Historical Review of the Establishment of the Rule of Law in China and Lessons Learned

Abstract

After the restoration of the rule of law at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), there was a great deal of disagreement about what the rule of law was and whether or not it should be applied, which was hotly debated in China's legal academia. The fifteenth congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the "rule of law, building a socialist country under the rule of law", marking the formal establishment of the rule of law in China. Looking back at the historical process of the establishment of the rule of law in China, we have four insights: the rule of law in China is in line with the realities of China's social development; it is an important guarantee of the country's long-term peace and stability; it is in line with the objective laws of the historical development of mankind and the historical laws of the Communist Party's rule; and it is in line with the people's aspirations for, and quest for, a good legal system.