The People’s Congress System Is a Great Creation in the History of China’s Political Development

The People’s Congress system is China’s fundamental political system and an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people’s democracy. General Secretary Xi Jinping, in his important speech at the conference celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the National People’s Congress, pointed out: “Over the past 70 years, under the leadership of the Party, the People’s Congress system has effectively ensured that China has always advanced along the socialist path, providing important institutional guarantees for creating the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and demonstrating significant political advantages.” “Practice has proven that the People’s Congress system is a good system that conforms to China’s national conditions and reality, reflects the nature of the socialist state, and ensures that the people are the masters of the country; it is a good system that can effectively unite the strength of all the people to jointly advance Chinese-path modernization.” The historical experience of the People’s Congress system provides profound insights and important inspiration for exploring how to develop a political system suited to one’s own national conditions, how to maximize the guarantee that the people are the masters of the country, while maintaining the unity of state order and vitality, the unity of democracy and the rule of law, and breaking the myth of Western democracy. The People’s Congress system is not only a great creation in the history of China’s political development but also a great creation in the history of human political systems.

人民代表大会制度是中国的根本政治制度，是实现全过程人民民主的重要制度载体。习近平总书记在庆祝全国人民代表大会成立70周年大会上的重要讲话中指出，“70年来，在党的领导下，人民代表大会制度有效保证了我国始终沿着社会主义道路前进，为创造经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹提供了重要制度保障，展现出显著政治优势”，“实践证明，人民代表大会制度是符合我国国情和实际、体现社会主义国家性质、保证人民当家作主的好制度，是能够有效凝聚全体人民力量一道推进中国式现代化的好制度”。人民代表大会制度的历史经验，对于探索如何发展符合本国国情的政治体制，如何最大程度保障人民当家作主，并保持好国家秩序与活力的统一、民主与法治的统一，打破西方民主的迷思，提供了深刻洞见和重要启迪。人民代表大会制度不仅是中国政治发展史上的伟大创造，也是人类政治制度史上的伟大创造。

I. A Completely New Political System That Grew Out of China’s Soil

一、从中国土壤中生长起来的全新政治制度

The establishment and development of the People’s Congress system is a milestone in the history of China’s democratic political development. It is the historical product and crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, in their arduous exploration of a political system suited to their own national conditions.

人民代表大会制度的建立和发展，是中国民主政治发展史上的里程碑，是中国人民在中国共产党领导下，艰辛探索适合自己国情的政治制度的历史产物和智慧结晶。

During the Great Revolution period, in the worker-peasant movements led by the Party, strike workers’ congresses and citizens’ representative conferences were established in cities, and peasant associations were formed in rural areas. These were preliminary explorations of political power construction and the original prototypes of the concretization of the people’s democratic spirit under the Party’s leadership. During the Agrarian Revolution period, workers’, peasants’, and soldiers’ representative conferences were established in the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area, laying the foundation for the later formation of the People’s Congress system. During the War of Resistance Against Japan period, a council system was implemented in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region led by the Party. This was a form of political power organization adapted to the then Anti-Japanese National United Front, providing extremely valuable experience for the later establishment of the People’s Congress system. During the War of Liberation period, in the gradually expanding liberated areas, conferences of representatives of all circles (people’s representatives) were explored and implemented. These conferences were very similar in function and responsibility to the later People’s Congresses. In September 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference was convened, adopting the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which served as a provisional constitution, solemnly proclaiming that the new China would implement the People’s Congress system. However, because the new political power had not yet been established and conditions in all aspects were not yet mature, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and local people’s representative conferences of all circles exercised the functions and powers of the People’s Congress on its behalf.

