BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- To address challenges brought about by the era of big data, China's top legislature will strengthen the protection of personal information through moves such as enacting legislation to regulate the use of facial recognition technology, a spokesperson said on Monday.

A draft law on the protection of personal information was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation in October and has been made public to solicit opinions, Yue Zhongming, spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, told a press conference.

"The draft emphasizes that personal information should be processed in a lawful and legitimate manner with a clear and reasonable purpose, and its use should be limited to the minimum extent possible to achieve that purpose," Yue said.

The protection of sensitive personal information, including biometrics such as the face, was also highlighted in the draft, according to the spokesperson.

"Data processors can only process sensitive personal information when they have specific purposes and sufficient necessity," Yue said, noting that they should carry out risk assessments beforehand.

Warning against new challenges to the protection of personal information brought about by the application and development of new technologies such as facial recognition, Yue said the Legislative Affairs Commission will listen to further opinions from various parties and conduct in-depth research into relevant issues.