NPC 2026: Collecting Documents, Votes & Our Coverage
Plans, reports, legislation, and more.
Welcome back to a special issue of NPC Observer Monthly, a (mostly) monthly newsletter about China’s national legislature: the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee (NPCSC).
This will be the last crosspost for NPC 2026. This year, I’ve decided not to crosspost our substantive coverage of the session, as we published quite a few pieces. Here they are, in case you missed any:
On the Ecological and Environmental Code
On the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress: “China Enshrines Xi-Era Ethnic Policy in New Law“
On the Law on National Development Plans
“China Enacts Law on the Formulation and Implementation of Five-Year Plans“
“New Development Planning Law to Codify Party Authority in Detail“ (for the Brookings Institution)
On the cleanup of national laws: “Chinese Legislature Revokes Landmark 1985 Delegation of Economic Lawmaking Power to the State Council“
Next week, I’ll try my best to get the Winter 2025–26 triple issue out, and then recap March shortly thereafter. And then hopefully we’ll be back on schedule!
If you’re enjoying the newsletter, I hope you’ll share it widely. —Changhao
[The following post was first published on NPC Observer]
The fourth session of China’s 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) concluded on Thursday, March 12. Below we have compiled a list of all official documents from this session (except for several legislative reports the NPC has so far neglected to release1). We have also included the submitted (i.e., draft) versions of key documents for your reference. Documents are available in Chinese only unless otherwise noted. The vote results for each bill and resolution are listed below in brackets, in the order of for–against–abstention, followed by the number of delegates not voting (NV), if any.
Work Reports
State Council (i.e., Government Work Report)
Approval resolution [2759–1–2]
NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC)
Approval resolution [2757–2–3]
Supreme People’s Court
Submitted version (with appendices)
Approval resolution [2703–44–15]
Supreme People’s Procuratorate
Submitted version (with appendices)
Approval resolution [2726–23–13]
15th Five-Year Plan
Full text
NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee (FEAC) review report
Approval resolution [2758–1–2, 1 NV]
Annual Development Plans
National Development and Reform Commission report
Approval resolution [2748–3–11]
Central and Local Budgets
Ministry of Finance report
Approval resolution [2745–11–6]
Legislation
Ecological and Environmental Code
Full text [2752–7–3]
NPC Constitution and Law Committee (CLC) report on results of deliberations (pending)
NPC CLC report on suggestions for revisions (pending)
Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress
Full text [2756–3–3]
NPC CLC report on results of deliberations (pending)
NPC CLC report on suggestions for revisions (pending)
Law on National Development Plans
Full text [2753–3–6]
NPC CLC report on results of deliberations (pending)
NPC CLC report on suggestions for revisions (pending)
Decision approving NPCSC’s report on legislation cleanup
Full text [2759–1–2]
NPCSC report on legislation cleanup
Approved version (pending)
NPC CLC report on results of deliberations (pending)
Other
A bit of editorialization: The NPC Rules of Procedure (a statute), as amended in 2021, require that legislative reports that accompany enacted laws be published on the NPC’s website “promptly [or timely or without delay]“ [及时]. While this standard is elastic, the longer the NPC takes to publish those documents, the less it can justify the delay as lawful.