Chinese lawmakers meet to hear multiple reports

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, attends the second plenary meeting of the 30th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, held a plenary meeting on Wednesday to hear multiple reports.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, attended the meeting, which was presided over by Cao Jianming, vice chairman of the committee.

At the meeting, lawmakers heard a report on the implementation of the plan for national economic and social development. Since the start of this year, China's economy has been steadily recovering and has met projected target, which laid a solid foundation for achieving the goals for this year's economic and social development, according to the report.

The report laid out the work priorities for the second half of the year, including continuing the solid efforts in COVID-19 prevention and control, and striving to keep economic growth within a reasonable range.

A report on budget execution was also submitted to the meeting for review. From January to July, revenue in the national general public budget reached 13.77 trillion yuan (about 2.12 trillion U.S. dollars), up by 20 percent year-on-year. During the same period, expenditure in the national general public budget reached 13.79 trillion yuan, up by 3.3 percent year-on-year, according to the report.

Work for the second half of the year will be focused on six aspects, including forestalling and defusing local governments' debt risks, and continuing the reform of the fiscal and taxation systems, said the report.

Lawmakers heard a report on cultural relics work and the enforcement of the Law on Protection of Cultural Relics. Fully implementing the law, China has scored historic achievements in work in the area, said the report. It proposed several measures for future work, including upholding law-based management of cultural relics.

The meeting also reviewed a report on the ecological conservation of the Xiongan New Area, and two law enforcement reports on the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law and the Animal Husbandry Law.