大革命时期，在党领导的工农运动中，城市建立了罢工工人代表大会和市民代表会议，农村组建了农民协会，这些都是政权建设的初步探索，也是党领导下人民民主精神具象化的原始雏形。土地革命时期，在井冈山革命根据地建立了工农兵代表会议，为后来人民代表大会制度的形成奠定了基础。抗日战争时期，在党领导的陕甘宁边区实行参议会制度，这是与当时抗日民族统一战线相适应的一种政权组织形式，为后来人民代表大会制度的建立提供了极为宝贵的经验。解放战争时期，在逐步扩大的解放区内，探索实行了各界（人民）代表会议，这些会议非常类似后期人民代表大会的职责和功能。1949年9月，中国人民政治协商会议第一届全体会议召开，通过具有临时宪法地位的《中国人民政治协商会议共同纲领》，庄严宣告新中国实行人民代表大会制度。但由于当时新政权尚未建立，各方面条件还不成熟，由中国人民政治协商会议和地方各界人民代表会议代行人民代表大会的职权。

After the founding of New China, in order to establish a new political system that broadly represented the will of the people and suited the actual needs of the country, the Communist Party of China drew on the congress system of the Soviet regime, carried out localized transformation and innovation in light of China’s actual conditions, and ultimately formed the People’s Congress system with distinct Chinese characteristics. In 1953, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the first general election of unprecedented scale in Chinese history was held nationwide, producing over 1,200 deputies to the National People’s Congress. In 1954, the First Session of the First National People’s Congress was convened and adopted the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, marking the formal establishment of the People’s Congress system. The new Constitution established the People’s Congress system as the fundamental political system of the state, explicitly stipulating that “all power in the People’s Republic of China belongs to the people.” In the mid-20th century, the newly established people’s political power faced the enormous challenge of rebuilding the country, from changing economic backwardness, to safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, to improving the overall quality and capability of the people—each was an urgent national task. At such a historical juncture, the People’s Congress system provided a unique solution, integrating broad social forces into the national governance structure, ensuring extensive democratic rights and equal political participation for all social strata, all ethnic groups, and all regions, and inspiring them to contribute to the development of New China.

新中国成立后，为了建立一个广泛代表人民意志、适合国家实际需要的新型政治体制，中国共产党借鉴了苏联政权的代表大会制度，结合中国的实际情况进行了本土化的改造和创新，最终形成了独具中国特色的人民代表大会制度。1953年，在中国共产党的领导下，在全国范围内进行了中国历史上第一次规模空前的普选，产生了1200多名全国人大代表。1954年，召开第一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议，并通过《中华人民共和国宪法》，标志着人民代表大会制度正式建立。新宪法把人民代表大会制度确立为国家根本政治制度，明确规定“中华人民共和国的一切权力属于人民”。在20世纪中叶，新成立的人民政权面临重建国家的巨大挑战，从改变经济落后，到国家主权和领土完整的维护，再到人民整体素质能力的提升，每一项都是紧迫的国家任务。在这样的历史关头，人民代表大会制度提供了一个独特解决方案，将广泛的社会力量整合到国家治理结构中，确保各阶层、各民族、各地区的广泛民主权利和平等政治参与，并激励他们为新中国的发展贡献力量。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that implementing the People’s Congress system in China is a great creation of the Chinese people in the history of human political systems, a fundamental conclusion drawn from a profound summary of the painful lessons of China’s political life after modern times, a historical result of over 100 years of intense change and turbulent development in Chinese society, and an inevitable choice for the Chinese people to stand up and take control of their own destiny. Looking back at history, the implementation of the People’s Congress system in China is a product of China’s historical culture and actual national conditions, deeply rooted in the “soil” of China’s local society. The People’s Congress system is profoundly connected with the people-oriented thought of Chinese civilization, the concept of shared governance under heaven, the tradition of “republicanism” and “consultation” in governance, and the political wisdom of “inclusiveness and seeking common ground while reserving differences.” The Communist Party of China, fully integrating actual conditions, reflecting the nature of the political power led by the working class, respecting China’s special national conditions and social circumstances, respecting the people’s spirit of initiative, creatively established and developed a modern democratic political system suited to China’s national conditions. China has a vast territory, a large population, significant economic development differences among regions, and complex ethnic composition and social conditions. Establishing a democratic political system with broad coverage, strong representativeness, and effective operation is indeed no easy task. Through the establishment of People’s Congresses at all levels, the People’s Congress system achieves effective linkage between the central and local levels, ensuring both national unity and legal uniformity while fully respecting local differences. It embodies the principles of socialist democratic politics and a law-based state with Chinese characteristics, possesses distinct Chinese characteristics and the features of the times, and is a great political creation reflecting China’s actual national conditions.

