Legislators’ groundwork called crucial
Lawmakers at all levels should have strong confidence in China’s political system and better perform their duties in legislation and supervision, the country’s top legislator said on Thursday.
The Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, has put forward a series of new ideas, measures and requirements that serve as the theoretical and action guides for adhering to and developing the people’s congress system in the long term, said Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, during a panel discussion with lawmakers from Jiangsu province.
Legislation and supervision are the two major functions of people’s congresses nationwide. In the work report Zhang delivered on Wednesday, he said the NPC has a heavy legislative task this year.
The top legislature will revise the Law on Administrative Supervision to turn it into a more powerful national supervision law. The legislature will also formulate laws on e-commerce, nuclear safety, intelligence and soil pollution prevention, among others.
Zhang Yan, an NPC deputy from Jiangsu, said she was impressed that the national legislature had made such major progress in legislation in the past four years.
“I understand the difficulty of lawmaking, as the legislature needs to balance the demands and interests of all sectors,” she said.
The NPC and its Standing Committee will strengthen oversight of the implementation of plans for supply-side structural reform and poverty alleviation, both fundamental to building a well-off society, Zhang Dejiang said on Wednesday, adding that the work of people’s congresses on the grassroots level should be strengthened.
Zhu Hong, a deputy from Jiangsu who is head of a village in Wuxi, said: “In villages, where practical work is often given more stress, the local people’s congress should better play its supervising role.”