CRI听力：NPC Makes Law-making More Transparent

China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, has focused on improving democracy and the life of the Chinese people throughout the past five years. During these years, 100 laws and amendments have been passed, many of them related to public issues. Furthermore, the NPC has taken great efforts to make the law-making process more transparent. CRI reporter Wu Peng has more.

China's top legislator Wu Bangguo says the country has virtually completed the formation of a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. He made these remarks on Saturday in his report outlining the past five years of work that was delivered to NPC's annual session.

Wu Bangguo says 229 laws are currently in force in China that can be divided into seven types, including constitutional and related law, civil law, and commercial law, economic and social laws.

"There are laws that cover virtually every economic, political, cultural and social activity in the country. They provide a strong legal framework for implementing the rule of law, for transforming China into a law-based socialist country, and for realizing lasting peace and stability in the country."(www.hxen.net)

In addition, the law-making process has become much more transparent during the past five years.

In 2005, a hearing was held by the NPC Standing Committee to discuss the income tax threshold. That was the first time in 50 years for the NPC to hold such a hearing.

In March of 2006, the NPC publicized the draft for the Labor Contract Law. More than 190,000 suggestions were collected that proved to be essential for the forming of the law.

Legislator Xin Chunying comments on how the Labor Contract Law was written.

"We wanted feedback from all sides, especially from the grassroots level, so we made the entire draft public. We would consider their suggestions fully when amending the drafted law."

In March of 2007, the Property Law was passed after 8 rounds of deliberation.(wWw.hxen.net)

Now, all law-making processes are more open and transparent, which makes the new laws better able to protect people's rights and interests.

WU Peng, CRI news