPPCC committees throughout the country attended the symposiums on strict, fair and civilized law enforcement held by the public security organs, more than 130,000 person-times, and inspected public security organs 11,000 person-times, thus playing a powerful supervision role in impartial law enforcement.

Building democratic politics at the grass-roots level in rural areas with democratic election, decision-making, administration and supervision as the basic contents has been promoted in an all- round way, and developed steadily. Since the implementation of the Organic Law of the Villagers' Committees, which was revised in November 1998, the building of the systems of democratic election, discussion of village affairs by the villagers themselves, and making village affairs public has been constantly improved. Twenty- three provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China have worked out the new electoral procedures for the villagers' committees; 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have adopted the measures for implementation of the Organic Law of the Villagers' Committees; many cities and counties have worked out the implementation guidelines for villagers' self-government work; and almost all villages have formulated or revised their village regulations and agreements, and regulations on villagers' self-government. The villagers' committees in 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have been re-elected with some 600 million farmers participating directly in the elections, representing an attendance rate of more then 80 percent. The villagers' self-government level as a whole has markedly improved. Meanwhile, making township political affairs public has been promoted in an all-round way. Since 2000, 35,000 townships throughout the country have made their political affairs public, making up well over 80 percent of the total number of townships. Thus, remarkable progress has been made in the building of democratic politics at the township level.