China's top legislature starts standing committee session

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the 21st session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, started its 21st session Saturday to review multiple draft laws and revisions.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the first plenary meeting of the session. A total of 164 members of the NPC Standing Committee attended the meeting.

Lawmakers heard the deliberation reports of draft laws on urban maintenance and construction tax and on deed tax. The NPC Constitution and Law Committee suggested the two drafts be reviewed and passed at the session.

Lawmakers also heard explanations on a draft revision to the law on the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Also on the lawmakers' table was a draft revision to the animal epidemic prevention law, which further tightens regulations on markets trading live poultry and livestock.

The draft amendment to the copyright law also returned to the legislature for the second reading. The draft further improves the definition and genre of copyright works as mentioned in this law.

Lawmakers also deliberated the draft amendments to the NPC organic law and the NPC procedural rules, as well as the draft amendments to the national flag law and the national emblem law.

The State Council submitted a bill to the session, asking the NPC Standing Committee to make a decision for the sixth Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to continue operation. Lawmakers heard explanations of the bill.

A draft decision on authorizing the State Council to start a pilot program in the nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area was submitted to the session. The program will enable Hong Kong legal practitioners and Macao practicing lawyers to acquire mainland's legal practice qualifications and go into practice in the cities.

Other documents presented to the lawmakers included a report on the implementation of the national economic and social development plan, and a report on the implementation of this year's budget.