CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Adopted on December 4, 1982. The constitution's First Amendment was approved on April 12, 1988. The Second Amendment was approved on March 29, 1993. The Third Amendment was approved on Marh 15, 1999. The Fourth Amendment was approved on March 14, 2004.
PREAMBLE
China is a country with one of the longest histories in the world.
The people of all of China's nationalities have jointly created a
culture of grandeur and have a glorious revolutionary tradition. After 1840, feudal China was gradually turned into a semi-colonial
and semi- feudal country. The Chinese people waged many successive
heroic struggles for national independence and liberation and for
democracy and freedom. Great and earthshaking historical changes have taken place in China
in the 20th century. The Revolution of 1911, led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, abolished the feudal
monarchy and gave birth to the Republic of China. But the historic
mission of the Chinese people to overthrow imperialism and feudalism
remained unaccomplished. After waging protracted and arduous struggles, armed and otherwise,
along a zigzag course, the Chinese people of all nationalities led by
the Communist Party of China with Chairman Mao Zedong as its leader
ultimately, in 1949, overthrew the rule of imperialism, feudalism and
bureaucrat-capitalism, won a great victory in the New-Democratic
Revolution and founded the People's Republic of China. Since then the
Chinese people have taken control of state power and become masters of
the country. After founding the People's Republic, China gradually achieved its
transition from a New-Democratic to a socialist society. The socialist
transformation of the private ownership of the means of production has
been completed, the system of exploitation of man by man abolished and
the socialist system established. The people's democratic dictatorship
held by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and
peasants, which is in essence the dictatorship of the proletariat, has
been consolidated and developed. The Chinese people and the Chinese
People's Liberation Army have defeated imperialist and hegemonist
aggression, sabotage and armed provocations and have thereby safeguarded
China's national independence and security and strengthened its national
defense. Major successes have been achieved in economic development. An
independent and relatively comprehensive socialist system of industry
has basically been established. There has been a marked increase in
agricultural production. Significant advances have been made in
educational, scientific and cultural undertakings, while education in
socialist ideology has produced noteworthy results. The life of the
people has improved considerably. Both the victory of China's new-democratic revolution and the
successes of its socialist cause have been achieved by the Chinese
people of all nationalities under the leadership of the Communist Party
of China and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought,
and by upholding truth, correcting errors and overcoming numerous
difficulties and hardships. China will stay in the primary stage of
socialism for a long period of time. The basic task of the nation is to
concentrate its efforts on socialist modernization by following the road
of Chinese-style socialism. Under the leadership of the Communist Party
of China and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng
Xiaoping Theory, and the important thought of the "Three Represents,"
the Chinese people of all nationalities will continue to adhere to the
people's democratic dictatorship, follow the socialist road, persist in
reform and opening-up, steadily improve socialist institutions, develop
a socialist market economy, advance socialist democracy, improve the
socialist legal system and work hard and self-reliantly to modernize
industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology step
by step, promote the co-ordinated development of the material, political
and spiritual civilizations to turn China into a powerful and prosperous
socialist country with a high level of culture and democracy. The exploiting classes as such have been abolished in our country.
However, class struggle will continue to exist within certain bounds for
a long time to come. The Chinese people must fight against those forces
and elements, both at home and abroad, that are hostile to China's
socialist system and try to undermine it. Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of
China. It is the inviolable duty of all Chinese people, including our
compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task of reunifying the
motherland. In building socialism it is essential to rely on workers, peasants
and intellectuals and to unite all forces that can be united. In the
long years of revolution and construction, there has been formed under
the leadership of the Communist Party of China a broad patriotic united
front which is composed of the democratic parties and people's
organizations and which embraces all socialist working people, all
builders of socialism, all patriots who support socialism and all
patriots who stand for the reunification of the motherland. This united
front will continue to be consolidated and developed. The Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference, a broadly based
representative organization of the united front which has played a
significant historical role, will play a still more important role in
the country's political and social life, in promoting friendship with
other countries and in the struggle for socialist modernization and for
the reunification and unity of the country. Multi-party cooperation and
the political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist
Party of China shall continue and develop for the extended future. The
system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation led by the
Communist Party of China will exist and develop in China for a long time
to come. The People's Republic of China is a unitary multi-national state
created jointly by the people of all its nationalities. Socialist
relations of equality, unity and mutual assistance have been established
among the nationalities and will continue to be strengthened. In the
struggle to safeguard the unity of the nationalities, it is necessary to
combat big-nation chauvinism, mainly Han chauvinism, and to combat local
national chauvinism. The state will do its utmost to promote the common
prosperity of all the nationalities. China's achievements in revolution and construction are inseparable
from the support of the people of the world. The future of China is
closely linked to the future of the world. China consistently carries
out an independent foreign policy and adheres to the five principles of
mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression,
non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual
benefit, and peaceful coexistence in developing diplomatic relations and
economic and cultural exchanges with other countries. China consistently
opposes imperialism, hegemonism and colonialism, works to strengthen
unity with people of other countries, supports the oppressed nations and
the developing countries in their just struggle to win and preserve
national independence and develop national economies, and strives to
safeguard world peace and promote the cause of human progress. This Constitution, in legal form, affirms the achievements of the
struggles of the Chinese people of all nationalities and defines the
basic system and basic tasks of the state; it is the fundamental law of
the state and has supreme legal authority. The people of all
nationalities, all state organs, the armed forces, all political parties
and public organizations and all enterprises and institutions in the
country must take the Constitution as the basic standard of conduct, and
they have the duty to uphold the dignity of the Constitution and ensure
its implementation.
CHAPTER I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 13. Private property, inheritance Citizens' lawful private property is inviolable. The State, in accordance with law, protects the rights of citizens to
private property and to its inheritance. The State may, in the public interest and in accordance with law,
expropriate or requisition private property for its use and shall make
compensation for the private property expropriated or requisitioned.
CHAPTER II. THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES
OF CITIZENS
Article 33. Citizenship All persons holding the nationality of the People's Republic of China
are citizens of the People's Republic of China. All citizens of the People's Republic of China are equal before the
law. Every citizen is entitled to the rights and at the same time must
perform the duties prescribed by the Constitution and the law. The State respects and preserves human rights.
Article 38. Freedom
from insult The personal dignity of citizens of the People's Republic of China is
inviolable. Insult, libel, false accusation or false incrimination
directed against citizens by any means is prohibited. Article 39. Inviolability of the home The residences of citizens of the People's Republic of China are
inviolable. Unlawful search of, or intrusion into, a citizen's residence
is prohibited. Article 40. Privacy of correspondence Freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People's
Republic of China are protected by law. No organization or individual
may, on any ground, infringe on citizens' freedom of privacy of
correspondence, except in cases where to meet the needs of state
security or of criminal investigation, public security or procuratorial
organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with
procedures prescribed by law.
Article 51. Non-infringement
of rights Citizens of the People's Republic of China, in exercising their
freedoms and rights, may not infringe upon the interests of the state,
of society or of the collective, or upon the lawful freedoms and rights
of other citizens.