Author: Qi Tong (Vice President and Professor, Institute of International Rule of Law, Wuhan University).
On November 27, 2023, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held the 10th collective study on strengthening the construction of foreign-related legal systems.
Strengthening the construction of foreign-related rule of law is both a "long-term need" and a "top priority".
Strengthening the construction of foreign-related rule of law is a long-term need for comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization. As an important part of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics, foreign-related rule of law is related to the comprehensive governance of the country according to law, and to the overall situation of China's opening up and diplomatic work. Looking back at the history of China's opening up to the outside world over the past 40 years, the construction of foreign-related rule of law has always been accompanied by each other. As the opening up to the outside world moves forward, the construction of foreign-related rule of law must follow suit. Looking to the future, the central task of the Communist Party of China is to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country to build China into a great modern socialist country in an all-round way, realize the second centenary goal, and comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization. Only by continuing to strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law can we better play the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long-term, respond to various uncertainties on the way forward with the certainty of the rule of law, create favorable rule of law conditions and external environment for the steady and long-term development of Chinese-style modernization, and realize the long-term peace and stability of the country and the great cause of national rejuvenation.
Strengthening the construction of foreign-related rule of law is also an urgent task to promote high-level opening up and respond to external risks and challenges. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) regards "promoting high-level opening-up" as an important part of "accelerating the construction of a new development pattern and striving to promote high-quality development". Strengthening the construction of foreign-related rule of law can enhance the predictability and stability of international commercial transactions, provide better legal protection for enterprises' foreign economic activities, and then attract more foreign investment and talents, and promote economic development. In terms of promoting high-level opening-up, China still has some "shortcomings" in the rule of law, and it is necessary to take a more active historical responsibility and creative spirit to connect with high standards and investment agreements, and expand institutional opening-up such as rules, regulations, management, and standards. At present, the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, the instability and uncertainty of the international environment have increased significantly, the importance of the rule of law as a country's core competitiveness has become more prominent, the need to use the rule of law and rules to protect one's legitimate rights and interests has become more urgent, and the rule of law has played an increasingly important role in global governance. Strengthening the construction of foreign-related rule of law can not only help countries better respond to external risks and challenges and protect national interests and security, but also promote international cooperation and exchanges, and promote the building of a more just and reasonable international order.
China's foreign-related rule of law system should not only have Chinese characteristics, but also integrate China and foreign countries.
**The general secretary pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen research on the frontier topics of foreign-related rule of law theory and practice, build a foreign-related rule of law theory and discourse system with Chinese characteristics and integrate China and foreign countries, and highlight China's image as a great country under the rule of law and a civilized country. China's foreign-related rule of law system has the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries, including democracy, fairness, justice, rights, freedom, equality, order, due process, substantive rationality, legal authority, legal beliefs, etc., which represent the spirit and concept of the rule of law. But at the same time, it has more Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions, emphasizing the integration of China and foreign countries based on ancient and modern times.
To strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law, it is first necessary to base ourselves on thousands of years of Chinese legal civilization. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out: "Chinese-style modernization is socialist modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which has the common characteristics of the modernization of all countries and Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions. "The foreign-related rule of law system with Chinese characteristics takes the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics as the axis, and its guiding ideology, evolutionary process, external relations, and internal structure are all different from those of the Western road. The Chinese legal system has a long history, and the excellent traditional Chinese legal culture contains rich ideas on the rule of law and profound political wisdom, and is a treasure of Chinese culture. China advocates "openness and inclusiveness" in the Belt and Road Initiative, and advocates dispute prevention and friendly settlement in the field of international dispute settlement, which has endowed China's rule of law civilization, especially the "harmony" culture, with a new connotation of the times, and is a creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional legal culture. The path of Chinese-style rule of law modernization is rooted in the excellent traditional Chinese legal culture, replacing the zero-sum game thinking with mutual benefit and win-win, and replacing competitive politics, elite politics, liberalism and even non-formalism with order, harmony, coordination and efficiency, overcoming the chronic diseases of freedom and disorder, democracy and inefficiency, advocating equality and letting injustice, and dissolving the path dependence on Western-style rule of law modernization.
To strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law, it is also necessary to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and integrate China and foreign countries. The stones of other mountains can be used to attack jade. With regard to the beneficial achievements of human rule of law civilization, it is necessary to base it on China's national conditions and reality, refer to it in analysis, learn from it in comparison, and absorb it in criticism, and must not blindly copy and copy. Today's world is an open world, and countries learn from each other and learn from each other in the process of open development. While adhering to Chinese characteristics and independent innovation, it is especially necessary to actively learn from the advanced practices of other countries in the construction of rule of law civilization, and absorb the successful experiences and failures of foreign rule of law construction. Taking China's accession to the World Organization (WTO) as an example, the experience of the past 20 years tells us that WTO accession has not only greatly promoted China's economic development, but more importantly, its market-oriented concept and standardized and transparent operation mode of rule of law have become increasingly popular among the people. The construction of foreign-related rule of law cannot be done behind closed doors, and we need to be more active and active in docking and absorbing high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expanding institutional opening-up, improving the level of investment liberalization and facilitation, and building a new system of a higher-level open economy.
It is necessary to strengthen the building of the foreign-related legal system as well as the building of the foreign-related rule of law.
The theme of this collective study is "Strengthening the Construction of Foreign-related Legal System", which mainly focuses on the legislative and institutional levels. However, the legal system and the rule of law, and the foreign-related legal system and the foreign-related rule of law, are inseparable. The foreign-related legal system is more from a static perspective, emphasizing the institutional level. Foreign-related rule of law refers to the state, manner, degree and process of the operation of the foreign-related legal system, which emphasizes the governance level from a dynamic perspective. The foreign-related legal system is the foundation of the foreign-related rule of law, and the foreign-related rule of law is the extension and development of the foreign-related legal system, and both are indispensable.
To strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law, it is first necessary to improve the foreign-related legal system as soon as possible. The foreign-related legal system is an important part of the country's legal system and the foundation of the foreign-related rule of law. It is necessary to persist in giving priority to legislation, enacting, reforming, repealing, and interpreting at the same time, so as to form a systematic and complete system of foreign-related laws and regulations. In recent years, in order to cope with the great changes in the world unseen in a century, safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, the pace of China's foreign-related legislation has been significantly accelerated, and important legislation such as the Foreign Investment Law, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, the Foreign Relations Law, and the Foreign State Immunity Law has been passed. At the same time, there are still shortcomings in China's foreign-related legal system in terms of anti-coercion, anti-sanctions, and how to better safeguard overseas interests. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of legislation first, enactment, reform, abolition and interpretation at the same time, enrich the legal toolbox to deal with challenges, and form a systematic and complete system of foreign-related laws and regulations as soon as possible.
To strengthen the establishment of foreign-related rule of law, it is also necessary to build a coordinated and efficient foreign-related rule of law implementation system. **The general secretary's speech not only emphasized the legislative issue of the foreign-related legal system, but also emphasized that the foreign-related rule of law work is a systematic project involving a wide range of areas and strong linkage, and it is necessary to coordinate domestic and international, overall development and security, adhere to forward-looking thinking, overall planning, strategic layout, and overall advancement, strengthen top-level design, and promote foreign-related legislation, law enforcement, justice, law-abiding and legal services in an integrated manner, so as to form a large coordinated pattern of foreign-related rule of law work. The revolutionary and global nature of governance called for by the modernization of the rule of law will inevitably require a comprehensive shift from a foreign-related legal system to a foreign-related legal system, and a revolution in governance through rule of law reform. We not only need to build a systematic and complete system of foreign-related laws and regulations, but also need to strengthen the rule of law thinking, apply the rule of law methods, and continue to improve the foreign-related rule of law capacity that is compatible with China's high-quality development and high-level opening up, so as to effectively respond to challenges, prevent risks, promote the progress of the international rule of law, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.
*: Guangming Network - Theory Channel.
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