NPC to consider law and rule changes for top legislature

Draft amendments to a law and rules related to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, will be submitted to the fourth session of the 13th NPC for deliberation, Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the session, said at news conference on Thursday.

Amendments to the NPC's organic law and procedural rules aim to promote the people's congress system, advance the rule of law, conclude system-related achievements made by the country in past decades and adapt to new social developments and people's new demands, he said.

Looking back at last year's legislative achievements, he said, "The pace of legislative work accelerated and the effort on making and revising laws on public health, State security and major national strategies improved."

In 2020, the NPC and its standing committee took people's health and life safety as a priority in legislation, making a legislative plan concerning public health and revising the Law on Animal Epidemic Prevention, Zhang said.

Lawmakers passed the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Biosecurity Law and the Yangtze River Protection Law to ensure national security and serve high-quality development, he said.

In response to issues that members of the public cared most about, the NPC and its standing committee also focused on legislation related to livelihoods and social governance, adopting the Civil Code and amending the Criminal Law and drafting laws on curbing food waste and protecting personal information, Zhang added.