Chinese Assembly Chief Addresses Closing of Fourth Session of 11th Committee

Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

["Fourth Meeting of 11th NPC Standing Committee Closes in Beijing; the Meetng Votes To Adopt the Law on Promoting a Recycling Economy; President Hu Jintao Signs the Presidential Decree To Promulgate the Law; Wu Bangguo Presides Over and Speaks at the Meeting" - Xinhua headline]

Beijing, 29 Aug (Xinhua) -The fourth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress [NPC] closed at the Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of 29 August after finishing every item on the agenda. The meeting voted to adopt the law on promoting a recycling economy. The law was promulgated after President Hu Jintao signed the fourth presidential decree.

Chairman Wu Bangguo presided over the closing ceremony.

The meeting voted to adopt the NPC Standing Committee’s decision on ratifying the Seventh Additional Protocol of the Universal Postal Union Organic Law; decision on ratifying the treaty between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Namibia related to criminal judicial assistance; decision on ratifying the agreement between the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan related to criminal judicial assistance; and decision on ratifying the treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Japan related to criminal judicial assistance to ratify these four treaties.

The meeting voted to adopt the NPC Standing Committee’s resolution on approving the final state accounts of 2007 and decided to approve the final state accounts of 2007.

The meeting voted to adopt the report of the NPC Standing Committee’s Credentials Committee on the credentials of individual deputies. According to a notice published by the NPC Standing Committee, the current number of the deputies of the 11th NPC is 2,986 people.

The meeting also voted to approve the relevant appointments and removals.

Wu Bangguo delivered a speech after the NPC Standing Committee finished all items on the agenda. He said: The law on promoting a recycling economy adopted by the meeting has codified policies and measures encouraging the reduction of quantity, reutilization, and proper use of resources in the form of law after summing up useful internal and external experiences in developing a recycling economy. This will certainly have a positive impact on the development of a recycling economy in our country, on enhancing society’s environmental awareness, and on promoting a resource-conservation and environment-friendly type of social construction.

Wu Banguo said: Food safety is an issue of universal concern to the masses of people because it concerns the people’s health and life security. Formulating a food safety law is one of the legislation items NPC deputies are most concerned about and urged by many deputies in their motions and is also a legislation item focused on by the current NPC and the last NPC. In December last year, the 31st meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th NPC examined the draft of a food safety law for the first time. According to a decision of a chairmanship meeting of the NPC Standing Committee, in April this year, we again published the draft of the food safety law to solicit opinions from society. We received more than 11,000 written letters of opinions from all sectors of society. The relevant specialized committees also convened symposiums and appraisal meetings, and in accordance with the initial examination opinion of the Standing Committee meeting and suggestions from all sectors of society, carefully revised the draft law and then submitted it to the current meeting for further examination. The meeting also examined the (7) draft amendments of the criminal law and the revision drafts of the insurance law and the patent law. During the examination, the personnel of the Standing Committee and the comrades attending the meeting as observers put forward many good revision opinions and suggestions. In the days to come, the Law Committee and the relevant departments should carefully revise these four draft laws on the basis of studying the opinions from all sides and submit them to a future meeting of the Standing Committee for deliberation.

He said: An important content of this meeting was examining the report on the final state accounts and the auditing work report of 2007 submitted by the State Council and deliberating and approving the final state accounts of 2007. During the examination, personnel of the Standing Committee and the comrades attending the meeting as observers fully affirmed last year’s state financial and auditing work and held that the implementation of the central budget in 2007 was good and that the suggestions put forward by the auditing work report of 2007 to rectify problems were sincere. Central revenue continued to rise by a large margin; financial expenditure was placed under effective control; financial deficit and the balance of national debt were kept at a level permitted by the NPC; the arrangement for the use of surplus central budgetary income was also reported to the NPC and its Standing Committee according to law. At the same time, everyone hoped that the State Council and its relevant departments would further strengthen financial work and manage budgets strictly. 1. We should deepen the reform of the financial and taxation system. In view of the current financial difficulties and the imbalance of financial resources and administrative power in some counties and townships, I suggest we gradually establish a better mechanism for guaranteeing minimum expenditure in counties and townships on the basis of investigations and studies. 2. We should standardize transferred financial payments. I suggest we establish a general mechanism for the stable increase of payment transference on the basis of clearing up specific transferred payments. 3. We should adjust the structure of financial expenditure. At present, we should guarantee critical payments for combating natural disasters and assisting disaster victims. 4. We should strengthen the management and supervision of budgets and establish a government budget system including government revenues and expenditures. In dealing with the issues put forward by the auditing work report, I suggest we order the relevant departments and local governments to analyse the reasons from the angle of systems and mechanisms, to hold the people involved accountable for their responsibility, and to carry out rectification with sincerity. We will also ask the State Council to submit a report on the results of rectification and of handling these issues to the NPC Standing Committee before the end of this year.

