On 6th December, a series of lectures of Jiangsu Local Legislation Research Base of Southeast University was held in the conference room of Sipai Building, Law School of Southeast University. Professor Xiao Jinming, Distinguished Professor of Shandong University and Vice President of National Governance Research Institute of Shandong University, gave a special lecture on the topic of ‘Development and Innovation of Local Legislation in Chinese Modernisation’. The lecture was hosted by Professor Meng Hongzhi, Director of Local Legislation Research Base of Southeast University, and Professor Liu Lianjun of Law School was the guest speaker. Professor Yu Lixin, Associate Professor Li Yuxing, Associate Professor Zhang Xuelian, Associate Researcher Zhu Shanshan, Associate Researcher Zheng Xiaojun, Lecturer Wu Dongxing, Lecturer Zhang Yunhao, and other teachers and students from the School of Law participated in the talk.

At the beginning of the lecture, Prof Meng Hongzhi expressed his warm welcome to Prof Xiao Jinming and briefly introduced his outstanding academic achievements.

In the course of the lecture, Prof. Xiao Jinming firstly reviewed the important contributions of local legislation in Shandong Province, highly affirmed the Jiangsu legislative experience of ‘non-contradiction, distinctive, and operable’, and emphasised the relevance of local legislation to cultural traditions and its importance in optimising the business environment and promoting the opening of the local system. Afterwards, Professor Xiao Jinming pointed out that in the process of local legislation, special attention should be paid to the coordination between legislation and party policies, and the timely transformation of policy terms into legal language. At the same time, in order for local legislation to gain social acceptance, it is necessary to pay attention to the guiding role of socialist core values in local legislation, so as to realise that the core values can be incorporated into the law and regulations. Finally, Prof Xiao Jinming pointed out that good law is the prerequisite for good governance, and that local legislation should conform to the basic laws of legislation, reflect public opinion, realise democratic legislation, and be consistent with the spirit and principles of the constitution.

In the talk session, Prof Yu Lixhen and Prof Liu Lianjun had a talk in turn. Prof Yu Lixhen said that Prof Xiao Jinming's lecture provided important guidance on how to coordinate the relationship between policies and local legislation and to pay attention to the coordination of interests in local legislation, which is of far-reaching significance to the research and practice of local legislation. Professor Liu Lianjun pointed out that most of the legal studies in China focus on the legislative process of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee, and do not pay enough attention to local legislation, but local legislation is of greater significance in promoting Chinese-style modernisation.

At the end of the lecture, Meng Hongzhi once again expressed his sincere thanks to Prof Xiao Jinming, and pointed out that Prof Xiao's in-depth explanation of the relationship between local legislation and policy, and the leading role of socialist core values in local legislation brought profound inspiration to the teachers and students present, prompting us to re-examine the important function of local legislation and reflect on the deeper problems of the current research on legislation. The lecture was successfully concluded with warm applause.