About China

New Year’s Day is one of the public holidays in China and people usually have 3 days off. Although it’s not a traditional festival in China, most malls are decorated during this holiday and the shops launch sales promotions.

The Spring Festival is China’s most important festival and holiday. People enjoy a week’s holiday for family reunions, and many traditions and activities are pursued during that time.

In terms of travel, Chinese New Year is one of the low seasons for tourism, yet it’s one of the best times for experiencing Chinese culture.

In China, the Qingming Festival is also called Tomb-Sweeping Day. Chinese people enjoy 3 days off. It’s a time for worshipping ancestors and starting to enjoy the greenery of spring.

Chinese people have a 5-day holiday on Labor Day. This is one of the peak times for travel during the year.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, is a traditional cultural festival in China. There are 3 days off for Chinese people.

Some of the most traditional customs include dragon boat racing, eating sticky rice dumplings (zongzi), hanging Chinese mugwort and calamus, drinking realgar wine, and wearing perfume pouches.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival in China. People have 3 days off.

It’s also known as the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival. Some of the most traditional customs include family gatherings, admiring the full moon, eating mooncakes, and lantern lighting.

The National Day of the People’s Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1.

The Central People’s Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on December 2, 1949 and declared that October 1 is the National Day.

The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949, with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square.

It is a public holiday in the People’s Republic of China to celebrate the national day. Public places, such as Tiananmen Square in Beijing, are decorated in a festive theme during the holiday.

The four municipalities that are under the direct governance of the central government are:

• Beijing
• Tianjin
• Shanghai
• Chongqing

The five autonomous regions are:

• Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
• Tiber Autonomous Region
• Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
• Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The two special administrative regions are:

• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• Macao Special Administrative Region

The 23 provinces of China are:

• Hebei province
• Shanxi province
• Liaoning province
• Jilin province
• Heilongjiang province
• Jiangsu province
• Zhejiang province
• Anhui province
• Fujian province
• Jiangxi province
• Shangdong province
• Henan province
• Hubei province
• Hunan province
• Guangdong province
• Hainan province
• Sichuan province
• Guizhou province
• Yunnan province
• Shanxi province
• Gansu province
• Qinghai province
• Taiwan province

China is a unified multiethnic country with a unitary political system. To ensure that the legal system remains unified yet at the same time adapts to the uneven economic, political and cultural development or different areas, China practices a unified, multilevel legislative system.

The NPC and its Standing Committee exercise the state power to make laws. The NPC enacts and amends basic laws pertaining to criminal offences, civil affairs, state organs and other matters. The Standing Committee enacts and amends all laws except for basic laws that should be enacted by the NPC. When the NPC is not in session, its Standing Committee may partially supplement and revise laws enacted by the NPC, provided that the changes do not contravene the laws’ basic principles.

The State Council formulates administrative regulations in accordance with the Constitution and other laws and reports them to the NPC for records.

In line with the specific conditions and actual needs of their administrative regions and on the condition that they do not violate the Constitution or other state laws and administrative regulations, the people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as their standing committees, may work out local statutes and report them to the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council for the record. In light of their specific conditions and actual needs and on the condition that they do not conflict with the Constitution, other laws and administrative regulations or local statutes passed by their provinces or autonomous regions, the people’s congresses and their standing committees of larger cities may enact local statutes and submit them to the standing committees of the people’s congresses of their provinces or autonomous regions for approval before they take effect. In addition, these standing committees shall record the local statutes with the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council.

The people’s congresses of national autonomous areas have the power to formulate regulations concerning autonomy and local needs in light of their own local political, economic and cultural conditions. These regulations of autonomous regions take effect after they are approved by the NPC Standing Committee. Such regulations made by autonomous prefectures or counties take effect after they are approved by the standing committees of the people’s congresses of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; in addition, these standing committees shall record the regulations with the NPC Standing Committee and the State Council.

