Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th
National People's Congress (NPC), is to deliver a report Sunday
afternoon on the work of the Committee for deliberation at the
ongoing annual NPC full session.
The following are the highlights of the 27-page report,
distributed prior to the opening of a plenary meeting of the
lawmakers in the Great Hall of the People:
Legislative work
-- The NPC Standing Committee deliberated and approved 24 draft
laws or decisions on legal issues, 14 of which were passed and 5 of
which were submitted to the ongoing annual session for deliberation
and approval.
-- The NPC Standing Committee in 2006 adopted the Law on
Oversight, the formulation of which began at the Sixth NPC and
lasted for two decades.
-- The NPC Standing Committee deliberated the draft Law on
Property Rights for six times and decided to submit the draft to
the ongoing NPC full session for deliberation, 13 years after the
beginning of the work on drafting the law.
-- Over the last four years, the Tenth NPC Standing Committee
passed amendments to the Constitution, promulgated and implemented
the Anti-Secession Law, formulated or revised 70 laws, and made
interpretations of or legal decisions on legal issues.
-- The main legislative tasks the NPC Standing Committee plans
to accomplish in 2007 include enactment of the Law on Labor
Contracts, the Employment Promotion Law, the Social Security Law,
the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, the Law on
Administrative Decrees, the Law on Response to Emergencies, the
Antitrust Law, the Law on State-Owned Assets, the Law to Combat
Illegal Drugs, the Law to Curb Illegal Activities, the Law on Urban
and Rural Planning, and the Circular Economy Law. The Committee
also plans to make revisions to the Law on Scientific and
Technological Progress, the Civil Procedure Law, the Criminal
Procedure Law, the Law on Food Hygiene, the Law on Energy
Conservation and the Law on Attorneys.
Supervisory work
-- In 2006 the Tenth NPC Standing Committee heard, deliberated
and approved eight work reports on special subjects from the State
Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's
Procuratorate, and investigated the implementation of 12 laws.
-- To solve problems related to agriculture, rural areas and
farmers and the building of a new socialist countryside, the NPC
Standing Committee in 2006 followed up compliance with the
Agriculture Law, the Land Administration Law and the Law on Rural
Land Contracts.
-- The Standing Committee pays close attention to petitions
submitted through letters and visits from the general public. More
than 150,000 letters were received from the public in 2006 and over
75,000 visits were recorded.
-- The Standing Committee, over the last four years, listened
to, deliberated and approved 44 special reports on the work of the
central government, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme
People's Procuratorate, and investigated compliance with 21
laws.
-- In 2007 the Standing Committee plans to investigate
compliance with the law in three areas, and listen to and
deliberate nine special work reports.
Work related to NPC lawmakers
-- During the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC last year, the
deputies submitted 1,006 bills and the presidium referred them to
seven special committees for deliberation. Many of the 1,006 bills
aided in formulation of legislation. Ten laws were deliberated and
passed by the Standing Committee related to 100 of the bills, 7
draft laws related to 26 bills were submitted to the Standing
Committee for deliberation, and another 51 legislative items
related to 358 bills were included in the schedule for legislation
work or the annual plan.
-- During the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC, the deputies
submitted 6,511 suggestions, and these were referred to 174
organizations to study and process. A total of 1,810 or 28 percent
of the problems reflected in the suggestions have already been
solved or are being addressed, and solutions have been found or
work plans drawn up for 3,148 problems, or 48 percent of the
total.
-- Over the past few years, the NPC Standing Committee has
handled 2,976 bills and 23,232 proposals from deputies, issued more
than 2,000 invitations to deputies to attend meetings of the
Standing Committee, organized inspection tours and special research
projects involving nearly ten thousand of deputies, and prepared 12
work-related documents.
Development in NPC's external exchange
-- In 2006 the NPC received 90 delegations from 56 countries,
and missions headed by members of the NPC Chairperson's Council
visited 30 countries and regions.
-- The NPC in 2006 set up mechanisms for regular exchanges with
the parliaments or congresses of South Africa, the Republic of
Korea, India, Australia, Egypt, Brazil and Chile as well as the
Japanese Diet, on the basis of the mechanisms with eight other
countries, including Russia and the United States, as well as with
the European Parliament over the previous few years.
-- The NPC Standing Committee in 2006 ratified 18 treaties and
agreements China concluded with foreign states, and approved the
country's accession into 3 international conventions.
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2007)