The latest revision to the country’s Electoral Law, which grants rural residents the same rights as their urban counterparts to elect deputies to people’s congresses but does not expand direct elections, shows China will adhere to its own mode of development instead of adopting Western-style elections, a top legislator has said.

“Different countries have different election rules and a socialist China won’t follow Western election campaigns,” Li Fei, deputy director of the legislative affairs commission under the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, told China Daily following the adoption of the latest amendment to the Electoral Law last Sunday.

Li, who has been leading the revision, said some people want to expand direct elections, but the current priority is to perfect existing direct elections at county and township levels.

Whether in terms of justice or fairness, a society must pay more attention to “substantial democracy”, which in China means that there should be representatives from all areas, ethnic groups and walks of life, Li said.

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