Article 1The People's Republic of China is a socialist state
under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working
class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.The socialist system is the basic system of the People's Republic
of China. Disruption of the socialist system by any organization
or individual is prohibited.Article 2
All power in the People's Republic of China belongs to the people.
The National People's Congress and the local people's congresses
at various levels are the organs through which the people
exercise state power.The people administer state affairs and manage economic, cultural
and social affairs through various channels and in various ways
in accordance with the law.Article 3
The state organs of the People's Republic of China
apply the principle of democratic centralism.The National People's Congress and the local people's congresses
at various levels are constituted through democratic elections.
They are responsible to the people and subject to their
supervision.All administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs of the
state are created by the people's congresses to which they are
responsible and by which they are supervised.The division of functions and powers between the central and
local state organs is guided by the principle of giving full
scope to the initiative and enthusiasm of the local authorities
under the unified leadership of the central authorities.Article 4
All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are
equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the
minority nationalities and upholds and develops a relationship of
equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's
nationalities. Discrimination against and oppression of any
nationality are prohibited; any act which undermines the unity of
the nationalities or instigates division is prohibited.The state assists areas inhabited by minority nationalities in
accelerating their economic and cultural development according to
the characteristics and needs of the various minority
nationalities.Regional autonomy is practised in areas where people of minority
nationalities live in concentrated communities; in these areas
organs of self-government are established to exercise the power
of autonomy. All national autonomous areas are integral parts of
the People's Republic of China.All nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own
spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their own
folkways and customs.Article 5
The state upholds the uniformity and dignity of the
socialist legal system.No laws or administrative or local rules and regulations may
contravene the Constitution.All state organs, the armed forces, all political parties and
public organizations and all enterprises and institutions must
abide by the Constitution and the law. All acts in violation of
the Constitution or the law must be investigated.No organization or individual is privileged to be beyond the
Constitution or the law.Article 6
The basis of the socialist economic system of the
People's Republic of China is socialist public ownership of the
means of production , namely, ownership by the whole people and
collective ownership by the working people.The system of socialist public ownership supersedes the system of
exploitation of man by man; it applies the principle of "from
each according to his ability, to each according to his work."Article 7
The state economy is the sector of socialist economy
under ownership by the whole people; it is the leading force in
the national economy. The state ensures the consolidation and
growth of the state economy.Article 8
Rural people's Communes, agricultural producers
cooperatives and other forms of cooperative economy, such as
producers', supply and marketing, credit and consumers
cooperatives, belong to the sector of socialist economy under
collective ownership by the working people. Working people who
are members of rural economic collective have the right , within
the limits prescribed by law, to farm plots of cropland and hilly
land allotted for their private use, engage in household sideline
production and raise privately owned livestock.The various forms of cooperative economy in the cities and towns,
such as those in the handicraft, industrial, building, transport,
commercial and service trades, all belong to the sector of
socialist economy under collective ownership by the working
people.The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the urban
and rural economic collective and encourages, guides and helps
the growth of the collective economy.Article 9
All mineral resources, waters, forests, mountains,
grassland , unreclaimed land, beaches and other natural resources
are owned by the state, that is, by the whole people, with the
exception of the forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land
and beaches that are owned by collective in accordance with the
law.The state ensures the rational use of natural resources and
protects rare animals and plants. Appropriation or damaging of
natural resources by any organization or individual by whatever
means is prohibited.Article 10
Land in the cities is owned by the state.
Land in the rural and suburban areas is owned by collectives
except for those portions which belong to the state in accordance
with the law; house sites and privately farmed plots of cropland
and hilly land are also owned by collectives.The state may, in the public interest, requisition land for its
use in accordance with the law.No organization or individual may appropriate, buy, sell or lease
land or otherwise engage in the transfer of land by unlawful
means.All organizations and individuals using land must ensure its
rational use.Article 11
The individual economy of urban and rural working
people, operating within the limits prescribed by law, is a
complement to the socialist public economy. The state protects
the lawful rights and interests of the individual economy.The state guides, assists and supervises the individual economy
by administrative control.Article 12
Socialist public property is inviolable.
The state protects socialist public property. Appropriation or
damaging of state or collective property by any organization or
individual by whatever means is prohibited.Article 13
The state protects the right of citizens to own
lawfully earned income, savings, houses and other lawful
property.The state protects according to law the right of citizens to
inherit private property.Article 14
The state continuously raises labour productivity,
improves economic results and develops the productive forces by
enhancing the enthusiasm of the working people, raising the level
of their technical skill, disseminating advanced science and
technology, improving the systems of economic administration and
enterprise operation and management , instituting the socialist
system of responsibility in various forms and improving the
organization of work.The state practises strict economy and combats waste.