习近平总书记指出，在中国实行人民代表大会制度，是中国人民在人类政治制度史上的伟大创造，是深刻总结近代以后中国政治生活惨痛教训得出的基本结论，是中国社会100多年激越变革、激荡发展的历史结果，是中国人民翻身作主、掌握自己命运的必然选择。回顾历史，在中国实行人民代表大会制度是中国历史文化和现实国情的产物，它深深植根于中国本土社会“土壤”。人民代表大会制度，与中华文明的民本思想、天下共治理念，“共和”、“商量”的施政传统，“兼容并包、求同存异”的政治智慧，都有深刻关联。中国共产党充分结合现实条件，体现工人阶级领导的政权性质，尊重中国特殊的国情社情，尊重人民首创精神，创造性地建立并发展了适合中国国情的现代民主政治制度。中国地域广大、人口众多，各地经济发展差异显著，民族构成和社会状况复杂，要建立一个覆盖面广、代表性强又行之有效的民主政治体制，实属不易。人民代表大会制度通过各级人民代表大会的设置，实现了中央和地方各层级的有效衔接，既保证了国家统一和法制统一，又充分尊重了地方的差异性，体现了中国特色社会主义的民主政治和法治国家原则，具有鲜明的中国特色和时代特征，是反映中国现实国情的伟大政治创造。

II. An Important Institutional Guarantee for Adhering to All Power Belonging to the People and Ensuring the People Are the Masters of the Country

二、坚持一切权力归属人民、确保人民当家作主的重要制度保障

People’s democracy is a banner that the Communist Party of China has always held high. Over 70 years ago, Comrade Mao Zedong, in the process of preparing for the founding of New China, declared to the world: “The political power of New China is rooted in the people, serves the people, and belongs to the people.” The key reason why the People’s Congress system possesses strong vitality and significant superiority lies in its deep roots among the people. Over 70 years later, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “To uphold and improve the People’s Congress system, it is necessary to ensure and develop the people’s role as masters of the country.” The People’s Congress system adheres to the principal position of the people, adheres to the principle that all power in the state belongs to the people, and supports and ensures that the people exercise state power through the People’s Congress. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China unswervingly follows the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, and has long upheld, comprehensively implemented, and continuously developed the People’s Congress system.

人民民主是中国共产党始终高举的旗帜。70多年前，毛泽东同志在筹建新中国的过程中向全世界宣告：“新中国政权植根于人民，服务于人民，归属于人民。”人民代表大会制度之所以具有强大生命力和显著优越性，关键在于它深深植根于人民之中。70多年后，习近平总书记强调：“坚持和完善人民代表大会制度，必须保证和发展人民当家作主。”人民代表大会制度坚持人民主体地位，坚持国家一切权力属于人民，支持和保证人民通过人民代表大会行使国家权力。在中国共产党的领导下，中国毫不动摇走中国特色社会主义政治发展道路，长期坚持、全面贯彻、不断发展人民代表大会制度。

The Communist Party of China leads the people in developing people’s democracy, and in the long-term practice of revolution, construction, and reform and opening up has gradually formed and developed an electoral system with distinct Chinese characteristics, enabling the two important forms of democracy—election and consultation—to be better integrated. The people’s congress system has become an important pathway and the highest form of realization for the people being masters of the country, fully embodying the characteristics of being extensive, genuine, and effective. Through democratic elections, the people can elect representatives they trust to enter state power organs. The Electoral Law stipulates the basic principles, procedures, and methods of elections, including the principles of universality, equality, the combination of direct and indirect elections, as well as rules such as competitive elections and secret balloting, ensuring the fairness and legality of elections. Citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of eighteen, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, occupation, family background, religious belief, educational level, property status, or length of residence, have the right to vote and stand for election. This electoral system ensures that the people can express their will through elections and elect representatives who represent their interests. To safeguard electoral rights, the Electoral Law not only provides procedural guarantees for elections but also offers relevant material guarantees. For example, the Electoral Law clearly stipulates that the election funds for the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at various levels shall be included in the fiscal budget and disbursed from the state treasury. This provision legally ensures that the funds necessary for Chinese citizens to participate in elections according to law and realize their electoral rights are provided by the state, ensuring that voters can elect representatives they trust according to their own will, without economic factors affecting voters’ and representatives’ participation in elections and governance, thereby effectively avoiding the common Western chaos of “money politics” and “money elections.”

