Chinese government to make new laws

The Chinese government has said it will make new laws on national security, monopolies, education, and culture, signalling that an ongoing crackdown on various industrial sectors will continue.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, or China’s Cabinet, publicised the plans late on Wednesday as part of a five-year plan for “building a law-based government”.

President Xi Jinping, perceived as China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong, has made “rule of law” one of his several signature aspects of his governance style, which will be extended if – as expected – he seeks a third term next year.

The CPC and the government said in a blueprint for the five years to 2025 that they would also improve legislation around public health by amending the infectious disease law and the “frontier health and quarantine law”.

It is rare for the CPC and the government – though the latter is an extension of the former – to jointly issue a document, published by the Xinhua news agency.

“It (the new document) urges improving government functions in various fields, including economic adjustment, market supervision, social management, public service, and environmental protection,” Xinhua reported on the 10-point plan.

In the document, China’s top leadership urged “…governments at all levels to promote law-based administration with the help of digital technologies, including the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence”.

On improving the law-based business environment, the plan calls for concrete efforts to prevent the administrative power from eliminating or stifling competition.

“It also promises strengthened enforcement of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition laws.”

“It stresses pushing forward legislative activities and studies in key areas such as national security, bio-security, infectious diseases prevention and control, and digital economy.”

The unveiling of the document seems to be part of Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on technology companies and the private education system.

Earlier this year, Beijing launched anti-monopoly investigations into some of the country’s biggest technology firms; tech giant Alibaba accepted a record $2.8 billion fine after an investigation found that it had abused its dominant market position for years.