The Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress: Outcomes of China's Legislative Development in 2023

The regular (second) session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), held in March 2024, summarized the key outcomes of China's socio-economic and legislative development in the second year following the 20th CPC National Congress (October 2022). According to established tradition, the third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC should have been held on the eve of the parliamentary session, with its decisions typically focusing on the country's economic development. In turn, the decisions of the NPC are based on the work of the plenum, often taking the form of laws. However, in 2024, although the plenum did not take place, the NPC session proceeded as scheduled, with no changes to its working agenda. In the report of the State Council’s Premier, it was noted that China's GDP growth reached 5.2 %, one of the highest figures among both developing and developed countries. In the legislative sphere, in 2023, the Chinese parliament, represented by the Standing Committee of the NPC, passed a number of important laws for the country's legal system, and several existing laws were amended. Of particular note are the Law on Foreign Relations, which outlines the key principles of China's foreign policy, and the Law on the Immunity of Foreign States, which replaced the previously existing principle of "absolute immunity" with "limited immunity." In the fight against corruption, significant changes were made through the 12th amendments to the Criminal Law of the PRC. Additionally, legislative decisions focused on developing a mechanism to counter growing challenges and threats to Chinese statehood, finding adequate responses to sanction policies, implementing measures to create a stable financial and banking system, and strengthening the military amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.