All power in China belongs to the people. The organs through which the people exercise state power are the NPC and local people's congresses. Therefore, the people's congress system is China's fundamental political system. Its basic features are: broad representation — it is the basic unit of the people's political power; it follows the principle of democratic centralism, i.e., it guarantees that the people enjoy extensive democracy and rights, at the same time guaranteeing that state power is exercised in a centralized and unified way. Under the premise that the people's congresses exercise state power in a unified way, the state's administrative power, judicial authority, procuratorial authority and leadership over the armed forces are clearly divided so as to ensure that the organs of state power and administrative, judicial, procuratorial and other state organs work in a coordinated way.

Deputies to the people's congresses at all levels are elected, responsible to and accepting supervision from the people. They include people from all ethnic groups, all walks of life, and all regions, classes and strata. When the congresses meet, they can air their views fully, they can also address inquiries to governments at the corresponding level and their affiliated departments, and the parties concerned are duty-bound to reply to the inquiries. Electors or constituencies have the right to recall their elected deputies according to procedures prescribed by law.