A special committee () is a legislative committee in the
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2,9 ...
(NPC), the national legislature of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. Article 35 of the Organic Law of the National People's Congress specifies that the NPC shall create an
Ethnic Affairs Committee, a
Constitution and Law Committee (formerly just Law Committee), a
Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, an
Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee, a
Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to:
* Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
* Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
* European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs
* F ...
, and an
Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, as well as any other special committees that it deems necessary. Over time, the NPC has added an
Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee, an
Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, an
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and
Social Development Affairs Committee, for a total of ten special committees.
Article 37 of the Organic Law indicates that the functions of special committees are to include deliberating on bills and proposals received from the
Presidium
A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one.
Communist states
In Communist states the presid ...
and
Standing Committee, submitting bills and proposals to the same, examine and report on items considered to contravene the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
and laws, examine questions referred by the Presidium and Standing Committee, and investigate and propose solutions to issues. The Ethnic Affairs Committee can additionally make proposals to strengthen ethnic unity and review legislation related to the
Autonomous regions of China
The autonomous regions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under Chinese law, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the ...
. The Law Committee deliberates on all draft laws submitted to the NPC.
Shi Hexing, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, has written that special committees have strengthened the NPC and the people's congress system as a whole.
Wan Li
Wan Li (1 December 1916 – 15 July 2015) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician. During a long administrative career in the People's Republic of China, he served successively as Vice Premier, Chairman of the Standing Committee of ...
, former
Chairman of the National People's Congress, also emphasized the great importance of special committees. In 2005, the General Office of the NPC Standing Committee issued "Several Opinions on Giving Full Scope to the Role of Special Committees," which further strengthened them by setting a specific work system and procedures.
Current special committees
References
{{National People's Congress