The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on Saturday unveiled its annual work plan for 2025, vowing to advance high-quality legislative work and conduct effective oversight to serve the overall national interest.

Chinese national lawmakers on Saturday started deliberating the work report of the NPC Standing Committee at the ongoing NPC annual session.

To ensure constitutional implementation and strengthen compliance oversight, the NPC Standing Committee will improve the systems ensuring comprehensive implementation of the Constitution and establish a system for reporting on its implementation, the report said, adding that the legislature will enhance its capacity to conduct constitutional review and normative document recording and review.

High-quality legislation

In the annual legislative plan, the NPC Standing Committee unveiled several key areas for the coming year.

In order to strengthen the legal framework for the development of the socialist market economy, the NPC Standing Committee will formulate a law on promoting the private sector, a law on national development planning, a financial law, a financial stability law, and a law on cultivated land protection and quality improvement.

It will also revise the Unfair Competition Law, the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the Agriculture Law, the Fisheries Law, the Civil Aviation Law, and the Banking Regulation Law, according to the report.

In the social and cultural sectors, the legislature will formulate a law promoting public awareness and education regarding the rule of law, a social assistance law, a childcare services law, and a law on public-interest litigation initiated by procuratorates.

It will also revise the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, the report said.

With a focus on refining the systems concerning ecological conservation, the legislature will continue with the compilation of an environmental code and formulate a national parks law and an atomic energy law.

To modernize the national security system and public security governance mechanisms, the NPC Standing Committee will formulate a law on public health emergency response and a hazardous chemicals safety law. It will also revise the Road Traffic Safety Law, the Food Safety Law, the Cybersecurity Law, the Public Security Administrative Penalties Law, the Prison Law, and the State Compensation Law.

In regard to legislation in areas involving foreign affairs, the legislature will revise the Maritime Law, the Foreign Trade Law, and the Arbitration Law, according to the report.

The NPC Standing Committee also vowed to intensify research on legislation in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and big data.

Effective oversight, leveraging lawmaker role

The report noted that the legislature has prepared 37 oversight programs for this year, including inspections into the implementation of five laws: the Trade Union Law, the Energy Conservation Law, the Forest Law, the Food Safety Law, and the Law on Promoting the Circular Economy.

The NPC Standing Committee will hear and deliberate special reports on a variety of issues, such as fostering new quality productive forces, promoting integrated development of the cultural and tourism sectors, protecting the rights and interests of workers in flexible and new forms of employment, and climate change action.

On measures to fully leverage the roles of NPC deputies, the legislature will encourage deputies to engage the people on a broader range of issues and in more diverse forms, and will continue to improve working mechanisms for handling and giving feedback on public opinions brought forward by deputies.

The NPC Standing Committee will also carry out a research project on the election of deputies to county- and township-level people's congresses, according to the report.