The head of the Department of Justice answers questions from reporters about the revision of the "Regulations on the Procedures for Formulating Administrative Regulations."

Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council recently signed the State Council Order No. 838 and promulgated the revised "Regulations on the Procedures for Formulating Administrative Regulations", which will come into effect on July 1, 2026. The person in charge of the Ministry of Justice answered questions from reporters on the relevant issues of the regulations. Question: What provisions have been made in the regulations to improve the system and mechanism of formulating administrative regulations? This revision of the regulations mainly improves the system and mechanism of formulating administrative regulations in the following aspects: firstly, improving drafting requirements, clarifying that the drafting of administrative regulations should adhere to problem-oriented approaches and follow the laws of economic and social development; requiring adherence to and promotion of full-process people's democracy, expanding orderly participation of the people in the legislative process, and extensively soliciting opinions from relevant government agencies, organizations, citizens, as well as enterprises, industry associations, and chambers of commerce. Secondly, strengthening evaluation and argumentation, clarifying that the drafting of administrative regulations should strengthen evaluations such as legislative timing and expected implementation effects, and maintain consistency with macro policy orientation, focusing on reducing burdens at the grassroots level; when submitting draft for review, the drafting department should explain the risk assessment and prevention response measures. Thirdly, strengthening government legislative review, stipulating that the State Council's legal departments should improve the government legislative review system, enhance the quality and efficiency of the review, and if the draft involves constitutional issues, it should seek the opinions of the relevant working bodies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Question: What improvements have been made in the regulations to meet the needs of reform? This revision of the regulations focuses on legislative adaptation to the needs of reform: firstly, clarifying work requirements, stipulating that the formulation of administrative regulations should guide, promote, regulate, and guarantee relevant reforms. Secondly, improving the system of temporarily adjusting or suspending the application of administrative regulations, clarifying that in cases where temporary adjustments or suspensions of certain provisions of administrative regulations are needed due to reform and development needs, timely evaluations and arguments should be conducted, and relevant provisions should be modified or reinstated accordingly. Thirdly, improving the clearance work procedures, specifying that the legal departments of the State Council shall organize administrative regulation clearance work based on the needs of comprehensive deepening reform, economic and social development, and the stipulations of higher-level regulations after obtaining the approval of the State Council; relevant departments of the State Council may propose suggestions for administrative regulation clearance based on work requirements.