About NPC Observer Monthly
Last updated: June 17, 2025
Hello there!
I’m Changhao Wei, a Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, where my project focuses broadly on China’s national legislature—the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee (NPCSC)—especially its legislative process and constitutional enforcement mechanisms. You can find a list of my publications here.
In October 2016, I founded NPC Observer on a mission to help English readers around the world better understand the Chinese legislature, through free, independent, and high-quality reporting, analysis, and original research. Over the years, the site has become a trusted source on the NPC. You can read more about its history here.
In June 2023, I launched this companion newsletter, NPC Observer Monthly, to offer both an alternative—and still free—way to follow NPC-related developments and additional coverage of the institution. Read on to learn more.
What to Expect from This Newsletter?
You’ll see three types of posts.
1. Monthly recaps. I aim to publish a monthly recap during the first half of each month, though I may delay (or, in very rare cases, skip) an issue depending on my schedule. At a minimum, each monthly recap will—
summarize major NPC-related events from the previous month, including laws that took effect, legislative sessions and their outcomes, and other notable developments; and
mention anything we’ve posted on the main site, whether related to current events or not.
Each monthly recap usually also includes a more in-depth look at an NPC-related topic linked to the previous month in some way. This could be a summary of a new law, discussion of a new document released by the NPC, or a piece of NPC-related trivia.
2. Special issues. I occasionally send out special issues to share work I’ve published elsewhere or to discuss legal developments that aren’t a good fit for the main site.
3. Crossposts. I’ve been, and will continue, crossposting our coverage of the NPC’s annual sessions here. You can opt out of these crossposts by deselecting “NPC Observer Crossposts” in the settings for this newsletter. I don’t normally crosspost other content from the main site.
How Does This Newsletter Differ from the Main Site?
NPC Observer’s main site remains the primary home of our work. It’s now reserved for routine coverage of the legislature—including session previews, announcement of new draft laws, analysis of work plans, and more—as well as for longer discussions of NPC-related news and primer-type materials. It also hosts numerous resources, such as the frequently updated bill pages, and runs on many third-party plugins native to WordPress. It is therefore impracticable to migrate the main site to Substack, both logistically and technologically. So this newsletter won’t replace it.
But the newsletter does offer additional content. Here, I’ll flag minor but still noteworthy developments that don’t warrant separate posts on the main site. And because I write in a personal voice here, I can cover a wider range of topics in a more casual or tentative way, without feeling obligated to do in-depth research every time.
Who Should Subscribe to This Newsletter?
Anyone interested in learning more about China’s national legislature!
If you’re just a casual follower of the NPC, this newsletter is a simple way to stay informed without getting frequent updates from us.
But even if you’re a close watcher and already subscribe to the main site, this newsletter is still worth subscribing. (Again, you can opt out of the few crossposts.) The monthly recaps make sure you don’t miss anything, and I do offer additional content here that doesn’t appear on the main site.
To receive real-time email notifications whenever we publish on the main site (often several times a month), subscribe here:
Why Do You Offer Paid Subscriptions?
I’ll start by reaffirming my commitment to the open-knowledge mission of NPC Observer and this newsletter. There will never be a paywall of any kind.
But I’ve heard—a myth, perhaps—that Substack’s algorithm favors paid newsletters. And I won’t pretend it’s not nice to be financially rewarded for my work once in a while. So I’ve turned on paid subscriptions to give those willing and able a way to support what we do—to help pay for web hosting, site upgrades, or simply a cup of coffee while I research and write. And just to reiterate: there is absolutely no extra content or benefit offered to paid subscribers.
Substack requires me to charge a minimum of $5/month or $50/year for a paid subscription. If you prefer to donate a smaller amount (as low as $3), hit this button instead:
If you find my work valuable and choose to donate, thank you! If you can’t or don’t want to, that’s okay, too! Just keep reading and sharing my writings—that might even be a stronger motivator than money.
And finally, please feel free to reach out with any comments or suggestions:
