Xi urges breaking new ground in advancing rule of law

President Xi Jinping has called for upholding the unity between Party leadership, the running of the country by the people and law-based governance, and making concerted efforts to break new ground in advancing the rule of law in China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a recent instruction on comprehensively promoting the rule of law.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee has comprehensively advanced law-based governance as part of China's Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy, and a comprehensive framework for law-based governance has taken shape, Xi said.

The Four Comprehensives refers to a complete four-pronged strategy that aims to comprehensively accomplish a moderately prosperous society, deepen reform, advance rule of law, and strengthen strict Party governance.

Xi urged efforts to refine the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and promote the building of a socialist country under the rule of law at a higher level, with greater importance attached to ensuring the synergy between the rule of law and reform, development and stability, and safeguarding and promoting social equity and justice.

All-around efforts should be made to ensure sound legislation, strict law enforcement, impartial administration of justice, and society-wide observance of the law, he stressed, adding that all work of the state should be carried out under the rule of law.

The central conference on work related to overall law-based governance was held in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday.

Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Zhao Leji attended the conference and delivered a speech, and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang conveyed Xi's instruction at the conference.

Both Zhao and Ding are also members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Zhao said that it's imperative to uphold fundamental principles, break new ground, and make steady progress in advancing the law-based governance on all fronts.

He stressed the need to consolidate and demonstrate the institutional strengths through the rule of law, and provide legal safeguards for high-quality development.

Efforts should be made to protect people's rights and interests and improve their well-being in accordance with the law, ensure and promote social equity and justice, safeguard national security and social stability, and improve the system and capacity for ensuring the rule of law in foreign affairs, so as to provide a solid legal foundation for securing decisive progress toward basically realizing socialist modernization, Zhao said.

Xi urges breaking new ground in advancing rule of law

Xi urges breaking new ground in advancing rule of law

Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.

Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.

Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.

"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.

"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.

HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.

A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.

"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.

"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.

The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections.

The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.

Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes