Lawmakers Start New Session to Review 9 LawsChina's top legislature, the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), started its 16th session in Beijing Monday to deliberate nine draft laws.Li Peng, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over today's meeting. Tabled with lawmakers today were the draft amendments to the laws on product quality, customs, and patent rights, as well as the draft law on farm seeds and the trust law draft. Each of them had been reviewed in previous legislative sessions. Draft amendments to the law on the fishery industry, amendments to the judges law and amendments to the procurators law, and the draft law on the nationwide written and spoken language were also submitted to the legislators for a first hearing. According to an agenda passed by today's meeting, a treaty on extradition between China and Uzbekistan, and a consular treaty with Australia will also be presented to the legislators for deliberation and ratification, along with separate criminal assistance treaties with Colombia and Tunisia. The lawmakers will also deliberate a State Council report to examine and approve final accounting of central revenue and expenditure in 1999, and a State Council report of the implementation of the central budget. A group under the NPC Standing Committee to examine law enforcement will also deliver a report on a recent review of the law on township enterprises. |
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