中国共产党领导人民发展人民民主，在革命、建设、改革的长期实践中逐步形成和发展起来极具中国特色的选举制度，使选举和协商这两种重要民主形式更好结合起来。人民代表大会制度已经成为人民当家作主的重要途径和最高实现形式，充分体现广泛、真实、管用的特点。通过民主选举，人民可以选举出自己信任的代表进入国家权力机关。选举法规定了选举的基本原则、程序和方式，包括选举的普遍性原则、平等性原则、直接选举与间接选举相结合的原则以及差额选举和无记名投票等规则，确保了选举的公正性和合法性。中华人民共和国年满十八周岁的公民，不分民族、种族、性别、职业、家庭出身、宗教信仰、教育程度、财产状况、居住期限，都有选举权和被选举权。这种选举制度保证了人民能够通过选举表达自己的意愿，选出代表自己利益的代表。为保障选举权利，选举法不仅对选举做出了程序保障，同时还提供了有关物质保障。例如，选举法明确规定，全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会的选举经费，列入财政预算，由国库开支。这一规定从法律上保证了我国公民依法参选、实现选举权利所必需的经费由国家提供保障，确保选民按照自己的意愿选出自己信任的代表，不至于因经济方面的原因而影响到选民和代表的参选参政，从而有效避免了西方常见的“金钱政治”、“金钱选举”乱象。

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasizes “strengthening the institutional guarantees for the people being masters of the country” and “supporting and ensuring that the people exercise state power through the people’s congresses, and ensuring that people’s congresses at all levels are produced through democratic elections, are responsible to the people, and are subject to their supervision.” The people’s congress system is an important pathway for realizing the people being masters of the country. To perfect the institutional system for the people being masters of the country is to ensure that the people manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms according to law. It is necessary to improve and develop the people’s congress system, including perfecting the organizational system and working system of people’s congresses, ensuring that people’s congresses exercise their legislative, supervisory, decision-making, and appointment and removal powers according to law, so that people’s congresses can better play their role in national political life, effectively embody the people’s will, and safeguard the people’s rights. To perfect the institutional system for the people being masters of the country, it is necessary to ensure that the people carry out democratic elections, democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision according to law, fully embody the institutional advantages of whole-process people’s democracy, fully mobilize the people’s initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity, and more effectively reflect the people’s will and demands.

党的二十大报告强调，“加强人民当家作主制度保障”，“支持和保证人民通过人民代表大会行使国家权力，保证各级人大都由民主选举产生、对人民负责、受人民监督”。人民代表大会制度是实现人民当家作主的重要途径，健全人民当家作主的制度体系，就是要确保人民依法通过各种途径和形式管理国家事务，管理经济和文化事业，管理社会事务。要完善和发展人民代表大会制度，包括健全人大组织制度和工作制度，保障人大依法行使立法权、监督权、决定权、任免权，使人大更好地发挥在国家政治生活中的作用，切实体现人民意志、保障人民权利。健全人民当家作主的制度体系，要保证人民依法实行民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督，充分体现全过程人民民主制度优势，充分发挥人民群众的积极性、主动性、创造性，更加有效地反映人民的意愿和要求。

