"It is possible for China to reach the goal in five or six years if the legislators work in the right direction," said Xu Xianming, president of China University of Politics and Law.

It is commonly accepted that a comprehensive legal system comprises constitutional, civil and commercial, administrative, economic, social, criminal and procedural legislation, which comply with the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Jiang Enzhu, spokesman of the 10th NPC, said such a legal system had begun to take shape in the country, with laws governing almost every aspect of China's political, economic and social life.

The Ninth NPC Standing Committee has completed drafting the supervision law and the civil code, one of the most important private laws which deal with the legal rights and relationships of private individuals.

Jiang said the 10th NPC and its Standing Committee, the country's top lawmaking body, will continue reviewing the draft supervision law and the draft civil code, which have undergone preliminary checks by the Ninth NPC Standing Committee.

The legislature will give priority to meeting the needs of the market economy, social progress and the challenges of World Trade Organization membership during its five-year term, Jiang added.

The spotlight has been on the draft civil code because it serves as the cornerstone of civil and commercial legislation.

Wang Liming, a leading civil law professor with Renmin University of China, said the civil and commercial legislation will be effectively complete once the civil code is adopted and the Civil Proceeding Law is revised.

Xu from the China University of Politics and Law agreed. He said senior legislators should devote much effort to scrutinizing the draft civil code, one that affects both the daily lives of individuals and the function of corporations.

Xu, a leading professor of constitutionalism, said the lawmakers should also carefully seek a legislative balance between private and public laws -- ones that deal with the state or government and its relationship with individuals or other governments.

"It is vital for the legislators to change their mind-set when working on public laws," Xu said, adding that they should focus more on the rights of the public rather than the power of the administration.

To be more specific, Ying Songnian, professor and director of the Law Program with the National School of Administration, said the nation needs to work out a law on administrative procedures to complete the administrative legislation.

In order to make better laws, Xu said the legislative process should be more open to the public. "A bill drawn up with greater participation of the public will have more vitality and popularity when it becomes a law," he said, adding that the legislature could even solicit draft bills from the public.

Turning to the legislative technique, Xu suggested legislation initiated by administrative departments should be reduced to the absolute minimum to cut the influence of administrative departments' interests on legislation.

Xu was echoed by Wang from Renmin University. Wang said legal experts should play a more important role in China's legislative efforts.

"A law will inevitably reflect the interests of administrative power when the drafting process was dominated by an administrative department," Wang warned.

"Legislation initiated by administrative bodies could also lead to overlapping provisions among different laws," Wang added.

(China Daily March 17, 2003)