The right of supervision is an important power endowed to the people's congresses and their standing committees by the Constitution and laws. The people's congresses continue to perfect their supervision through questioning, inquiry, and dismissal.

There have been inquiries about the handling of deputies' complaints. From October 13 to 19, 2009, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and some deputies went to eight government departments that are closely linked to people's livelihoods, such as the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Development and Reform. This is the first time the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress adopted this form of supervision since its founding 30 years ago.

As early as 1954, inquiry was included in the Constitution as a right of the deputies, but it was not exercised until 1980 at the third session of the fifth National People's Congress, when 170 deputies from the Beijing delegation inquired of the Ministry of Metallurgy about the construction of the Baoshan Iron and Steel Project, the largest investment since the founding of the new China. It became No. 1 Inquiry of the People's Republic of China. From that time on, inquiry has been part of the sessions. At the second session of the seventh People's Congress of Hunan Province, an inquiry made by 31 deputies led to the dismissal of a vice-governor. In January 2000, the inquiries filed by deputies of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress led to the dismissal of a deputy director and transfer of the full director of the provincial bureau of environmental protection.

In the process of exercising their rights of legal supervision and dismissal, the people's congresses have gradually strengthened their influence. In 1992, in examining the Three Gorges Project at the fifth session of the seventh National People's Congress, among the 2,663 deputies present, 177 of them voted against the project and 644 deputies abstained from voting, the record low in the NPC history. In 1995, the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress began to appraise deputy governors. In February 2001, the fourth session of the 12th Shenyang Municipal People's Congress vetoed the work report of the city's intermediate people's court, causing a sensation nationwide. In March 2007, in a vote on the draft of the Property Law at the fifth session of the 10th National People's Congress, 52 deputies voted against the draft version, and 27 deputies abstained from voting.

Election of Deputies

Ethnic minority deputies from Yunnan Province. Yu Xiangjun

The general election of deputies to people's congresses has always stirred up public opinion, and the Chinese leaders lend their ears. Deng Xiaoping once said, "The conditions are not ripe for direct election to high-level congresses in China, such a big country with such a huge population, regional imbalances and so many ethnic groups. The primary reason is the poor education level of the populace." He suggested that the high-level direct election should be achieved step by step, and "in half a century, general election could be realized."