The grassroots level is the most concentrated living space for the people, and also the social unit most closely connected to the daily lives of the people and the frontline of national governance. The people express their demands and participate in governance through grassroots organizations and institutions. The people’s congress system, through the election of grassroots deputies, enhances the sense of political participation of all social strata, especially rural and grassroots masses. Deputies to people’s congresses at the levels of villages, towns, counties, and cities can more directly reflect the opinions and demands of the masses, thereby making the formulation and implementation of national legislation and policies more “down-to-earth.” Such an institutional arrangement is closely integrated with China’s grassroots governance needs, reflecting the livelihood and social governance demands of the actual national conditions. Grassroots deputies, during their terms of office, need to regularly communicate and maintain contact with the people, collect public opinion, and bring these opinions into meetings, ensuring that policies reflect the broad needs of the people. Currently, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has established 45 grassroots legislative contact points nationwide, and has driven provincial and municipal people’s congresses to establish over 6,500 grassroots legislative contact points, making them effective carriers for listening to public opinion in legislation. The people’s congress system not only ensures that the people exercise their electoral rights according to law and democratically elect deputies to people’s congresses, but also, through a series of important institutional arrangements and rule designs, ensures that the people’s rights to be informed, to participate, to express, and to supervise are implemented in all aspects and the entire process of the work of people’s congresses, ensuring that the Party and the state can hear the voices of the people at every stage of decision-making, implementation, and supervision.

基层是人民群众最集中的生活场所，也是直接与人民群众日常生活紧密相连的社会单元和国家治理的最前线。人民群众通过基层的组织和制度表达诉求、参与治理。人民代表大会制度通过基层代表选举，增强了社会各阶层特别是农村和基层群众的政治参与感。村镇、县、市各级人民代表大会的代表，能够更直接反映群众的意见和诉求，从而让国家立法和政策的制定与执行更加“接地气”。这样的制度安排与中国的基层治理需求紧密结合，反映了现实国情中的民生和社会治理需求。基层代表们在任期内需要定期与人民群众沟通联系，收集民意，并将这些意见带入会议，确保政策反映了广泛的民众需求。目前，全国人大常委会法工委在全国设立了45个基层立法联系点，并在全国范围内带动省、市两级人大设立基层立法联系点6500多个，成为立法听取民意有效载体。人民代表大会制度不仅确保人民依法行使选举权利，民主选举产生人大代表，而且通过一系列重要制度安排和规则设计，保证人民的知情权、参与权、表达权、监督权落实到人大工作各方面各环节全过程，确保党和国家在决策、执行、监督落实各个环节都能听到来自人民的声音。

III. A Pillar of the State That Manifests Strong Governance Capacity and Is Conducive to National Development, Stability, and Unity

三、彰显强大治理能力、有利于国家发展安定团结的国之重器

The organic unity of the Party’s leadership, the people being masters of the country, and law-based governance is the core foundation of the political system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. These three elements support and guarantee each other, effectively promoting national development, achieving social stability and unity, and manifesting strong national governance capacity. The Party’s leadership is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the fundamental political guarantee for the country’s stable development. Through the centralized and unified leadership of the Party, the country can maintain clear direction and unified will in strategic decision-making, ensuring policy continuity and execution capacity. The people being masters of the country embodies the essential requirement of socialist democratic politics and is the source of power for ensuring that the country always maintains political vitality and developmental creativity. Through the people’s congress system, the people elect representatives through elections to participate in the decision-making and supervision of national and local affairs, reflecting that state power belongs to the people and is subject to their supervision. Law-based governance is the basic strategy for building a socialist country governed by the rule of law and the foundation of national governance. The people’s congress system is responsible for the formulation and implementation of laws, ensuring that all state affairs have rules to follow, and guaranteeing the fairness, justice, and orderliness of national governance.

党的领导、人民当家作主和依法治国三者的有机统一，是中国特色社会主义政治制度的核心基础。这三者相互支撑、互为保障，能够有效推动国家发展、实现社会安定团结，彰显强大的国家治理能力。党的领导是中国特色社会主义最本质的特征，是国家稳定发展的根本政治保证。通过党的集中统一领导，国家在战略决策上能够保持方向明确、意志统一，确保政策连续性与执行力。人民当家作主体现了社会主义民主政治的本质要求，是保证国家始终保持政治活力和发展创造力的动力源泉。通过人民代表大会制度，人民通过选举选出代表，参与国家和地方事务的决策与监督，体现了国家权力归属于人民并受人民监督。依法治国是建设社会主义法治国家的基本方略，是国家治理的基础。人民代表大会制度负责法律的制定和实施，确保国家各项事务有章可循，保障国家治理的公平、公正和有序。

