China vows to improve socialist market economy laws

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The head of China's top legislature reviewed previous achievements in lawmaking, improving oversight mechanisms and advancing deliberation, and vowed to improve creating laws for developing a modernized economy.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), made the remarks while addressing nearly 2,980 deputies at the first session of the ongoing 13th NPC in Beijing.

Zhang first underlined the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the country's legislative field.

He said the CPC's leadership is essential to the legislative system and the NPC "must uphold the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core."

The 13th NPC's third plenary session in Beijing on Sunday. /Xinhua Photo

Zhang also highlighted that the state constitution is "at the center" of the Chinese socialist system of laws.

The head of the top legislature noted that enriching Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the Constitution is a "far-reaching significance" in the new era, an idea brought up by the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping at the Party's congress in October and a guiding principle for China's development in the coming years.

In the new era, the society's "principal contradiction" has emerged because of "the unbalanced and inadequate development and the public's ever-growing needs for a better life", Xi said, and the country must uphold the leadership of the CPC in building a "modern, prosperous, strong and democratic socialist country" by 2050, he noted.

What to expect in 2018?

Zhang stressed that the rule of law is critical in a socialist market economy, and that the NPC had made huge efforts in areas including tax system, corporate income, environmental protection, property rights and anti-unfair competition.

In a bid to advance the socialist market economy and improve people's well-being, the NPC has made these three areas its priority:

Chinese lawmakers cast votes on constitutional revision during the third plenary session of the 13th NPC in Beijing, Sunday. /Xinhua Photo

First, improve lawmaking.

-- To speed up the work of making the civil code;

-- To strengthen tax laws, including tax law on farmland used for non-agricultural purposes, and a real estate law;

-- To formulate a foreign investment law and e-commerce law;

-- To make laws on prevention and control of environmental pollution and soil pollution.

Second, improve oversight.

The NPC will strength the role in supervising the work to defuse economic and financial risks and to reduce poverty as well as pollution.

Third, enhance deliberation.

Deputies should foster closer ties with the people and attend more inspection tours and research projects, and should advance deliberation.

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