Top legislature to step up oversight work through special inquiries
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China's top legislator Wu Bangguo pledged Thursday the National People's Congress(NPC), the top legislature, would step up its oversight work through special inquiries into issues related to people's well-being this year.
"We would continue to carry out special inquiries in accordance with the law on low-income housing, government budgets, education reform, and strengthening primary-level courts and procuratorates," Wu told nearly 3,000 national legislators in his report delivered at the ongoing annual session of the NPC. [More about Wu Bangguo's report]
Inquiries are legal means by which the NPC oversees the State Council, or cabinet, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
The oversight work of the NPC Standing Committee this year will also focus on:
-- examine and approve the 2010 final accounts of the central government;
-- examine the implementation of a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy as well as the efforts to stabilize prices and curb the excessively rapid rise of housing prices in some cities;
-- conduct research on how to guard against local government debt risks and how to set up a sound mechanism for ensuring basic funding for county-level governments;
-- press ahead with implementation of the central government' s macro-control policies as well as measures for reforming key sectors in order to promote steady and rapid economic development;
-- listen to and deliberate the State Council's reports on its work concerning accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development, environmental protection, reform of the tenure of collective forests and developing the tourism industry;
-- investigate compliance with the Law on Rural Land Contracts;
-- carry out investigations and studies on promoting economic and social development in ethnic minority areas;
-- listen to and deliberate the State Council's reports on building low-income housing, implementing the National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Education Reform and Development, and fire prevention;
