Xi urges building rule of law for reform, opening-up

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on Monday for improving the rule of law regarding foreign entities to promote a better environment for the nation’s reform, development and stability.

Xi, also president, made the remark while presiding over a meeting of the Commission for Overall Law-Based Governance of the CPC Central Committee. He is also director of the commission.

The experiences drawn from reform and opening-up over the past 40 years have shown that work related to reform, development and stability will not succeed without the rule of law, Xi said. The further reform and opening-up goes, the more important the rule of law becomes, he added.

He stressed a high-quality lawmaking process in safeguarding and promoting healthy and sustainable economic growth, and said laws related to foreign investment should be made in a unified manner to meet the needs of building the new system of an open economy in the new era.

Overall planning should be exercised in writing legislation in such areas as intellectual property rights protection, biosafety, land system reform and environmental protection, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

Saying law-based governance represents the best business environment, meeting participants called for implementing the principle of equality in various sectors ranging from legislation and enforcement to judicial protection and observation of laws.

Greater effort should be made to cultivate more legal professionals specializing in laws involving foreign entities and develop foreign-related legal services, the statement said.

Related enterprises should raise their awareness of compliance with laws and regulations, it added.

Efforts should be stepped up to advance the building of legal systems to serve high-level opening-up, the statement said.

The meeting highlighted the importance of law-based governance and called for the integrated building of a law-based state, government and society, it said.

Meeting participants also said a people-centered approach is needed in advancing the rule of law to safeguard major public interests and the lawful rights and interests of the people, and to promote social fairness and justice, the statement said.

A series of documents were reviewed at the meeting, including the commission’s work report for 2018, highlights of the commission’s work in 2019, the legislative plan of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and the legislative plan of the State Council, according to the statement.