1999 amendment to the Constitution of China

The Amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China was proposed by the 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and adopted at the second session of the 9th National People's Congress on 15 March 1999.

Amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
National People's Congress
Territorial extent	China
Passed by	National People's Congress
Passed	15 March 1999 (1999-03-15)
Effective	15 March 1999 (1999-03-15)
Codification
Acts amended	Constitution of the People's Republic of China
Introduced by	Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Voting summary	2,811 voted for 21 voted against 24 abstained
Status: In force

The amendments incorporated Deng Xiaoping Theory to the constitution and expanded the role of private enterprises.

History

On January 22, the CCP Central Committee submitted the “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Amending Part of the Constitution” to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.^[1] On January 30, the seventh session of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress passed the "Draft Constitutional Amendment" based on the central government's constitutional amendment proposal, and decided to submit it to the second session of the 9th National People's Congress for deliberation.^[2] On March 15, the second session of the 9th National People's Congress passed the Constitutional Amendment with 2,811 votes in favor, 21 votes against, and 24 abstentions.^[3]

Amendments

The amendments incorporated Deng Xiaoping Theory to the constitution. The revised Constitution further improved the status of private enterprises and abolished the clause of "counter-revolutionary crimes". In addition, it added: "The People's Republic of China shall implement the rule of law and build a socialist country under the rule of law."^[4]