Key Facts
- Plan period
- 2026-2030
- Issuing bodies
- Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Ministry of Justice
- Previous plans
- Eight consecutive five-year law popularization plans since 1986
- Target groups
- Leading officials, newly recruited civil servants, young people, business managers, workers in new forms of employment, internet users
- Key focus areas
- Constitutional education, economic laws, digital economy, financial laws, foreign trade, national security, daily life legal guidance
- Expert comment
- Mo Jihong, vice-president of the China Law Society
Background
China has unveiled a new five-year plan for publicity and education on the rule of law, covering the period from 2026 to 2030. The plan was jointly issued by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Ministry of Justice, according to a report from chinadaily.com.cn.
The initiative aims to strengthen the social foundation for law-based governance, support high-quality development, and provide legal safeguards for Chinese modernization. It seeks to promote respect for, study of, observance, and application of laws across society.
China has implemented eight consecutive five-year law popularization plans since 1986. Building on those efforts, the ninth plan aims to make legal education more targeted, digitalized, and better integrated with governance and everyday life.
Current Situation
By 2030, the plan aims to improve officials' ability to perform their duties in accordance with the law, raise public legal literacy, and foster a culture that values rules, contracts, and fairness. It also calls for closer integration of legal education with law-based governance and legal practice.
Constitutional education remains a priority. The plan calls for sustained publicity targeting leading officials, newly recruited civil servants, and young people through schools, communities, media outlets, online platforms, as well as through constitutional oath-taking and commemorative activities.
The plan also highlights laws linked to economic and social development, including those concerning national development planning, the business environment, private sector development, rural revitalization, and the unified national market. Laws related to the digital economy, platform economy, low-altitude economy, technological innovation, and intellectual property protection will also be promoted.
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Constitutional education | Leading officials, new civil servants, youth |
| Economic and social development | Business environment, private sector, rural revitalization |
| Emerging industries | Digital economy, platform economy, low-altitude economy |
| Financial laws | Compliance, consumer/investor protection, risk prevention |
| Opening-up | Foreign trade, foreign investment, exit-entry administration |
| National security | Criminal law, cybersecurity, counterespionage |
| Daily life | Transportation, healthcare, employment, consumer protection |
Impacts
Financial laws will receive greater attention to strengthen compliance, protect consumers and investors, and prevent risks. To support high-level opening-up, the plan calls for greater publicity on laws governing foreign trade, foreign investment, outbound investment, international commercial dispute resolution, and exit-entry administration.
Legal education will also cover criminal law, public security administration, drug control, cybersecurity, and counterespionage to safeguard national security and social stability. In areas closely related to people's daily lives, authorities will prepare legal guidance on transportation, healthcare, employment, consumer protection, marriage, and family affairs.
The plan emphasizes making legal education more targeted and responsive to public needs. It proposes establishing a lifelong legal education system covering public employees, young people, business managers, workers in new forms of employment, and internet users. Authorities will explore the use of government, judicial, and internet platform data to identify groups with urgent legal needs or weak legal awareness.
Future Outlook
Scenario analysis: The possibilities below are not certain predictions.
Mo Jihong, vice-president of the China Law Society, said the new round of legal education should serve the development needs of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) and focus on addressing practical problems. "Laws that are most urgently needed to resolve social conflicts should be publicized first, and legal education must keep pace with changing circumstances," he said.
Mo said digitalization would play an increasingly important role in improving the precision of legal education. Authorities should build databases of legal knowledge, judicial cases, and other resources to make legal information more accessible to the public. AI should also be used to analyze public needs, recommend relevant content, and provide easier access to legal information.
If implemented effectively, the plan could lead to more tailored legal support for workers in emerging industries, highly mobile employees, and vulnerable rural residents. However, the success of these measures may depend on the coordination of government, judicial, and platform data, as well as the adoption of digital tools. The responsibility system requiring authorities to explain the law while carrying out their statutory duties will remain a central part of the plan.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