Wu Bangguo pointed out: The deputies of the NPC and members of the NPC Standing Committee are extremely concerned about the economic and social development situation in the first half of this year. The meeting conscientiously heard and examined the report of the State Council on the implementation of the national economic and social development plan since the beginning of this year. Everyone held that since the beginning of this year, our country’s economic and social development has been subjected to gravest challenges and major tests in recent years, but the basic state of economic and social development has not changed. Confronted by the rising prices of petroleum, food, and other primary products on the international market, the great changes in the international economic environment brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, and serious domestic natural disasters such as the massive earthquake in Wenchuan, the party Central Committee, after making a correct assessment of the situation, promptly convened a meeting participated in by the principle responsible persons of provinces, autonomous regions, cities, and central departments to map an overall arrangement, and persisted in combating natural disasters and providing relief to victims while promoting economic and social development. At the same time, the party Central Committee called for doing a good job in hosting the Beijing Olympic Games and in effectively safeguarding social stability. With the efforts of the people of the whole country, we effectively coped with the serious natural disaster seldom seen in history. The national economy continues to grow at a fairly stable and rapid pace and is developing in the direction of macro control as expected. Post- quake reconstruction is moving forward steadily, and departmental assistance is being launched in an all-round way. The Beijing Olympic Games was a complete success, becoming Olympic Games with a high level and distinctive feature that attracted worldwide attention. New progress has been made in other fields of work. These achievements have not been easy to make. The State Council and local governments at all levels have done a great deal work for these achievements, and therefore they should be commended. Everyone stressed that while seeing achievements, we should remain sober, enhance the sense of urgency, look squarely at the problems we encounter in our advance, thoroughly understand the complexity and difficulty of doing a good job in economic and social development in the second half of this year, unify our thinking and actions around the central authorities’ analysis and judgment of the situation and overall planning, uphold the strategic thinking that development is the last word, further implement the scientific development concept, make maintaining the steady and rapid development of the economy and preventing commodities from rising too rapidly the priority task in macro control, make vigorously effort to solve the outstanding contradictions and problems in economic and social development, make vigorous effort to dissolve the factors causing instability and disharmony, vigorously promote the “three transformations” in the economic development mode, and bring about faster and better economic and social development. At the same time, we must effectively strengthen post-disaster restoration and reconstruction work to make sure the disaster-stricken people can pass the winter safely.

Wu Bangguo said: Increasing income is the most practical interest issue of peasants and is also the focus and difficulty of “the three rural issues” [agriculture, peasants, and rural areas]. To promote the work of enabling peasants to increase income, the current meeting of the Standing Committee made a special arrangement to hear and examine the State Council’s report on the specific issue. During the examination, everyone fully affirmed the efforts made by the State Council and local governments at all levels to promote peasants’ income. At the same time, the meeting participants also pointed out that it is necessary to attach great importance to the issues -peasants’ income level is not high, the income gap between rural and urban people is widening, and the comparable efficiency of agriculture is still declining – further increase input in “the three rural issues,” gradually straighten out the prices of farm products such as food, continue to improve financial, scientific, and technology service for strengthening agriculture and benefiting peasants, and vigorously help peasants change professions through various channels so as to enable peasant income to grow in a sustained and steady way.

Wu Bangguo said: Checking the implementation of the law for protecting minors is the principal part of the NPC Standing Committee’s supervision work this year and is also the first law enforcement inspection carried out by the current NPC Standing Committee. During the examination of the report on law enforcement inspection, everyone fully affirmed the work of the inspection group, agreed with the law enforcement inspection report, and hoped that the relevant departments earnestly attach importance to and strengthen the work of protecting minors and jointly help minors to grow up healthily.

Touching on supervision work, Wu Bangguo stressed: The right of supervision is an important function granted to the NPC and its Standing Committee by the constitution and laws. The Standing Committee of the 10th NPC decided the guiding thought for supervision work -”centring round the central task, giving prominence to the focal point, and stressing practical efficiency.” By constantly strengthening and improving supervision work, the NPC Standing Committee has formed a set of work mechanism and method and has achieved tangible results. The supervision work of the current NPC Standing Committee will uphold the work guiding thought, mechanism, and method that have been proved effective since the 10th NPC and will constantly improve them in the course of practice. In addition to embodying this spirit, the arrangement and adjustment of the supervision work plan of the Standing Committee for this year also have two other characteristics: 1. Centring round the overall work situation of the party and the state, promptly adjusting the work plan, and going all out to support the work of the State Council. 2. While formulating this year’s supervision work plan by upholding “the people-centred principle,” the NPC Standing Committee explicitly has made the most practical interest issue that concerns the people most the focus of supervision. Doing a good job in supervision work according to plan will benefit the majority of the people in our country and will be of great significance for guaranteeing and improving people’s livelihood and for building a socialist harmonious society.

Attending the meeting were vice-chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee including Wang Zhaoguo, Lu Yongxiang, Uyumqimg, Han Qide, Hua Jianmin, Chen Zhili, Zhou Tienong, Li Jianguo, Ismail Tiliwaldi, Jiang Shusheng, Chen Changzhi, Yan Juanqi, and Sang Guowei. Zhang Dejiang, vice-premier of the State Council; Wang Shengjun, president of the Supreme People’s Court; and Cao Jianming, chief procurator of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, attended the meeting as observers.

Originally published by Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1313 29 Aug 08.

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