2. We helped promote and implement major reform measures through legislation.

We revised the Budget Law, which is of great importance to deepening fiscal and tax reforms and putting in place an all-around, standardized, open, and transparent budgeting system. After four deliberations, the Standing Committee made significant revisions to the Budget Law. We made comprehensive improvements to the Law, making sure all government revenue and expenditure are incorporated into budgets, improving the system of transfer payments and the mechanism for local government debt management, making budgetary work more transparent, advancing performance- based budget management, and strengthening review and oversight by people’s congresses over government budgets and final accounts.

Acting in line with the newly revised Budget Law, the State Council made a decision on deepening reform of the budget management system, introduced measures to tighten management over local government debt, and stressed the need to manage public finances in accordance with the law and readily accept oversight.

In order to aid the government in streamlining administration and delegating more powers to lower-level governments, the Standing Committee made revisions to relevant provisions of the Insurance Law, the Securities Law, the Law on Certified Public Accountants, the Government Procurement Law, and the Meteorology Law with a view to delegating the power or canceling the requirement for government review for certain items, thus providing a legal basis and support for reforming the system of government review.

In order to put into effect the integrative approach to national security and accelerate the development of rule of law in our national security efforts, the Standing Committee promptly adjusted its legislative work agenda to strengthen the following efforts. First, we changed the original National Security Law into the Counter- espionage Law to strengthen anti-espionage work. Second, we deliberated on the draft of a new national security law to guide other laws on national security. Third, we deliberated on the drafts of an anti-terrorism law and a law on the management of international NGOs in China to increase the level of rule of law in key areas of our national security efforts.

3. We worked hard to legislate more effectively and democratically.

First, we made full use of the NPC’s dominant role in legislative work. Relevant special committees of the NPC led the work of revising major laws such as the Environmental Protection Law, the Legislation Law, and the Administrative Procedures Law. Relevant special committees were also involved in the drafting of laws by the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and jointly carried out research on major issues in the drafting of laws in order to ensure that these drafts are submitted on schedule for consideration.

Second, we continued to attach equal importance to the enactment, revision, abolishment, and interpretation of laws. We made overall plans on enacting new laws and rescinding old ones and on improving coordination and consistency between laws. We strengthened interpretation on laws: we deliberated on and passed seven legal interpretations on relevant provisions of the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law, and formulated an interpretation on citizen name rights as prescribed in the General Principles of Civil Law and the Marriage Law.

Third, we improved the way we carry out legislative work. We refined our efforts to assess draft laws before their promulgation, strengthened debate over legislative items, improved the mechanism whereby legislative bodies of the Standing Committee maintain contact with NPC deputies, and invited NPC deputies to participate in activities such as research and deliberation on legislative items. We studied and drew on public comments and suggestions, and gave prompt explanations and feedback.