Xinhua News Agency:

A strong rule of law enables a prosperous and powerful nation. How do you view the role of the rule of law in further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese modernization? How can we align reforms with the rule of law, ensure that major reforms have a legal basis, and promptly translate reform outcomes into legal rules? Thank you.

Mo Gaoyi:

Mr. Shen, please answer these two questions.

Shen Chunyao:

Reform and the rule of law reinforce each other and go hand in hand. Reform means "breaking" and "changing", while the rule of law indicates "establishing" and "stabilizing". The two, which seem to be contradictory, actually form a dialectical unity of "breaking" and "establishing", and "changing" and "stabilizing". Historically, reforms and new policies have been closely linked to legislation and rules-making. China's reform and opening-up practices also demonstrate that the realization of the rule of law will not be possible without reform, and the deepening of reform also requires the rule of law.

After the 18th CPC National Congress, the third and fourth plenary sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee made strategic arrangements for comprehensively deepening reform and exercising law-based governance on all fronts, respectively. The resolutions adopted at these two plenary sessions complement each other well. Reform and the rule of law are often likened to the two wings of a bird or the two wheels of a vehicle. Over the years, we have pursued both in tandem, achieving many important outcomes and gaining valuable experiences. Regarding legislative work, out of the 303 laws currently in effect, 78 were newly enacted after the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. This includes the Civil Code, which is of great significance. Of the 303 laws, 334 amendments were made to 147, demonstrating substantial efforts in law amendments. On the new journey, further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization should be organically combined with exercising law-based governance on all fronts. This approach will enhance the vital role of the rule of law.

The resolution outlines important measures, tasks and demands involving the enactment, amendment, repeal, interpretation, codification and related authorization and approval of laws. This raises many requirements for legislative work, and we need to respond through deepening reform in the legislative field. The resolution clearly sets out various important tasks concerning legislation and revision. These include enacting a private sector promotion law, finance law, a law to promote ethnic unity and progress, and a law against cross-border bribery; revising the oversight law and the supervision law; and codifying the ecological environment code. We must fully follow through on the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. We must adapt to changing circumstances and new requirements, focusing on properly handling the relationship between reform and the rule of law. We will promptly formulate laws and regulations needed for deepening reforms. For matters that lack sufficient practice and require preliminary trials to accumulate experience, we shall issue authorization decisions in accordance with the law. Existing legal provisions that do not meet reform and development requirements shall be revised, improved or abolished in accordance with the law. For matters where relevant reform decisions have been clearly made and multiple laws need amending, we can adopt a package amendment approach to deal with them in one attempt. A "decision plus legislation" or "decision plus revision" approach can be adopted for institutional innovation measures that need to be advanced step by step. This means adopting the decision in accordance with the law first, then promptly arranging and advancing relevant legislative work.

That's all from me. Thank you!

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