YAN Jinchang is not able to give an exact definition of the “rule of law,” but the 71-year-old farmer feels good about the country’s improving legal system.

Talking about land ownership certificates and transference, the Anhui Province native says, “I know this is the most important rule of law to me.”

In 2005, Yan says he was persuaded by a village committee to lease 0.47 hectares of land to a businessman from Shanghai to run a hog farm. He says he didn’t sign a contract and felt wary at first.

“A cadre said to me, ‘He can’t steal your land and carry it to Shanghai.’ So I trusted him and agreed,” Yan says. Five years later, the hog farm was transformed into a hotel and the businessman can not be contacted. Yan didn’t get his land back.

In recent years, the Chinese government has attached greater importance to legitimacy of land transference.

“Experts and college students always give lectures here free-of-charge, telling us how to safeguard our rights,” Yan says.

He has leased another 1.87 hectares of land since 2011 and raises the rent each year.

A famous Chinese saying goes, “All the land under heaven belongs to the emperor and everyone is his servant.” But even emperors had problems. The last emperor, Aisin-Gioro Puyi, said in his autobiography that he had no right to choose his own wife because two of his father’s concubines wanted the new queen to be closer to them.

Similar situations have been common throughout Chinese history among common folk, who had no right to choose their spouse in a feudal society. This situation didn’t change until 1950, when the New Marriage Law was enacted as China’s first basic law after liberation. It banned marriage by proxy and stipulated both parties should agree to the marriage.

About 90 percent of marriages were arranged in 1950 and this declined to 10 percent seven years after the law was passed.

Other laws have also benefitted the general population.

The Land Law made 300 million peasants the owners of 46.7 million hectares of land while the Trade Union Law ensured workers had a voice in factories.

In 1954, the first constitution of New China laid the foundations for the rule of law. However, progressive legal reforms were damaged in the decade-long “cultural revolution” (1966-76).

“At that time, China was in a state of turmoil,” says Li Shuguang, a professor with the China University of Political Science and Law. “The country was ruled by men at their own will, without pervasive laws and regulations.”

After the reform and opening-up, China reflected on the disastrous period. Xiao Yang, former chief justice of the Supreme People’s Court, remembers private discussions about the rule of law versus the rule of man, but no one dared put it on the table at the beginning.

In 1978, leader Deng Xiaoping said in a speech that to ensure people’s rights, the legal system had to be reinforced and that it couldn’t be altered with a change in leadership.

Progress and milestones

The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1997 decided to make “the rule of law” a basic strategy and “building a socialist country under the rule of law” became an important goal for socialist modernization.

An outline for implementation was issued in 2004, which for the first time set forth a guideline for the full-scale promotion of administration by law in the ensuing 10 years.

“The rule of law is the basic resort for governing the country,” President Xi Jinping, who holds a doctoral degree in law, has said.

By 2013, the National People’s Congress had decreed 243 laws, and the State Council had drafted more than 680 regulations. Ma Huaide, vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, says there are several milestones in the cause of legislation.

An example is the Administrative Litigation Law, which was enacted in 1990. “This law changed the mentality of Chinese people, whom, for thousands of years, couldn’t and didn’t dare sue officials,” Ma says.

With this law, 52-year-old farmer Song Xinyuan filed a lawsuit against the Anhui provincial department of environmental protection for allowing a factory that was polluting the environment to continue operating.

“I haven’t won yet, but the company’s operations have been suspended,” he says. “I am using a legal weapon to protect our health and our rights.”

Sometimes legislation is triggered by an incident.

A regulation for saving beggars in cities was implemented in 2003 after 27-year-old Sun Zhigang was beaten to death in an asylum.

In 2009, 47-year-old Tang Fuzhen from Sichuan Province set herself on fire to protest the forced demolition of her house.

She died in hospital 16 days later. Tang was one of many to protest violent land seizures and their stories have received considerable attention. In 2010, “forced demolitions” were banned.

Yang Tianzong, deputy secretary general of the Sichuan provincial committee of the CPC, says: “Even though reform and opening-up started more than three decades ago, old habits die hard and the mindset of Chinese people doesn’t change easily.”

Li Xueming, Party chief of Shushan District in Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province, says a petitioner from his jurisdiction went to Beijing 91 times in one year so the local government would pacify him.

“Many ordinary people believe in petitions rather than legal procedures,” he says. “Once they make a fuss they believe their local government has to give in.”

In Shidi Town of Mianzhu, Sichuan Province, seven villagers, cheated by a seed company, had a detailed petition plan.

“We divided ourselves into three groups, each with a truck,” Luo Kaihua says. “We were going to carry the bamboo shoots harvested to three provincial government departments to seek justice.”

The 51-year-old farmer saw his house toppled in the earthquake in 2008, leaving him with “only a stool” to his name. He then worked very hard and with the money he earned he leased 10 hectares of land with six other villagers.

They bought some seed earlier this year. But the bamboo shoots they reaped were not green but white, which no one would buy. The seed company refused to compensate for their loss. The angry villagers decided to petition the government.

Their plan was heard by Luo Yinjie, Shidi’s Party chief. The 32-year-old sociology major convinced them to take legal action.

“They didn’t know how to obtain evidence, we found legal experts to help,” Luo says. “If this dispute can be resolved through legal procedures, I’m sure more villagers here will believe in the rule of law in the future.”

Seven to eight million petitions are lodged each year, thus it is important to raise people’s awareness at the grassroots level and promote the rule of law, Sichuan CPC member Yang says.

Local governments have their own ways of drafting laws. In Fuqiang Village of Deyang, Sichuan, 1,400 villagers spent half a year drafting village regulations.

Deng Yuanqin suggested that chicken should be kept in pens so as to avoid disputes and improve the environment.

“Then people took a vote. More than 90 percent raised their hands to show support,” says the 39-year-old woman, beaming with pride.

She notes that in the past, neighbors always argued about the use of land and missing livestock. The relationship between villagers has improved, she says.

While the mindset of people at grassroots level is changing, experts are also calling for change among law executors.

Legal expert Jiang Ping believes that although the rule of law is being given more priority, power abuse is still common among some officials.

Ren Runhou, former vice governor of Shanxi Province, who was caught earlier this year, had a theory. He thought that power could generate profit, while money could buy power. Once visiting a coal mine, he asked the staff members “if I give you the right of sales, the right to hire people and the right to purchase materials, will you earn another 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) for the mine?”

Improving existing laws and regulations is another necessity. A procurator who asked not to be identified says some legal clauses are written in a way that leaves loopholes.

“Sentencing is a prime example,” he says. “A corrupt official who took 100,000 yuan might be sentenced to death, while another who embezzled millions of yuan may only be jailed for 15 years.”

Haimen City in Jiangsu Province has launched a campaign to check the implementation of laws. So far they have discovered six out of 60 laws that lost efficacy at grassroots level. Another 13 were vague, unreasonable or contradicted other regulations.

“Seeing these problems, people will gradually lose confidence in the rule of law,” says a Haimen official who declined to be named.