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The first session of the 10th National People's Congress held its third plenary meeting in Beijing Monday, which heard a report presented by top legislator Li Peng on the work of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress (NPC) and adopted a plan for restructuring the government and the procedure for election and appointment.
Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 9th NPC, said the Standing Committee of the 9th NPC scored remarkable achievements both in making laws and in exercising supervision.
The Standing Committee of the 9th NPC reviewed 124 laws, judicial interpretations and draft decisions on legal issues, and adopted 109 of them.
"A socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics is initially taking shape," Li told the about 3,000 NPC deputies attending the current annual session.
Li said the Standing Committee of the 9th NPC attached equal importance to both legislation and supervision. It checked the enforcement of 22 laws and decisions on legal issues, and heard 40 specialized reports by the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
"Practice has proved that the people's congress is a system best suited to China's actual conditions, serving as a fundamental guarantee for ensuring prosperity and long-term peace and stability of the country, and it must continue," Li stressed.
The meeting adopted a plan for restructuring the government. According to the plan, there will be 28 ministries and commissions under the State Council instead of the original 29, with the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce by merger of the former State Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The procedure for elections at the first session of the 10th NPC adopted at the meeting provides that the Presidium of the first session of the 10th NPC will nominate candidates for chairman, vice-chairmen, secretary-general, and members of the Standing Committee of the 10th NPC, China's president and vice-president, chairman of the Central Military Commission of China, president of the Supreme People's Court and Chief Procuratorate of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
The premier will be nominated by the president of the People's Republic of China, and the vice-premiers, state councilors, ministers, the governor of the People's Bank of China will be nominated by the premier.
The Standing Committee of the 10th NPC will have 175 members, including a chairman, vice-chairmen and a secretary-general, totaling 16. The elections will take place next Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2003)
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