The possibility of a telecommunications law coming into effect within the year is slender, a deputy to the third annual session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, said on Monday.
  
Such a law has been listed as one of the legislative moves to be made when "time is ripe", says a notice posted on the NPC website a week ago.
  
Hou Yibin, a deputy of the NPC Standing Committee, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that if the draft telecommunications law can be submitted by the State Council to the NPC Standing
Committee for deliberation, his committee will do its utmost to finish all the legislative procedures concerning the law in the shortest time.
  
The NPC Standing Committee is required to deliberate a draft law in full session at least three times before a vote for release. The Committee convenes in full every two months.
  
"Even if the draft telecommunications law is submitted before the mid 2005, hardly can it be put under deliberation in three consecutive full sessions," said Hou, elaborating on the time limit to a fast-track enactment of the law, which has been widely expected for some 25 years.
  
Telecommunications is not only one of the fastest-growing industries in China over the past two and half decades, but also a sector involving multifaceted and hard-to-balance interests.
  
China issued a regulation governing the booming telecommunications industry in 2000. But with the industry's overwhelming development, the regulation failed to addressing the new problems and situations occurring repeatedly in the regard.
  
"Enactment of the law is in accordance with both market demands and the social development in China," said the lawmaker.  

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2005)