The state properly apportions accumulation and consumption,
concerns itself with the interests of the collective and the
individual as well as of the state and, on the basis of expanded
production, gradually improves the material and cultural life of
the people.Article 15
The state practises planned economy on the basis of
socialist public ownership. It ensures the proportionate and
coordinated growth of the national economy through overall
balancing by economic planning and the supplementary role of
regulation by the market.Disturbance of the socioeconomic order or disruption of the state
economic plan by any organization or individual is prohibited.Article 16
State enterprises have decision-making power with
regard to operation and management within the limits prescribed
by law, on condition that they submit to unified leadership by
the state and fulfil all their obligations under the state plan.State enterprises practise democratic management through
congresses of workers and staff and in other ways in accordance
with the law.Article 17
Collective economic organizations have decision-making
power in conducting independent economic activities, on condition
that they accept the guidance of the state plan and abide by the
relevant laws.Collective economic organizations practise democratic management
in accordance with the law. The entire body of their workers
elects or removes their managerial personnel and decides on major
issues concerning operation and management.Article 18
The People's Republic of China permits foreign
enterprises, other foreign economic organizations and individual
foreigners to invest in China and to enter into various forms of
economic cooperation with Chinese enterprises and other Chinese
economic organizations in accordance with the law of the People's
Republic of China.All foreign enterprises, other foreign economic organizations as
well as Chinese-foreign joint ventures within Chinese territory
shall abide by the law of the People's Republic of China. Their
lawful rights and interests are protected by the law of the
People's Republic of China.Article 19
The state undertakes the development of socialist
education and works to raise the scientific and cultural level of
the whole nation.The state establishes and administers schools of various types,
universalizes compulsory primary education and promotes
secondary, vocational and higher education as well as preschool
education.The state develops educational facilities in order to eliminate
illiteracy and provide political, scientific, technical and
professional education as well as general education for workers,
peasants, state functionaries and other working people. It
encourages people to become educated through independent study.The state encourages the collective economic organizations, state
enterprises and institutions and other sectors of society to
establish educational institutions of various types in accordance
with the law.The state promotes the nationwide use of Putonghua.
Article 20
The state promotes the development of the natural and
social sciences, disseminates knowledge of science and
technology, and commends and rewards achievements in scientific
research as well as technological innovations and inventions.Article 21
The state develops medical and health services,
promotes modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine,
encourages and supports the setting up of various medical and
health facilities by the rural economic collectives, state
enterprises and institutions and neighbourhood organizations, and
promotes health and sanitation activities of a mass character,
all for the protection of the people's health.The state develops physical culture and promotes mass sports
activities to improve the people's physical fitness.Article 22
The state promotes the development of art and
literature, the press, radio and television broadcasting,
publishing and distribution services, libraries, museums,
cultural centres and other cultural undertakings that serve the
people and socialism, and it sponsors mass cultural activities.The state protects sites of scenic and historical interest,
valuable cultural monuments and relics and other significant
items of China's historical and cultural heritage.Article 23
The state trains specialized personnel in all fields
who serve socialism, expands the ranks of intellectuals and
creates conditions to give full scope to their role in socialist
modernization.Article 24
The state strengthens the building of a socialist
society with an advanced culture and ideology by promoting
education in high ideals, ethics, general knowledge, discipline
and legality, and by promoting the formulation and observance of
rules of conduct and common pledges by various sections of the
people in urban and rural areas.The state advocates the civic virtues of love of the motherland,
of the people, of labour, of science and of socialism. It
conducts education among the people in patriotism and
collectivism, in internationalism and communism and in
dialectical and historical materialism, to combat capitalist,
feudal and other decadent ideas.Article 25
The state promotes family planning so that population
growth may fit the plans for economic and social development.
Article 26The state protects and improves the environment in
which people live and the ecological environment. It prevents and
controls pollution and other public hazards.The state organizes and encourages afforestation and the
protection of forests.Article 27
All state organs carry out the principle of simple and
efficient administration, the system of responsibility for work
and the system of training functionaries and appraising their
performance in order constantly to improve the quality of work
and efficiency and combat bureaucratism.All state organs and functionaries must rely on the support of
the people, keep in close touch with them, heed their opinions
and suggestions , accept their supervision and do their best to
serve them.Article 28
The state maintains public order and suppresses
treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it
penalizes criminal activities that endanger public security and
disrupt the socialist economy as well as other criminal
activities; and it punishes and reforms criminals.Article 29
The armed forces of the People's Republic of China
belong to the people. Their tasks are to strengthen national
defence, resist aggression, defend the motherland, safeguard the
people's peaceful labour, participate in national reconstruction
and do their best to serve the people.The state strengthens the revolutionization, modernization and
regularization of the armed forces in order to increase national
defence capability.Article 30
The administrative division of the People's Republic
of China is as follows:(l) The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities directly under the Central Government;(2) Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous
prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, and cities;(3) Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships,
nationality townships, and towns.Municipalities directly under the Central Government and other
large cities are divided into districts and counties. Autonomous
prefectures are divided into counties, autonomous counties, and
cities.All autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous
counties are national autonomous areas.Article 31
The state may establish special administrative regions
when necessary. The systems to be instituted in special
administrative regions shall be prescribed by law enacted by the
National People's Congress in the light of specific conditions.
Article 32The People's Republic of China protects the lawful
rights and interests of foreigners within Chinese territory;
foreigners on Chinese territory must abide by the laws of the
People's Republic of China.The People's Republic of China may grant asylum to foreigners who
request it for political reasons.
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