The second session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, started its second plenary meeting on Friday afternoon. China's top legislator Li Zhanshu delivered a work report to stress quality people-oriented legislation. CGTN's Hou Na reports from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Mapping out China's legislative work ahead of the new era, NPC Standing Committee Chairman Li Zhanshu vows to further improve legislation and oversight work to better support the nation's reform and opening up. He shared recent achievements with over 3,000 fellow lawmakers.

LI ZHANSHU, CHAIRMAN NPC STANDING COMMITTEE "We formulated 8 laws, revised 47 of them, and adopted 9 decisions on legal matters and other major issues. These legislative items fell into three main categaries according to their functions."

To better answer the public's call, the top legislature has enacted China's first Drug Administration Law and Vaccine Management Law to put harsher penalties on offenders. Reducing taxpayer burden and boosting consumption have also been priorities. Thus, the law-making body has carried out China's biggest tax overhaul in more than two decades. Looking ahead, Li says national security, intellectual property rights protection, and ecological advancement legislation will be pushed forward, and that the principle of law-based taxation will be further enforced."

HOU NA GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE, BEIJING "The Top legislature not only improved the quantity of legislation but also improved the quality of it. Law makers also deliberated the country's first Foreign Investment Law that aims to create a new level playing field of foreign companies in China."

WANG CHEN, VICE CHAIRMAN NPC STANDING COMMITTEE "To adapt to the demands of reform and opening up in the new era and change the foreign investment legal system to improve with the times, it is urgent that we enact a new and fundamental law for foreign investment to replace the three old foreign investment laws on the basis of reviewing our practical experience of attracting foreign investment."

Major legislative items identified by the leadership will also be prioritized this year. They include deliberation on the civil code, drafting a new amendment to the Criminal Law, and laws on basic medical and healthcare, real estate taxes, export control, community correction and veteran support. With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming a new front in technological development, legislation for AI is a priority and a debate will be carried out for the innovative development of AI by the government.

HOU NA,CGTN,BEIJING.