Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), delivered the annual work report of the NPC Standing Committee at the second plenary meeting of the Fifth Session of the 12th NPC in Beijing on Wednesday.

Zhang briefed over 2,900 delegates about NPC achievements including research and discussions on law and regulations, parliamentary contact with other countries in 2016, and priorities and targets for 2017.

Major achievements of 2016

Continuous progress was achieved in the NPC’s oversight work, said Zhang Dejiang, China’s top legislator.

The Standing Committee of the NPC, China's top legislature, has made new advances and achievements in every area of the NPC’s work during the past year, he added.

China to form a complete civil code by 2020

The General Provision of Civil Law will be developed firstly, and the whole compiling work will be completed by 2020, according to Zhang.

The NPC Standing Committee has decided to submit the draft of the General Provision of Civil Law to the ongoing session for deliberation. 

China’s top legislator vows to curb bribery in voting

Zhang pledged to “study the lessons learned from the voting bribery case in Liaoning Province” and ensure elections of NPC deputies are conducted honestly.

He stressed that the election of deputies is the foundation of the system of people’s congresses and is of great importance for consolidating the Communist Party of China’s position as the governing party.

China opposes any attempt at secession of HK

Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China. And to attempt Hong Kong independence is to attempt secession, a serious violation of the "one country, two systems" principle, the Constitution of China and the Basic Law of Hong Kong.

The NPC Standing Committee produced the interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region last year.

China to strengthen national supervision system

China will revise administrative supervision law to put in place a unified, authoritative and efficient national supervision system. The decision on deepening reform of the national supervision system was made in 2016 by the Party Central Committee to improve the political structure. The deliberations resulted in the decision to carry out trials for reforming the national supervision system in Beijing and in Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces.

China pilots sentence bargaining in criminal cases

The NPC Standing Committee agreed to authorize the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to start a sentence bargaining pilot project in 18 cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing on September 3, 2016. According to the project, criminal suspects and defendants who confess to their crimes and plead guilty without objections could be sentenced with leniency.

China praises the role of Paris Agreement in climate change

Ratifying treaties and agreements that are concluded with foreign countries is a legally mandated duty of the NPC Standing Committee, and the Paris Agreement has been the most important achievement of the multilateral efforts to address climate change in recent years.

NPC to formulate Nuclear Safety Law

Zhang said the Standing Committee of the NPC will formulate a Nuclear Safety Law in 2017, as an attempt to promote ecological progress in the country.

In 2017, both the NPC and the NPC Standing Committee will enact a law for prevention and control of soil pollution and revise the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution. It will also formulate an intelligence law, and a law on international judicial assistance in criminal matters, and revise the Surveying and Mapping Law.