Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People'sCongress, made the pledge when meeting with foreign jurists attending a legal forum focusing on "judicial impartiality and efficiency" sponsored by the Supreme People's Court.

While deliberating the work report of the Supreme People's Court, Chinese lawmakers have voiced many opinions and suggestionson promoting impartiality and efficiency in the judicial system, Li said, noting that the themes of the forum are also topics of concern for the Chinese public.

He said the exchange of views on mechanism to ensure justice and its efficiency will play a positive role for China's legal construction and for the country to be better prepared for the post-WTO transition.

Simon Sheller, chairman of the Australian Judicial Committee, said that Li's ideas on justice and efficiency are the common aspirations of many judges, lawyers and legal scholars across the world.

The international legal community can do a better job of improving judicial systems for the realization of impartiality andefficiency, but the key lies in whether they can join hands and share their experiences, he said.

The meeting was held shortly after the opening ceremony of the Centennial Theme Forum on Impartiality and Efficiency, attended bymore than 200 judges, lawyers and jurists.

Xiao Yang, president of the Supreme People's Court, said at the opening ceremony that "impartiality and efficiency" were adopted as the themes of China's court work earlier this year. They are guidelines and fundamental strategies of Chinese courts, and were indispensable for China's post-WTO work, Xiao stressed.

After the accession to the WTO, Chinese economy will face greatimpacts and tests from the outside world, and its judicial system will also face austere challenges, he said.

Without considerable improvements in ensuring impartiality and efficiency, China's legal system will be incompatible with the development of the times, he said.

(People's Daily December 12, 2001)