Top legislature to step up oversight work

BEIJING - China's top legislator Wu Bangguo pledged Thursday the National People's Congress(NPC), the top legislature, would step up its oversight work through special inquiries into issues related to people's well-being this year.

"We would continue to carry out special inquiries in accordance with the law on low-income housing, government budgets, education reform, and strengthening primary-level courts and procuratorates," Wu told nearly 3,000 national legislators in his report delivered at the ongoing annual session of the NPC.

Inquiries are legal means by which the NPC oversees the State Council, or cabinet, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Last year, the NPC focused its inquiries on the central government's final accounts, national food security, and deepening the reform of the pharmaceutical and healthcare systems.

These inquiries, which were reported or broadcast live on television and the Internet, attracted widespread attention and won a positive response from the general public.

"Inquiries on special topics have helped the State Council and its departments to improve their work, and also enriched the way the NPC does its oversight work," Wu said.