China’s top legislature passed a “Law for the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress” on Thursday, formalizing Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen national identity and ethnic integration.
The legislation was approved at the closing meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress during the annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing.
State-affiliated media Xinhua previously reported that the law would seek to codify “promoting a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” into state policy.
It would also strengthen high-quality development in areas with large ethnic minority populations and promote what officials describe as common prosperity among China’s 56 ethnic groups.
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Delegates from ethnic minorities arrive for the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 4, 2026. (Vincent Thian/AP)
Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the measure was aimed at promoting the governance of ethnic affairs under the rule of law.
“The people of every ethnic group, all organizations and groups of the country, the armed forces, every party and social organization, every company should forge a common consciousness of the Chinese nation in accordance with the law and the Constitution, and take responsibility for building this consciousness,” the proposed law reads, according to a translation. from The Associated Press.
Academics and outside observers say the provision could undermine the cultural identity of ethnic minorities by requiring the use of Mandarin in compulsory education and creating a legal basis to prosecute individuals or organizations outside China whose actions are deemed to undermine “ethnic unity,” according to the AP.
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Xi Jinping, Chinese President, center, applauds during the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 12, 2026. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
According to the Seventh National Census, China’s population is 1.44 billion people as of November 2020 released in 2021 by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Of that total, 91.11% were Han Chinese and 8.89% belonged to ethnic minority groups.
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Delegates wearing traditional clothes react during the closing session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, March 11, 2026. (Kevin Frayer/Getty)
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James Leibold, a professor at Australia’s La Trobe University, told the AP that the new measure “deals a death blow to the party’s original promise of meaningful autonomy.”
Rayhan Asat, a law scholar at Harvard University, also criticized the law, saying it “serves as a strategic tool and provides a pretext for the government to commit all kinds of human rights violations.”
