China's top legislature Monday opened its bimonthly session with a series of draft laws and amendments, including the amendment to the Criminal Law and a draft law on intangible cultural heritage (ICH) protection.

The session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) continued to deliberate draft amendments to the Law on Officers in Reserve Forces, the draft People's Mediation Law, as well as the draft Law on the Application of Laws to Civil Relationships Involving Foreign Interests.

Lawmakers also deliberated for the first time draft amendments to the the Law on Deputies to the People's Congress, draft amendments to the Criminal Law, the draft Law on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the draft revision of the Water and Soil Conservation Law.

The amendment to Criminal Law proposes reducing the number of crimes subject to death penalty from 68 to 55. It also gives a definition of "organization in the nature of a criminal syndicate" and lists tougher punishments for crimes by such organizations.

Drink driving, intentionally defaulting on payment to employees and illegal human organ trade are to be listed as crimes in the Criminal Law, according to the amendment.

The draft law on ICH protection includes a definition of ICH, mechanisms for ICH surveys, regulation of the inheritance of ICH, and penalties for its destruction.

Lawmakers on Monday also heard a report on the NPC Standing Committee's research results on issues for the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). ' The NPC, for the first time in history, completed 15 research reports on 14 major subjects from March to July to provide proposals for the formulation of the keynote plan, after Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, called for the research at the annual legislative session in March.

Lawmakers discussed the constitutional reform package of Hong Kong, which refers to the amendments to the methods of selecting the region's chief executive and forming the Legislative Council in 2012.

They also heard a report by the State Council on a proposal for the NPC to ratify the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.