A Brief Introduction on the Basic Law of the MSAR.


On April 13, l988, the First Plenary Session of the Seventh National People's Congress decided to set up the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of drafting the Basic Law. Starting from the first plenary meeting on October 25, l988, nine plenary meetings and seventy-two meetings on special subjects have been held by the Drafting Committee. And, after seeking the views and opinions of the residents and people of all circles in Macao, a draft text of the Basic Law was submitted to the National People's Congress for examination. The Basic Law and its Annexes were adopted at the First Session of the Eighth National People's Congress on March 31, l993. On that day, President Jiang Zemin promulgated a presidential decree (No. 3) for the Basic Law to go into effect on December 20, l999. It took four years and five months from the drafting to the publication of the Basic Law. It underwent a process of gradual development and perfection on the basis of seeking views from and pooling the wisdom of the people from all walks of life, representing the crystallization of collective wisdom. The Basic Law has received warm support and acclamation from people of all circles in Macao since its publication.


The Basic Law of Macao, which entered into force on December 20, l999, is a constitutional law for the Macao Special Administration Region. It is a fundamental norm, which all aspects of social life in Macao will go by. With the Basic Law of Macao, the concepts of "one country, two systems", "the people of Macao administering Macao" and the policy of high autonomy have become legalized with specific implementation. Specifying in an all-round way the systems to be practiced in the MSAR, the Basic Law guaranteed China's implementation of its policies on Macao, while providing a legal basis on which the MSAR will formulate various policies within the scope of its autonomy. All exchanges and cooperation between China's different regions and governmental departments and the MSAR must be carried out in strict accordance with relevant articles of the Basic Law.