Top legislature to strengthen support for reform process

The top legislature will continue the quick pace in drafting and adjusting a series of laws next year to provide strong legal backing for the country's reforms in all sectors.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress plans to draft laws on personal information protection, data security, social assistance, legal aid and village revitalization in 2020, a spokesman said on Friday.

A law on supervisory officers will also be drafted next year to improve the national supervision system, Yue Zhongming, spokesman of the committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said at a news conference.

Besides, several laws will be revised, such as the Criminal Law, and laws on patents, prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste, protection of minors and the prevention of juvenile delinquency, he said.

Other laws to be amended include those on copyright, administrative punishment, marine transportation, and animal epidemic prevention.

"We'll intensify efforts in legislation to ensure reforms can be developed more effectively," Yue said.

To improve the legislative process, Yue said the NPC Standing Committee plans to establish a platform on which NPC deputies can participate in legislation work in a more timely and convenient manner. More liaison stations will be set up at the grassroots level so that public opinions can be better heard, he said.

"We'll carry out more research into new technologies to allow people to offer their opinions on legislation," he added.

Yue also revealed that six draft sections of the civil code, including one on contract and marriage and family, are ready to be submitted to the plenary session of the NPC for review next March.

If the draft sections can be adopted at the time, China will have its first and long-expected civil code. In March 2017, the NPC adopted the general provisions of the civil code as its first step to drafting the high-profile law, and the six sections have been reviewed by the NPC Standing Committee in the past two years.

As for the upcoming NPC Standing Committee's bimonthly session, which will be convened from next Monday to Saturday, Yue said national legislators will discuss the draft sections of the civil code, a draft revision to the securities law, the draft law on promotion of basic medical and healthcare, a draft revision to the forest law, the draft law on community correction and a draft revision to the law on prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste.

Lawmakers are also expected to deliberate the draft law on Yangtze River conservation, a draft revision to the law on the protection of investments by compatriots from Taiwan, the draft law on export control, the draft law on urban maintenance and construction tax and the draft law on deed tax.