Constitution's key role in governance highlighted

A bus marking the National Constitution Day drives down a street in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday. HOU YU/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to better leverage the important role of the Constitution in governance, in order to provide a solid guarantee for building China into a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, specified the requirement in an instruction, which was made public on Monday as the country marked its 10th National Constitution Day.

The Constitution stands as the fundamental legal basis for the Party's governance of the country and the supreme legal norm for the country's political and social life, Xi said, emphasizing the need to uphold the authority and sanctity of the Constitution and promote its further improvement and development.

He called for strong confidence in the country's political system, with firm commitment to the leadership of the Party, to the State system of people's democratic dictatorship, and to the political system of people's congresses, all of which are mandated by the Constitution.

Xi highlighted the need to implement the thought on socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics for a new era. He stressed efforts to accelerate the improvement of the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics with the Constitution at its core, and to continuously enhance constitutional implementation and oversight.

He also called for more efforts to strengthen theoretical research on the Constitution, with focus on its education, introduction and interpretation, so that the Chinese people can promote the implementation of the fundamental law as a conscious action.

The instruction was conveyed at a meeting marking the National Constitutional Day, which was held by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Taking the full implementation of the Constitution as a priority of comprehensively governing the country by the rule of law, Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the Constitution should be implemented in a scientific, effective and systematic manner.

He called for optimization of systems to ensure the implementation of the Constitution and its relevant provisions, as well as to improve the constitutional oversight.

Xin Chunying, an official from the NPC's Constitution and Law Committee, said the committee has added a section to review whether bills are consistent with the Constitution while discussing draft laws to ensure every piece of legislation conforms to the spirit of the Constitution and embodies its authority.

Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng said that education on the Constitution has also been deeply integrated into classes in recent years to enhance awareness about the Constitution among young people.