Top legislators held panel discussions Wednesday, on the draft of the Law on the Supervision of the Banking Industry, the draft amendments to the Law on the People's Bank of China and the draft amendments to the Law on Commercial Banks.

The three draft laws are expected to meet the requirements for the restructuring of the country's banking sector, by strengthening supervision, according to the meeting.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), presided over the meeting, part of the ongoing Sixth Session of the NPC Standing Committee.

These laws are designed to meet the demands of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the country, as well as to avoid financial crises, the participants agreed.

They hoped that a higher-level authority would be established by the State Council to coordinate the supervisory work by different regulatory departments in the banking industry.

The legislators said they are ready to approve the three laws.

On the same day, the legislators also discussed, for the first time, the draft amendments to the Law on Foreign Trade.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2003)