The people’s congress system is the fundamental political system that supports China’s national governance system and governance capacity, and it centrally embodies the advantages of China’s national system and governance system. State administrative organs, supervisory organs, adjudicative organs, and procuratorial organs are all created by the people’s congresses, are responsible to them, and are subject to their supervision. Due to the supporting role of the people’s congress system, various state institutions under the Party’s leadership and the entire national governance system can better enhance coordination and cooperation, forming a strong synergy in governing the country, and effectively preventing the common Western phenomenon of mutual checks and balances and severe internal friction under the separation of powers. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, all state power in China adopts the principle of democratic centralism in its operation. Democratic centralism effectively supports and guarantees that the people exercise state power through people’s congresses at all levels. It is both democratic and centralized, meaning it is centralism on the basis of democracy and democracy under the guidance of centralism. This system ensures broad democracy, giving people’s congresses at all levels a high degree of autonomous power; at the same time, it can centralize the handling of state affairs, enabling governments at all levels to concentrate on handling all affairs entrusted to them by people’s congresses at corresponding levels, and guaranteeing all necessary democratic activities of the people. The advantage of centralization under democratic centralism is particularly evident in the efficiency and uniformity of legislation and policy implementation by the National People’s Congress. Once legislation and resolutions are formed, government executive organs will organize and implement them uniformly, ensuring consistency in action across all regions and departments, adhering to the principle of the nation as a single chessboard, and avoiding interference from local protectionism and departmental interest barriers. This not only improves the speed and quality of policy implementation but also, through the uniformity of laws and institutions, strengthens the integrity and coordination of national governance, effectively promoting China’s rapid development and maintaining social fairness and justice.

人民代表大会制度是支撑中国国家治理体系和治理能力的根本政治制度，集中体现了中国的国家制度和治理体系的优势。国家行政机关、监察机关、审判机关、检察机关都由人民代表大会产生，对它负责，受它监督。由于人民代表大会制度的支撑作用，使党领导下的各类国家机构和整个国家治理体系能够更好增进协调和配合，形成治国理政的强大合力，切实防止出现一些西方国家三权分立常见的相互掣肘、内耗严重的情况。在中国共产党的领导下，中国的国家政权一律采取民主集中制运行原则。民主集中制有效支撑和保障了人民通过各级人民代表大会行使国家权力。它是民主的，又是集中的，就是说，是在民主基础上的集中，在集中指导下的民主。这个制度，既确保了广泛的民主性，使各级人民代表大会有高度的自主权力；又能集中处理国事，使各级政府能集中地处理被各级人民代表大会所委托的一切事务，并保障人民的一切必要的民主活动。民主集中制的集中性优势，尤其体现在全国人大的立法和政策执行的效率和统一性上。一旦立法和决议形成，政府执行机构将统一组织实施，确保各地区、各部门的行动一致，坚持全国一盘棋，避免了地方保护主义和部门利益壁垒的干扰。这不仅提高了政策实施的速度和质量，而且通过法律和制度的统一，加强了国家治理的整体性和协调性，有力推动了中国的快速发展，维护了社会公平正义。

The major coordinating role of the system of people’s congresses and its advantage in being adept at maintaining centralization are fully manifested in such fields as national fiscal and tax system reform, regional development coordination, nationwide environmental protection, poverty alleviation, scientific and technological innovation, and public security. Through means such as deputies’ proposals and opinions, the National People’s Congress reflects and resolves the practical problems of ethnic minority regions and minority ethnic groups, promoting the formulation and implementation of policies for national unity and progress. In correctly handling major social interest relations, in recent years, in response to the problem, raised by the people and all sectors of society, of excessively high drug prices and the difficulty of obtaining certain medications for severe illnesses, the Party Central Committee, through the coordinating mechanism of the National People’s Congress and the State Council, uniformly adjusted drug pricing policies, promoted legislation in relevant fields, and successfully resolved this major issue concerning people’s livelihood. Practice has proven that this system can mobilize all positive factors, unite all forces that can be united, effectively safeguard national unity and ethnic solidarity, ensure that the country’s political life is both full of vitality and orderly and stable, and gather the mighty force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

