(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-24 22:04

China's top legislators convened in Beijing on Friday for another round of once-every-two-month meeting and began deliberating a couple of key draft laws including one concerning government's expropriation of urban housing.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, chaired the Standing Committee meeting on Friday.

The amended Urban Real Estate Administration Law, which has been prepared in line with the new Property Law, will top the agenda of the now 170-member Committee in the next seven days.

Forceful evictions of urban residents for new urban developments have incited protests and conflicts, and have been condemned across the country. To equally protect both people's private property rights and the public interest, the country's new Property Law, to be effective in October, entitles the government to the right of expropriation only for the public interests.

But it said that the government can only do so "in accordance with the rights and procedures as stipulated by the law." It also stressed that due compensations shall be paid and habitation of relevant individuals must be guaranteed.

As the existing regulations by the State Council on urban expropriation run contradictory with the Property Law and will be nullified, new regulations covering the rampant evictions in urban areas must be in place in time, Wang Guangdao, minister of construction, told legislators Friday.

Thus the State Council suggests that the legislature amend the law on urban real estate administration and authorize the State Council to issue new regulations on procedures and rights of local governments in expropriation operations, Wang explained.

According to the agenda, the lawmakers will also discuss the draft amendment to the laws of anti-monopoly, employment promotion, emergency response and animal epidemic prevention and the draft law of urban and rural planning.

They will ratify two international treaties relating to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the week-long meeting.

Wu chaired on Friday morning a lecture on ITER delivered by Huo Yuping, the leading scientist in China's ITER office.