The Chinese central government Tuesday publicized a guideline on improving government under the rule of law in the next decade, which elaborates the principles, goals and measures to push governments to administer in line with the law.

The guideline with 42 clauses in 11 sections was passed at an executive meeting of the State Council on March 16 and took effect March 22.

The publication of the guideline is an important step toward implementing the newly-passed amendment to the Constitution and is a significant issue in China's efforts to strengthen democracy and the legal system, said Cao Kangtai, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council.

"We must prompt the government to administer the country in line with the law, build a clean government, and pursue the combination of the government's powers and responsibilities," Premier Wen Jiabao said at the meeting on March 16.

China must further push the administrative reform to build a transparent, clean and effective administrative institution, which is the basis for a government under the rule of law, said Cao.

The guideline says that China should achieve its goal of building a government under the rule of law in the next decade and elaborates the concrete goals in the administrative reform and other fields.

According to the guideline, a government under the rule of law should be based on the clear division between the functions of the government and those of enterprises, between the functions of different levels of government and between those of various departments of the government, the full implementation of laws and regulations, a scientific and democratic decision-making mechanism, an effective mechanism to solve social problems, the combination of powers and responsibilities, officials' strong senses and ability to administer in line with laws.

Cao said that a sound legal environment is also indispensable to build a government under the rule of law.

The guideline calls to set up a scientific and reasonable legislative plan, widen the public participation in legislation, add cost and benefit analysis on legislation and timely abolish outdated government documents and regulations.

The strict supervision on government behaviors is another important guarantee for a government under the rule of law, said Cao.

According to the guideline, governments at all levels should enforce their powers strictly in line with the law. A strict system of accountability should be formed and departments and officials enjoying the powers should take responsibility for their errors.

Besides the supervision from the National People's Congress (NPC), the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the guideline also says that the administration should speed up the innovation of its supervision system, strengthening specialized supervision among administrations and the supervision from society.

China started its efforts to regulate the administration by passing the Administrative Procedure Law in 1989. So far, China has passed the Law on State Compensation in 1994, the Law on Administrative Punishment in 1996 and the Law on Administrative Licensing in 2003. A series of administrative laws have been listed on the legislative plan of the 10th National People's Congress (2003-2008).

The new central government of China has paid special attention to the building of governments and a series of laws and regulations governing the operation of the governments of various levels have been adopted since it was established a year ago.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2004)