Chinese lawmakers will deliberate a draft law this week to better
regulate governmental purchases and prevent corruption.
The law will be discussed for the first time during the 24th
session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's
Congress (NPC),
which opened Monday in Beijing.
The opening session was presided by Li Peng, chairman of the NPC
Standing Committee.
Governmental purchasing has proved to be an efficient, advanced and
market-oriented system on the allocation, usage and management of
fiscal fund in many countries, including some developing countries,
said Yao Zhenyan, vice-chairman of the Financial and Economic
Committee of the NPC Standing Committee.
"In China, a series of pilot projects on governmental purchases
have been launched since 1995,'' Yao said. "During 2000, the volume
of government purchase was 32.8 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion),
accounting for 2.07 per cent of total fiscal expenditure."
He
said a drafting committee was set up by the Financial and Economic
Committee of the NPC Standing Committee in 1999. With the
co-operation between the committee and relative departments, a
draft law on governmental purchases has been finished.
Members of the NPC Standing Committee also will conduct the third
deliberation of the draft laws on the management of maritime areas
and on prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, as well
as the draft amendments on the Copyright Law, the Law on
Trademarks, and the Trade Union Law.
Lawmakers will first deliberate a draft law on the preservation of
cultural and historical relics.
Entrusted by the State Council, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
Wang Yi submitted two proposals on China's participation in the
International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings
and the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and
Extremism.
By
December 31, 1999, a total of 58 countries have signed the
convention, which is the first legal document on anti-terrorism
explosions in the world, Wang said.
After examination and verification, the State Council holds that
the convention will be conducive to China's fight against national
separatists and the machination of civil and foreign hostile
forces, Wang said.
The Shanghai Convention was signed by President Jiang Zemin and
presidents from Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrghizstan in June.
(China
Daily October 23, 2001)