By Wang Yunhui

On May 14, 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress unveiled its annual legislative work plan for 2025.

Among the 14 legal cases set for continued deliberation and 23 for initial deliberation, the long-awaited 'Telecommunications Law' is conspicuously absent.

It remains listed under 'preparatory deliberation items.'

This marks the fifth consecutive year that the 'Draft Telecommunications Law' has been categorized as a 'preparatory deliberation item' since its inclusion in the preparatory deliberation items to be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2021.

It has been 45 years since the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications initiated the drafting of the 'Telecommunications Law (Draft)' in 1980, yet there is still no definitive timeline for its enactment.

【1】

The arduous journey of telecommunications legislation can be traced back 70 years.

In September 1954, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China was formally established as a department of the State Council, adopting a policy of 'unified leadership, division of responsibilities, and hierarchical management' to establish a unified national post and telecommunications network business system.

To ensure the standard operation of this new department, a legal framework was necessary. In 1955, the Ministry began drafting the 'Posts and Telecommunications Law (Draft)', completing the first draft within the year.

Within just two years, the 'Posts and Telecommunications Law' underwent three revisions, culminating in a final 'Posts and Telecommunications Law (Revised Draft)' comprising three sections and 38 articles.

However, due to wartime preparedness and secrecy concerns, in 1958, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved the Ministry's report on 'changing the post and telecommunications system', effectively halting the drafting process. In 1969, the Ministry was abolished, and the telecommunications system came under military control, with related legislation subsequently abandoned.

【2】

A decade later, a new era of telecommunications legislation dawned.

In 1979, the state resumed dual management of post and telecommunications enterprises by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and local governments, with the Ministry taking the lead. This marked the return of post and telecommunications to the unified management of professional departments.

Mirroring the events of 35 years prior, the Ministry began drafting the 'Telecommunications Law (Draft)' in November 1980, completing the first draft the following July.

Yet, the 'Telecommunications Law' faced numerous complexities.

For instance, balancing and coordinating the investment approval and price management rights of the National Development and Reform Commission, the anti-unfair competition and anti-monopoly supervision rights of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the state-owned asset management of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the foreign investment approval rights of the Ministry of Commerce required extensive interdepartmental coordination and consultation.

The most challenging issue lay in the business disputes between the Ministries of Telecommunications and Radio and Television, particularly regarding the jurisdiction and characterization of services like mobile TV and IPTV. This discord persisted for decades, only easing with the launch of the national triple play convergence strategy in 2010.

As a result, from November 1982, when the 'Telecommunications Law (Submission Draft)' was submitted to the State Council, it underwent numerous revisions and deliberations, repeatedly included in both the State Council's and the National People's Congress's annual legislative plans, and even once listed as a 'Category I Legislative Project'. However, it remained an annual aspiration that never materialized.

Time flew, and nearly 20 years passed. As the turn of the century approached, the dual demands of accelerated market-oriented reforms and accession to the WTO heightened the urgency for new telecommunications regulations.

Even under such pressure, the 'Telecommunications Law' remained elusive, yielding only a 'stopgap solution'.

In 1999, the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications' were included in the State Council's 1999 annual legislative work plan.

In December of that year, the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications (Submission Draft)' was submitted to the State Council.

The following September, the State Council's executive meeting formally adopted the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications', which were issued and implemented the same month.

In the ensuing 26 years, despite the absence of the 'Telecommunications Law', the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications' have remained the core regulation of the telecommunications industry, undergoing two revisions in 2014 and 2016.

【3】

Although the 'Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications' have been enacted, the drafting and promotion of the 'Telecommunications Law' have persisted, transitioning from the Ministry of Information Industry to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In 2003, after a five-year hiatus, the 'Telecommunications Law' was reintroduced into the legislative plan of the Tenth National People's Congress Standing Committee, classified as a Category I legislative project.

At the time, Wang Xudong, the Minister of the Ministry of Information Industry and Director of the State Council Information Office, led the drafting team for the 'Telecommunications Law', with Xi Guohua, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information Industry, serving as the deputy leader. The remaining eight members were predominantly department-level officials from the Ministry of Information Industry. This high-profile team underscored the significant importance attached to the 'Telecommunications Law'.

However, not only had the core dispute between the Ministries of Telecommunications and Radio and Television remained unresolved, but frequent restructuring reforms and intense market competition had also given rise to numerous internal industry contradictions, hindering the enactment of the 'Telecommunications Law'.

For example, during the solicitation of opinions on the 'Telecommunications Law', major operators had differing interest demands: China Unicom strongly advocated for protection of weaker operators; China Mobile firmly opposed favoring weaker operators; and China Netcom and China Telecom sought to obtain full-service operating licenses.

The rapid development of the Internet posed new challenges to the depth and breadth of telecommunications legislation. From early incidents like the 3Q war and October Siege to recent controversies surrounding the listings of Didi and Ant Group, the constant emergence of new Internet innovations and the profound collision between technological ethics, capital boundaries, and public values have not only reshaped the industry landscape but also significantly influenced the evolution of government regulation and policy legislation, further underscoring the complexity and difficulty of telecommunications legislation.

Consequently, the 'Telecommunications Law' has once again become a recurring and unresolved industry issue.

In July 2004, the 'Telecommunications Law of the People's Republic of China (Submission Draft)', comprising 15 chapters and 190 articles, was officially submitted to the State Council for deliberation and included in the State Council's 2005 Category I legislative plan. However, the following June, the 'Telecommunications Law' failed to be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

In December 2013, the 'Telecommunications Law' was included in the Category I projects of the legislative plan of the 12th National People's Congress Standing Committee. The following year, it was downgraded by the State Council to a Category II 'preparatory project'.

In May 2021, the 'Draft Telecommunications Law' was included in the legislative projects prepared for submission to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation. The '14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Information and Communications Industry', published in November of the same year, clearly stated the commitment to actively promote legislative work on the Telecommunications Law.

Yet, four years later, the 'Telecommunications Law' remains merely a 'preparatory deliberation item'.

This legislative stalemate has even prompted many local governments to adopt 'pragmatic amendments' from the bottom up. For instance, Guizhou province enacted the first 'Regulations on Information Infrastructure' in 2014, clearly stipulating compensation for communication facilities in municipal relocations. In Shantou, Guangdong province, the 'Regulations on the Construction and Protection of Telecommunications Facilities' were promoted, incorporating communication base stations into urban and rural planning.

However, it is evident that these localized evolutions are ultimately unable to address systemic issues.

As China's AI industry embraces its transformative moment, as 'TikTok refugees' flock to Xiaohongshu, as Starlink satellites traverse China's airspace, and as drones redefine the landscape of warfare, we continue to manage 21st-century ecosystems with 20th-century rules.

Flowers bloom and fade, fade and bloom again, and the once-youthful officials and experts, now with silver strands in their hair, have retired to enjoy their twilight years, leaving behind the 'Telecommunications Law' they once drafted, still on its journey towards enactment.