人民代表大会制度的重大协调作用和善于维护集中的优势，充分体现在国家财税体制改革、区域发展协调、全国性环境保护、扶贫攻坚、科技创新、公共安全等领域。全国人大通过代表建议、意见等方式，反映和解决民族地区和少数民族群众的实际问题，推动民族团结进步政策的制定和实施。在正确处理重大社会利益关系方面，近年来面对人民群众和社会各方面反映药品价格过高且部分重症药物难以获取的问题，党中央通过全国人大和国务院的协调机制，统一调整药品价格政策，推动相关领域立法，成功解决这一重大民生问题。实践证明，这一制度能够调动一切积极因素，团结一切可以团结的力量，有效维护国家统一和民族团结，保证国家政治生活既充满活力又安定有序，汇聚起实现中华民族伟大复兴的磅礴力量。

IV. Unique Wisdom Containing the Rich Connotations of Democratic Politics and Promoting the Progress of All Human Civilizations

四、蕴含民主政治丰富内涵、推动全人类文明进步的独特智慧

As the fundamental political system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the system of people’s congresses not only demonstrates powerful advantages in national political life and state governance but also profoundly interprets the Chinese people’s unique wisdom regarding democratic politics. The democratic concepts and democratic practices displayed by the system of people’s congresses make a positive contribution to the diversity of global political systems and a unique contribution to the common values of all humanity and the progress of civilization.

人民代表大会制度作为中国特色社会主义的根本政治制度，不仅在国家政治生活和国家治理中展现了强大的优势，还深刻诠释了中国人民对民主政治的独特智慧。人民代表大会制度所展示的民主理念和民主实践，为全球政治制度的多样化作出了积极贡献，为全人类共同价值和文明进步作出了独特贡献。

Democracy is not abstract but concrete, embodied in the different political practices of countries around the world; democracy is not singular or rigid but rich and diverse, growing out of the cultural and practical soil of various countries and reflecting the wisdom and creativity of their peoples. In building democracy in a country, one cannot simply erect a “peak flown in from elsewhere” [14]14 “Peak flown in from elsewhere” (飞来峰): A Chinese idiom referring to something that appears suddenly from outside, without local roots. Here it is used metaphorically to criticize the direct transplantation of foreign political systems without adaptation to local conditions. in the political system; a democratic system must fully consider the country’s historical traditions and actual national conditions, both avoiding the problem of simply imitating or directly introducing foreign political models and effectively ensuring the adaptability and sustainability of political reform. The system of people’s congresses not only embodies the inheritance and influence of fine traditional Chinese culture but also fully reflects China’s contemporary political structure and actual national conditions, especially balancing the unity necessary for national development with local flexibility, providing institutional guarantees for China’s stable development in a complex domestic and international environment, and also offering a reference for other countries to establish democratic political models suited to their own national conditions.

民主不是抽象的而是具体的，体现在世界各国不同的政治实践中；民主不是单一的、固化的，而是丰富多彩的，成长于世界各国的文化和现实土壤之中，体现各国人民的智慧与创造。一个国家的民主建设不能搞政治制度上的“飞来峰”，民主制度必须充分考虑本国历史传统和国家实际情况，既要避免简单模仿或直接引入外来政治模式的问题，又要有效保证政治改革的适应性和持续性。人民代表大会制度不仅体现了中华优秀传统文化的传承和影响，而且充分反映中国当代政治结构和现实国情，尤其是兼顾了国家发展所必要的统一性和地方灵活性，为中国在复杂的内外环境中实现稳定发展提供了制度保障，也为其他国家建立适应自身国情的民主政治模式提供参考。

