Top legislature vows to step up supervision

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Top legislature vows to step up supervision

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Wu Bangguo delivers work report

It is the primary task of the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee, China's top legislature, to strengthen and improve its supervision over the government and judicial organs in 2004, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said Wednesday in Beijing.

"We should explore still better ways of supervision and further improve our supervisory mechanism in order to promote a law-based administration and judicial justice," said Wu in a report on his Committee's work over the past year to the ongoing annual full session of the lawmakers.

The top legislator noted that the NPC Standing Committee this year would carry out the enforcement inspections of laws pertaining to animal epidemic prevention, land management, compulsory education, trade unions and statistics.

"Inspections on law enforcement constitute a basic form of supervision of the NPC Standing Committee," he acknowledged, adding that in 2003 the Committee carried out nationwide inspections on the enforcement of five laws.

Meanwhile, the NPC Standing Committee could also enhance its supervision over the government and judicial organs through other means like hearing and examining their budgets, work reports and handling letters of complaints from the general public.

"In the past year we heard and deliberated 11 special-topic work reports from the State Council and other government and judicial departments, including reports on the prevention and control of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza)," said Wu.

In 2003, the NPC Standing Committee also received more than 31,000 visitors reporting various problems and handled over 57,000 letters of complaints from the public, he added.

"This year we plan to hear and examine reports of the State Council on the establishment of a quick-response mechanism for public health emergencies, the increase of farmers' income and development of agriculture, the maintenance of market economic orders, law education among the public, as well as the saving and protection of water resources," he noted.

Wu also told the legislators that over the past year, all bills, proposals and criticisms they tabled and put forward during last year's NPC full session had been handled properly by the NPC Standing Committee and relevant governments and judicial departments.

"On the basis of your bills and proposals, five laws have been enacted while three other draft laws have been submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for deliberation," Wu said.

Legislature to make more laws this year

China's top legislature plans to work on a number of new laws in 2004, including the law on bankruptcy for enterprises of all sectors of the economy and the law on the state of emergency, according to Wu.

Meanwhile, China's top legislature will amend a number of existing laws such as foreign trade law, company law, and epidemic prevention and control law.

NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo told the ongoing NPC annual session that the legislature will adhered to the scientific approach to development and the principle of seeking a balanced development of both urban and rural areas, among different regions,economic and social progress, man and nature, and domestic development and opening up to the outside world in making laws associated with economic and social development.

Reviewing the achievements in legislative work in his work report on behalf of the NPC standing committee, he said that the Standing Committee approved the draft of the amendments to the Constitution, worked out a five-year plan for legislative work, discussed 12 draft laws and approved 10 over the past year.

Legislature increases exchange with foreign counterparts

The Standing Committee of the NPC increased exchanges with foreign parliaments, adding new contents to state-to-state relations and enhancing the mutual trust, common understanding and mutual cooperation with other countries.

In 2003, The NPC Standing Committee received 18 foreign parliamentary delegations and sent Chinese NPC delegation to almost 20 foreign countries.

Meanwhile, the top legislature brought into depth the relationship with parliaments of the United States, Russia, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. It also increased exchanges with international and regional parliamentary organizations.

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Taking legislation to new level - Wu Bangguo

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