China · Constitution
Constitution of the People's Republic of China
The fourth constitution of the PRC, adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004 and 2018. It declares a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship, guarantees a list of citizens' rights in Chapter II, and sets out the state organs in Chapter III. The 2018 amendment removed the two-term limit on the presidency, wrote Xi Jinping Thought and the leading role of the Communist Party into the main text rather than only the preamble, and created the supervisory commissions as a fourth branch alongside the executive, legislature and judiciary.
The constitutional text
The fourth constitution of the PRC, adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004 and 2018. It declares a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship, guarantees a list of citizens' rights in Chapter II, and sets out the state organs in Chapter III. The 2018 amendment removed the two-term limit on the presidency, wrote Xi Jinping Thought and the leading role of the Communist Party into the main text rather than only the preamble, and created the supervisory commissions as a fourth branch alongside the executive, legislature and judiciary.
Separation of powers
Unitary, with a highly asymmetric structure: 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly administered municipalities and two special administrative regions. Hong Kong and Macao operate under 'one country, two systems' with their own Basic Laws, their own courts of final appeal, and legal systems that remain common-law and Portuguese-derived civil-law respectively. Provincial people's congresses may enact local regulations that must not contravene national law.
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