bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Li Jing

President Xi Jinping said "democracy is not a decoration" yesterday as he delivered a speech to the government's political advisers on his approach to developing China's consultative political institution.
Speaking at the 65th anniversary of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Xi called for building a practical political system to embody "consultative democracy", one that included all levels of society.
"Democracy is defined not only by people's right to vote in an election but also the right to participate in political affairs on a daily basis," Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. "Democracy is not a decoration … it's for solving people's problems."
Xi added that citizens should be consulted before the authorities made key decisions.
He said local party agencies, governments and judicial departments should improve the transparency of their work so that common people would be well informed.
Early this month at the national legislature's 60th anniversary, Xi discussed development of a "socialist democracy" and cautioned against a situation where "people seem to have power but are actually powerless".
The two speeches came ahead of next month's fourth party plenum, which is expected to focus on rule of law, along with economic development.
Analysts said Xi's recent comments could reflect his call to modernise the country's system of governance as laid out at last year's plenum.
"The ongoing anti-corruption campaign, the reform of social services and the expected reform in the judicial system are all part of this governance modernisation. The political consultation is another aspect," said Zhu Lijia, a professor of public policy at the Chinese Academy of Governance.
Zhang Ming, a political science professor at Beijing-based Renmin University, said the speeches were a sign Xi wanted to develop "socialist democracy" through revitalising both the National People's Congress (NPC) and the political advisory body functions, without the need to implement real political reforms.
"The NPC and CPPCC systems are both known as having little real political influence now. Xi obviously wants to make them operational and unleash their power," Zhang said.
"But the question is - can he really achieve that without introducing democratic election?" he said.


The US and China called a truce on tariffs, but is the battleground expanding?

US importers urging Hong Kong manufacturers ‘to bypass levies’ amid trade war

Air begins to clear on better EU-China ties

By eroding US soft power, Trump is ceding the contest to China

Xi Jinping

Democracy is not a decoration, Xi Jinping says in speech to CPPCC

News

China

President Xi Jinping said 'democracy is not a decoration' as he delivered a speech to the government's political advisers.