In China’s multilevel legislative system, laws promulgated at different levels do not have the same effect. The Constitution has the highest legal validity, and no other laws, administrative regulations, local statutes, regulations concerning autonomy and local needs, or other regulations may violate the Constitution. State laws have greater force than administrative regulations, local statutes and regulations. State administrative regulations have greater force than local statutes and regulations, local statutes and regulations.

The NPC has the power to alter or annul any inappropriate laws enacted by its Standing Committee. The NPC Standing Committee has the power to annul administrative regulations that go against the Constitution or laws concerned and revoke local statutes that contravene the Constitution, other laws or administrative regulations.

There are five central and local levels of people’s congresses in China. They are the National People’s Congress, the people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the people’s congresses of cities divided into districts, and autonomous prefectures, and the people’s congresses of cities not divided into districts, municipal districts, counties and autonomous counties, and the people’s congresses of townships, ethnic minority townships and towns. The people’s congresses at all levels are constituted through democratic elections.

The basic points of China’s electoral system are:

All citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnic background, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education level, property status or length of residence. People who have been deprived of their political rights according to the law do not have the right to vote and stand for election. One voter has only one vote in each election.

Deputies to the people’s congresses of cities not divided into districts, municipal districts, counties, autonomous counties, townships, ethnic minority townships and towns are elected directly by their constituencies. Deputies to the NPC and the people’s congresses of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities divided into districts, and autonomous prefectures are elected by the people’s congresses at the next lower level.

All political parties and mass organizations may either jointly or separately recommend candidates to be deputies. Candidates may also be recommended by a minimum of 10 voters in a direct election and 10 deputies in an indirect election.

In both direct and indirect elections, the number of candidates must exceed the number of delegates to be elected and the elections must be competitive. In a direct election, the number of candidates should exceed the number to be elected by one-third to 100%. In an indirect election, the number of candidates should exceed the number to be elected by 20% to 50%.

Voters may vote for a candidate, vote against a candidate, vote for someone else, or abstain. In a direct election, more than half of the eligible voters in the election district must vote in order for the election to be valid, and candidates who receive the votes of a majority of the voters are elected. In an indirect election, candidates receiving the votes of a majority of the deputies voting are elected. The costs of elections are paid for out of the state treasury.

The president and the vice-president of the People’s Republic of China shall be elected by the National People’s Congress.

Citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have the right to vote and stand for election and who have reached the age of 45 are eligible for election as president or vice-president of the People’s Republic of China.

The president and the vice-president of the People’s Republic of China shall have the same term of office as that of the National People’s Congress.

The president of the People’s Republic of China, pursuant to decisions of the National People’s Congress and the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, promulgates laws, appoints or removes the premier, vice-premiers, state councillors, ministers of ministries, ministers of commissions, the auditor general and the secretary-general of the State Council, confers national medals and titles of honour, issues orders of special pardon, declares a state of emergency, declares a state of war, and issues mobilization orders.

The president of the People’s Republic of China engages in affairs of state and receives foreign diplomatic envoys on behalf of the People’s Republic of China and, pursuant to decisions of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, appoints or recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad and ratifies or abrogates treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign countries.

The vice-president of the People’s Republic of China shall assist the president in his or her work.

The vice-president of the People’s Republic of China may, when so entrusted by the president, exercise part of the functions and powers of the president on his or her behalf.

The president and the vice-president of the People’s Republic of China shall exercise their functions and powers until the president and the vice-president elected by the next National People’s Congress assume office.

In the event that the office of the president of the People’s Republic of China becomes vacant, the vice-president shall succeed to the office of president.

In the event that the office of vice-president of the People’s Republic of China becomes vacant, the National People’s Congress shall elect a new vice-president to fill the vacancy.

In the event that the offices of both president and vice-president of the People’s Republic of China become vacant, the National People’s Congress shall elect a new president and a new vice-president; prior to their election, the chairperson of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee shall temporarily act as the president.