The People's Republic of China(PRC) practices the system of people's congress. China's Constitution stipulates that all powers in the PRC belong to the people, and the organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People's Congress (NPC) and the local people's congresses at different levels.

The National People's Congress of the PRC is the highest organ of state power.

The Establishment and Development of the NPC

In the early years of the PRC, the Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as provisional constitution, stipulated that the organ with the highest state power was the NPC. The conditions at that time were not yet ripe to establish a national people's congress through general election, hence the Common Program stipulated that the plenary meeting of the CPPCC exercised the functions and powers of the NPC before its convening. The 20th meeting of the Central People's Government Council adopted the Resolution on Convening the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at Different Levels in January 1953. In the years of 1953-1954, the whole state started its first general election and local people's congresses at different levels were convened. On September 15, 1954, the First Session of the First NPC was held in Beijing. It adopted the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and the Organic Law of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and the Organic Law of the State Council. After the First Session of the Third NPC on January 4 1965, due to the Cultural Revolution, the Constitution and other laws were severely undermined and the NPC did not hold any meetings for long time until January 1975 when the First Session of the Fourth NPC was convened. After the Cultural Revolution was over, the system of people's congress was gradually back to normal.

The Composition of the NPC

In accordance with the Constitution of 1982, the NPC is composed of deputies elected from the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and deputies elected by the armed forces. Deputies to the NPC are organized into delegations according to the units they are elected from. Each delegation is headed by a chairman and vice chairmen. The number of deputies to the NPC shall be decided in accordance with the proportion of the population in each province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government. All the ethnic minorities are entitled to appropriate representation. The number of deputies to the first and second NPC is 1,226 respectively, while deputy number of the third, fourth and fifth NPC reaches 3,040, 2,885 and 3,497 respectively, and the number of deputies to the sixth and seventh NPC remains 2,987. The number of deputies from ethnic minorities to the seventh NPC is 445, accounting for 15% of the total. The Electoral Law on the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and People's Congresses at Various Levels, revised in 1986, stipulates that the total number of the NPC should not exceed 3,000.

The Term of Office of the NPC

The Constitution of 1954 stipulates that the NPC is elected for a term of four years, while the Constitution of 1975 changes it into five years. The Constitution of 1982 stipulates that the Standing Committee of the NPC must ensure the completion of election of deputies to the succeeding NPC two months prior to the expiration of the term of office of the current NPC. Should extraordinary circumstances prevent such an election, it may be postponed and the term of office of the current NPC extended by the decision of a vote of more than two-thirds of all those on the Standing Committee of the current NPC. The election of deputies to the succeeding NPC must be completed within one year after the termination of such extraordinary circumstances.

The NPC exercises the following functions and powers:

(1) to amend the Constitution:

The amendment of the Constitution shall be proposed by the Standing Committee of the NPC or more than one-fifth of the deputies to the NPC and can only be adopted by a majority of no less than two-thirds of the deputies to the NPC. Four Constitutions have been formulated successively in 1954, 1975, 1978 and 1982 by the NPC. Revisions and amendments to some articles of the Constitution were made and adopted by the NPC in 1988, 1993 and 1999.

(2) to supervise the enforcement of the Constitution: This is clearly identified in the Constitution of 1982.

(3) to enact and amend basic laws governing criminal offences, civil affairs, the state organs and other matters: The Constitution of 1954 stipulates that the NPC is the highest legislative body in the PRC, and the Constitution of 1982 makes further stipulation on this point.

(4) to elect state leaders and decide on the choice of state leaders, including to elect the President and the Vice President of the PRC, members of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the President of the Supreme of the People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate; to decide on the choice of the Premier of the State Council upon nomination by the President of the PRC, and on the choice of the Vice Premiers, State Councilors, Ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-general of the State Council upon nomination by the Premier; and, on the choice of all other members of the Central Military Commission upon nomination by the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The NPC has the power to remove the above mentioned functionaries.

(5) to examine and approve major state issues such as the plan for national economic and social development and the report on its implementation and the state budget and the report on its implementation; to approve the establishment of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; to decide on the establishment of special administrative regions and the systems to be instituted there; and to decide on questions of war and peace, etc.

(6) to supervise the work of its Standing Committee, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The Working Procedures of the NPC

The NPC exercises its functions and powers by convening meetings. The National People's Congress meets in session once a year and is convened by its Standing Committee. A session of the NPC may be convened at any time the Standing Committee deems it necessary or when more than one-fifth of the deputies to the National People's Congress so propose. When the National People's Congress meets, it elects a Presidium to conduct its session. The NPC usually meets in session openly, but a session may be secretly convened if it is deemed necessary and approved by the Presidium.

The Standing Committee of the NPC

The Standing Committee of the NPC is the permanent organ of the NPC. When the NPC is not in session, the Standing Committee performs the powers of the highest organ of state power. It is responsible to and reports to the NPC. The 9th NPC established nine special committees, namely the ethnic groups committee, the law committee, the finance and economic committee, the education, science, culture and health committee, the foreign affairs committee, the overseas Chinese committee, the civil and judicial affairs committee, the environment and resources protection committee and the agriculture and rural areas committee. When the NPC is not in session, its special committees carry on work under the direction of the Standing Committee of the NPC.

The Standing Committee of NPC exercises the following functions and powers:

to interpret the Constitution and supervise its enforcement; to enact and amend laws, with the exception of those which should be enacted by the NPC; to partially supplement and amend, when the NPC is not in session, laws enacted by the NPC provided that the basic principles of these laws are not contravened; and to supervise the work of the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate; etc.

The current chairman of the NPC is Wu Bangguo.