The Ninth National People's Congress, China's legislature, will step up legislation to achieve the goal of basically establishing a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics by the year 2003.

Zeng Jianhui, spokesman for the Third Session of the Ninth NPC, said at a press conference here this morning that the Ninth NPC will set its legislative agenda at the upcoming session, which includes speeding up revising the Corporate Law, drafting a social security law, strengthening legislation in education, science and technology, formulating and revising laws in financial services, international trade and economic cooperation, speeding up the drafting of a supervision law, completing the revision of an autonomy law for regions inhabited predominantly by ethnic minority people.

"The Ninth NPC will strive to draft a civil code before its term expires in 2003," stressed Zeng.

The Third Session of the Ninth NPC is scheduled to open tomorrow.

Zeng also pointed out that the NPC and its standing committee will continue to step up anti-corruption legislation in the future.

The NPC has enacted more than 370 laws and decisions of a legal nature since the launch of reform and opening-up drive in 1979, with the Ninth NPC having adopted 44 of such laws and decisions, according to the spokesman.

Meanwhile, the State Council has formulated more than 800 administrative laws and regulations during the period, while the people's congresses at local levels and their standing committees have enacted more than 7,000 local laws and regulations.

"With the enactment of these laws and regulations, the framework of a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics has been basically established," Zeng said.