All power in China belongs to the people. The organs through
which the people exercise state power are the National People's
Congress and local people's congresses. Therefore, the people's
congress system is China's fundamental political system. Its basic
features are: broad representation?-- it is the basic unit of
the people's political power; it follows the principle of
democratic centralism, i.e., it guarantees that the people enjoy
extensive democracy and rights, at the same time guaranteeing that
state power is exercised in a centralized and unified way. Under
the premise that the people's congresses exercise state power in a
unified way, the state's administrative power, judicial authority,
procuratorial authority and leadership over the armed forces are
clearly divided so as to ensure that the organs of state power and
administrative, judicial, procuratorial and other state organs work
in a coordinated way.
Deputies to the people's congresses at all levels are elected,
responsible to and accepting supervision from the people. They
include people from all ethnic groups, all walks of life, and all
regions, classes and strata. When the congresses meet, they can air
their views fully, they can also address inquiries to governments
at the corresponding level and their affiliated departments, and
the parties concerned are duty-bound to reply to the inquiries.
Electors or constituencies have the right to recall their elected
deputies according to procedures prescribed by law.