The almost 3,000 deputies to China's National People's Congress (NPC) will discuss two draft laws - the protection of public and private property and unifying the tax rates of foreign and Chinese companies' - sometime before the annual session of the NPC in March.

Wang Zhaoguo, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the new move is designed to help deputies fully understand the importance of the two drafts and offer suggestions and views on improvement.

The drafts are expected to be debated and endorsed at the fifth full session of the Tenth NPC which commences on March 5.

The draft property law provides protection for all types of ownership while the draft corporate tax law is expected to set a unified income tax rate for both domestic and foreign companies at 25 percent.

Sheng Huaren, also vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, urged all deputies to contribute to the discussion of the two drafts and work for their smooth endorsement.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2007)