Chinese Lawmakers Call for Border Laws

A group of deputies of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC) from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which neighbors Russia and seven other nations in central, south and east Asia, have proposed enacting a specific law for the administration of border areas.

The deputies, who submitted a proposal on the issue to the ongoing annual session of the Ninth NPC, are of the view that the law should be drafted to cope with the complex situation in the border areas in the wake of the development of a market economy in China.

Furthermore, the law will be of great importance for China to handle bilateral relations with neighboring countries and safeguard state sovereignty, they held.

According to the deputies, local officials in charge of border administration are currently working in strict compliance with the relevant provisional regulations on the administration of national boundary and border area formulated by the regional people's congress of Xinjiang in April 1989.

A national law should be drafted to govern the issue in an effort to cope with the requirements from the rapid growth of socialist market economy and the increase of exchanges with other countries, they proposed.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which boasts a border line of more than 5,400 kilometers with Russia, Kazakstan, Kirghiztan, Mongolia and four other countries, has opened up 15 land ports to foreigners. Last year, Xinjiang's border trade amounted to a total of 1.03 billion U.S. dollars, or 58 percent of its total import and export value in the year.

China boasts a total of 20,000 km border line, around which live more than 22 million people, mostly the people of ethnic minorities

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