The system of people’s congresses breaks through the conceptual and institutional rut of Western-style “electoral democracy,” demonstrating a democratic concept different from Western parliamentary systems. The system of people’s congresses is an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people’s democracy in our country. As an essential requirement of Chinese-path modernization, whole-process people’s democracy combines electoral democracy with consultative democracy, links together democratic elections, democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic oversight, and covers all aspects including the economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization, possessing continuity in time, wholeness in content, synergy in operation, and breadth and sustainability in people’s participation, so that every link and aspect of national political life and social life reflects the people’s will and hears the people’s voice. Under the system of people’s congresses, democracy is not merely elections but also includes multiple links such as democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic oversight, encompassing participation in the entire process before, during, and after decision-making. Whether a country’s democracy is good or not should be judged based on objective national conditions, tested by practical results, and measured by the people’s feelings. The system of people’s congresses is an entirely new democratic practice; its emphasis on and attention to the substantive content and actual effects of democracy effectively avoids the limitations of Western-style “electoral democracy” and effectively overcomes the phenomenon, seen in some countries, where the people have rights in form but no power in practice, and where elections are accompanied by extravagant promises but are followed by no one caring afterward.

人民代表大会制度突破了西方式“选举民主”的观念和制度窠臼，展示了一种不同于西方议会制度的民主理念。人民代表大会制度是实现我国全过程人民民主的重要制度载体。作为中国式现代化的本质要求，全过程人民民主把选举民主与协商民主结合起来，把民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督贯通起来，涵盖经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明等各个方面，具有时间上的连续性、内容上的整体性、运行上的协同性、人民参与上的广泛性和持续性，使国家政治生活和社会生活各环节各方面都体现人民意愿、听到人民声音。在人民代表大会制度下，民主不仅仅是选举，还包括了民主协商、民主决策、民主管理和民主监督等多个环节，涵盖了决策前、决策中和决策后全过程的参与。判断一个国家民主好不好，关键要从客观国情来认识，用实践效果来检验，以人民感受来衡量。人民代表大会制度是全新的民主实践，对民主的实质内容和实际效果的强调和重视，有效避免了西方式“选举民主”的局限性，有效克服了一些国家那种人民形式上有权、实际上无权和选举时漫天承诺、选举后无人过问的现象。

The operation of the system of people’s congresses fully demonstrates the efficiency and stability of state governance. How a country’s state power should be organized and how the country should be governed are fundamental issues concerning the country’s future and the people’s destiny. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the system of people’s congresses uniformly organizes national legislation, administration, and justice. This not only ensures that various state organs can coordinate and cooperate with each other, effectively enhancing the effectiveness of state governance, but also balances democracy with efficiency, and efficiency with fairness, effectively preventing and overcoming the decentralism of endless discussion without decision and decision without implementation, and avoiding the problems of policy delays and inconsistent implementation commonly seen in Western multiparty countries. This efficient political mechanism provides inspiration and reference for the rapid development of other countries in the world and the timely resolution of complex problems. The system of people’s congresses possesses legislative powers and strong oversight mechanisms rarely seen in other countries, enabling it to correctly handle a series of major political relationships, effectively safeguard national unity, ethnic solidarity, and social stability, and ensure the country’s enduring peace and stability.

人民代表大会制度的运行，充分展现了治理国家的效率和稳定性。一个国家的政权应该怎样组织，国家应该怎样治理，这是关系国家前途、人民命运的根本性问题。在中国共产党的领导下，由人民代表大会制度统一组织国家立法、行政、司法，既确保了各类国家机构能够相互协调配合，有效提升国家治理的效力，同时兼顾了民主与效率、效率与公平，有效防止和克服议而不决、决而不行的分散主义，避免了西方多党制国家常见的政策迟滞和执行不一的问题。这种高效的政治机制为世界上其他国家的快速发展和复杂问题的及时解决提供了启迪和借鉴。人民代表大会制度具有其他国家少有的集中的立法权和强有力监督机制，能够正确处理一系列重大政治关系，有效维护国家统一、民族团结和社会稳定，保障国家的长治久安。

(Author: Zhang Yuan, Associate Professor, Department of Scientific Socialism, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance])

(作者：张 源，中共中央党校〔国家行政学院〕科学社会主义教研部副教授)

Online Editor: You Heng

网络编辑：有恒