When senior Communist Party of China (CPC) officials convened in Beijing on November 16 and 17, 2020, the gathering proved far more consequential than a routine policy meeting – it formally established the "Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law" as the guidance of legal governance. 

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the historic meeting that enshrined this philosophy – a turning point in the country's march toward a mature socialist rule-of-law system.

At that two-day work meeting, President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, called for efforts to ensure that China stays on the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, preserving the organic unity of Party leadership, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance.

To appreciate how deeply this guidance has become embedded in China's legal evolution, one can look at the milestones of its legal system. The first national law enacted by the People's Republic of China was the Marriage Law in 1950, which enshrined monogamy and legal registration of marriages in a radical departure from long-standing traditions.

Over the decades, the legal framework grew gradually: by 1982, China had adopted its current Constitution, which has since been amended five times.

Fast forward to a decade into the 21st century: by the end of 2010, China had established a full-fledged socialist legal system, with 236 effective national laws, more than 690 administrative regulations, and over 8,600 local norms. That development underscored the formal construction of the socialist rule-of-law system that became the basis of Xi Jinping Thought.

Another dimension of this legal transformation is the dramatic growth of the legal profession. At the time of the 2020 meeting, there were already hundreds of thousands of lawyers, but numbers have since surged. By September this year, China had more than 830,000 practicing lawyers, marking a 37 percent increase since 2020, along with 67,000 arbitrators, 15,000 notaries, 40,000 forensic experts and 12,000 legal aid workers, who collectively handle more than 40 million cases and services annually, according to official data. This expansion continues to fuel China's capacity to enforce and interpret its growing body of law.

Meanwhile, in 2020, Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt a landmark statute, the Civil Code, at the third session of the 13th National People's Congress.

It went into effect on January 1, 2021, codifying a wide range of civil rights and obligations – including marriage, property, contracts, inheritance, torts – into a unified legal document.

The Civil Code also replaced earlier separate laws, such as the standalone Marriage Law, signaling a new era of codified, systematized private law.

These developments together reflect more than legislative activity – they illuminate a legal ecosystem that has evolved from modest beginnings into a complex, institutionally rich framework. What started with a single marriage act in 1950 now encompasses a fully developed legal code, bolstered by a growing corps of legal professionals and driven by a guidance rooted in Xi Jinping Thought.

Five years after the 2020 meeting, this numerical trajectory underscores how the law has become central to governance, development and the Party's long-term vision. Far from symbolic, the expansion of China's legal architecture in both substance and scale has signaled a deepening of its rule-of-law project.