China's top legislature schedules session for late December

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the 16th meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) will hold its seventh session in Beijing from Dec. 25 to 29.

The decision, announced on Monday, was made during a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, which was presided over by Zhao Leji, chairman of the standing committee.

According to the proposed agenda, lawmakers will review draft revisions to the Organic Law of the State Council, the Company Law, and the Charity Law, a draft amendment to the Criminal Law, and draft laws on food security, emergency response and management, and rural economic collectives.

They will review bills on draft revisions to the Law on Supervision by the Standing Committees of the People's Congresses at All Levels and the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law and on draft decisions on improving the system for recording and reviewing normative documents, as well as authorizing the Macao Special Administrative Region to administer land and waters to the southeast of Gongbei Port in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province.

Bills on the draft decision concerning the second session of the 14th NPC, an extradition treaty between China and Botswana, and a treaty on judicial assistance in criminal affairs between China and Senegal will be on the table at the session.

Several reports on China's 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, the execution of central government budgets, NPC deputy qualifications, personnel appointments and removals, and other issues will also be submitted at the session.

Monday's meeting reviewed and passed in principle the highlights and agendas of work related to legislation and supervision for the NPC Standing Committee in 2024.