Top legislator Wu Bangguo Wednesday pledged that the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) will further improve legislative quality and more effectively supervise governmental and judicial agencies.

Wu, chairman of the 10th NPC Standing Committee, said legislators will continue to put people first, in an effort to promote coordinated social and economic development across the board. He also vowed to improve supervision mechanisms to raise efficiency and promote administration by law and fairness.

"We will focus on issues that have close links to the vital interests of the people and have major impacts on the country's reform, development and stability," said Wu.

He made the remarks when reporting to NPC deputies on the work his committee has done in the past year and unveiling the plan for this year.

Wu said the committee worked out a five-year legislative plan in its first year in office.

The plan includes 76 pieces of legislation that cover all branches of the legal system, including the proposed constitutional amendment which is now under scrutiny by NPC deputies.

He said 27 of the 76 pieces of legislation have been put on the committee's agenda for this year. They include draft bills on tangible property rights, bankruptcies, correction of unlawful practices and state of emergency.

The Company Law and laws on foreign trade, securities, auditing, and prevention and control of environmental pollution from solid wastes, are expected to be revised.

Last year the 10th NPC Standing Committee reviewed 12 draft bills and legal documents and passed 10 laws including the Law on Administrative Licensing.

"The law will have far-reaching impact on administrative reform, governmental function transformation, checking corruption from the source, guaranteeing efficient administrative management and the protection of interests of individuals, corporations and other organizations," Wu said.

The committee also passed the Law on Residents' Identification Cards which reflects the principle of creating all possible conveniences for people, Wu said, adding that the Law on Control and Prevention of Radioactive Pollution passed last year also puts strict regulations aimed at protecting people's health.

Turning to the supervisory function of the committee, Wu said legislators have given priority to the effectiveness of their role.

It is a basic form of supervision by the NPC Standing Committee to carry out law enforcement inspections.

Last year they checked the enforcement of laws on rural land contracting, construction, protection of minors' rights, prevention and control of pollution by solid wastes.

The committee will send legislators to check the enforcement of the laws on animal epidemic prevention, land management, compulsory education, trade union and the law on statistics this year.

Huo Jinhua, an NPC deputy from Central China's Henan Province, said she was satisfied with both the legislative and supervisory work of the committee in the past year and felt upbeat about its future plan.

"The problems that the lawmakers have paid attention to were all those that highly concerned people and are in urgent need of solution," Huo said.

At the request of the standing committee, the State Council reported to the legislators on the measures it has taken to fight the dreadful disease.

Wu said the committee proposed to put anti-SARS efforts under the rule of law and establish an effective mechanism to control and prevent infectious diseases as well as an efficient working system and surveillance network to check similar epidemics.

As a follow-up effort, the legislators plan to revise the law on the prevention and control of epidemic diseases this year.

Listening to and reviewing work reports on specific issues is another channel for the committee to check the work by the government and judicial bodies.

The State Council is expected to report to the committee on the establishment and improvement of contingency mechanisms on handling emergent public health incidents this year.

It will also report measures on how to increase farmers' income and promote agricultural development, rectify and streamline market orders, promote legal awareness among the public as well as the saving, protection and reasonable utilization of water resources.

Guo Guoqing, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who also heard the report yesterday, suggested that the top legislative body should enhance interaction with the CPPCC, the country's top advisory body.

"We have submitted proposals on law-making and many of them are constructive because CPPCC is a body consisting of experts," Guo said.

But he said the proposals, most of which have been delivered to the governmental departments, did not appear in Wu's work report.

Guo said effective mechanism should be developed to encourage interaction between the two bodies to improve efficiency in lawmaking and supervision.

(China Daily March 11, 2004)