At the 4th session of the 12th People's Congress, the local legislature, which closed Wednesday in this northeastern China city, only 218 deputies of the 474 delegates, or fewer than half of the voters, voted in favor of the 2000 work report of the municipal people's intermediate court.

This is the first time a court work report has been turned down by lawmakers.

"We have never heard of similar event nationwide," said an official with the information office of the National People's Congress, China's highest legislature.

"The event symbolizes a big step forward in China's efforts to promote democracy and build its legal system," said Mo Jihong, deputy secretary-general of Chinese Association of Constitutional Law.

(Xinhua 02/14/2001)