Read in Chinese

Speakers:

Mr. Chen Ruifeng, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission (NEAC)

Mr. Bayin Chaolu, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and chairperson of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the NPC

Mr. Duan Yijun, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee

Mr. Lei Jianbin, vice chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC

Mr. Hu Weilie, vice minister of justice

Chairperson:

Mr. Zhou Jianshe, deputy director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO

Date:

June 24, 2026

Zhou Jianshe:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). The Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress (hereafter referred to as "Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law") will officially come into effect on July 1. To help everyone better understand it, today we have invited Mr. Chen Ruifeng, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission (NEAC); Mr. Bayin Chaolu, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and chairperson of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the NPC; Mr. Duan Yijun, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee; Mr. Lei Jianbin, vice chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC; and Mr. Hu Weilie, vice minister of justice, to introduce the law and China's work on ethnic affairs, and to answer your questions. Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Chen for his introduction.

Chen Ruifeng:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. I am very pleased to attend today's press conference.

The Chinese nation is a big family composed of diverse ethnic groups. Ethnic unity is an essential pillar of the people of all ethnic groups in our country. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to work on ethnic affairs, and has clearly set forth that forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation is the focus of the Party's work on ethnic affairs in the new era and the focus of all work in ethnic minority areas, thus forming General Secretary Xi Jinping's key theory on strengthening and improving work on ethnic affairs. Under the scientific guidance of this key theory, our country's cause of ethnic unity and progress has made new historic achievements, and ethnic minorities, areas with large ethnic minority populations, ethnic relations and the Chinese nation have all undergone monumental, historic changes.

The third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, with a view to improving the institutional mechanisms for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, proposed the major political and legislative task of formulating a law to promote ethnic unity and progress. General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study the draft law on promoting ethnic unity and progress. The fourth session of the 14th NPC voted to adopt the law, and President Xi Jinping signed Presidential Decree No. 71 to promulgate it. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law implements the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, is based on the historical position of the Party's ethnic work in the new era, and fully implements the provisions, principles and spirit of the Constitution. It lays a solid legal foundation for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and advancing the building of this community. It is of great significance for comprehensively advancing the cause of ethnic unity and progress and for motivating people of all ethnic groups across the country to unite and strive to build a great country and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.

This is an important law that proclaims the Party and the country's major policies and guidelines on ethnic affairs. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law translates General Secretary Xi Jinping's key theory on strengthening and improving work on ethnic affairs, especially the major concept of forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, into the will of the state. It elevates the successful experiences in promoting the building of a community for the Chinese nation and the cause of ethnic unity and progress since the 18th CPC National Congress to legal provisions. It declares and clarifies the political stance, specific tasks and directions of the Party and the country on work in ethnic affairs in the new era, and guarantees the Party's comprehensive leadership over ethnic work from institutional and legal perspectives. It continuously consolidates the common ideological and political foundation and legal basis for the unity and struggle of all ethnic groups, and works to realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

This is a law that promotes the protection of the fundamental and overall interests of the Chinese nation. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, centered on ethnic unity, takes the Chinese nation as a whole and the common interests of all ethnic groups as its guiding perspective. It emphasizes forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and advancing the building of this community, thereby promoting harmonious ethnic relations across the country. With a clear intention, the legislation explicitly points out that all ethnic groups have come together to form a community with a shared future, characterized by blood ties, common beliefs, shared culture, interdependent economy and close emotional ties. It profoundly elucidates that the formation and development of a community for the Chinese nation is the will of the people, an irresistible trend and a historical inevitability. It guides people of all ethnic groups across the country to firmly establish the concept of a community in which all share weal and woe, honor and disgrace, life and death, and a common destiny, and to strengthen their high degree of identification with the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the CPC, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

This is a basic law for implementing the relevant provisions of the Constitution, handling ethnic affairs and carrying out ethnic work. The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law is the only newly formulated law with a separate preamble since the 18th CPC National Congress, fully reflecting its fundamental legal status as a comprehensive and guiding law. The law clearly stipulates the rights, obligations and responsibilities of individuals, state organs and public officials, people's congresses at all levels, mass organizations, enterprises, public institutions and social organizations, religious groups, grassroots self-governing organizations and the military, and is a major landmark achievement in the modernization of China's ethnic affairs governance system and capacity in the new era.

The enactment of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law is a landmark event in the history of the Party's work related to the united front and ethnic affairs, and a major legal measure to forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and advance the building of this community. We must earnestly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's key theory on strengthening and improving work on ethnic affairs, deeply understand the decisive significance of the "Two Affirmations" (the affirmation of Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the affirmation of the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era), resolutely act on the "Two Upholds" (upholding General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and upholding the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership), and accurately grasp the unique legal positioning and rule-of-law function of the law. We must fully implement its provisions, give full play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating foundations, ensuring stable expectations, and delivering long-term benefits, and use the law to safeguard ethnic unity and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups, hence enhancing the cohesion of the Chinese nation and promoting the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

That concludes my introduction. Thank you.