In 2001, China will complete amending the Marriage Law and work on new laws including a Civil Code, laws governing some sorts of administrative activities, and a number of economic laws on fighting monopoly, dumping of foreign goods, and social security.
This was announced by Li Peng, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, Friday, when he was delivering a report on the work of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress, China's top legislature, at the NPC's current session in Beijing. The session began on March 5 and will last through 15.
China's legislative work has made enormous achievements in the past decades, but some laws that should constitute a major component of a socialist legal system are yet to be enacted, said the top legislator.
He pledged to lose no time in working out the laws.
He said, "To strengthen supervision by law is one of the main jobs of the NPC."
The NPC Standing Committee has put the enactment of a supervision law on its agenda this year, in response to strong calls to the effect made by lawmakers at previous sessions, Li said. Once the law is drafted, it will be handed over to the standing committee for discussion.
This year, the standing committee will also bring an end to the much-debated amending of the Marriage Law, work on a law on material rights, and start working on a Civil Code, according to the top legislator.
At the same time, the standing committee will work on a law on administrative compsulsory measures, a law on administrative licensing, and a law on administrative charges, to pave the way to work out a unified administrative procedural law, he noted.
The proposed enactment of an anti-monopoly law and an anti- dumping law will fill up a blank in the country's financial legislation, while the enactment of a social security law will help improve the social security system in China to ensure social stability, according to Li.
When all these laws are enacted, a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics will take shape, he said. In the coming two years, the standing committee will work on the above laws and laws that aim to promote socialist democracy, building a clean government, development of a socialist market economy, and joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
He pledged to bring democracy into full play in legislative work.
(Xinhua 03/09/2001)
