Chinese legislators have overhauled relevant laws and regulations to bring them in line with the requirements of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization(WTO) - the global trade club that China is seeking membership of, said Zeng Jianhui, a spokesman for the Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), at a press conference yesterday in Beijing.
To fully implement WTO obligations, China has amended or repealed the laws and regulations identified as not fully consistent with the WTO agreement, he said.
For example, the country's legislature has adopted amendments to the Patent Law, the Customs Law, and laws on Sino-foreign cooperative ventures and solely foreign-funded ventures.
The current session of the Ninth NPC will deliberate and approve amendments to the Law on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, he said.
Meanwhile, the State Council has also adapted appropriate administrative rules to prepare for WTO entry, noted the spokesman.
The country's cabinet is going to amend more than 140 statutes and regulations on foreign trade and economic cooperation, and abolish 570 others that run counter to WTO requirements, he said.
Hailing the "milestone" achievements in productivity and people's livelihood brought about by more than 20 years of reform and opening-up, Zeng said the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) will set out a "magnificent" scheme for the country's further expansion in the coming five to 10 years.
Careful and thorough deliberation of the outline for the first five-year plan for this century will have great bearing on the acceleration of the country's pace of modernization, he said.
Asked to comment on the so-called "confederation system" proposed by some people for the country's reunification, Zeng categorically ruled out the option.
"We advocate the 'peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems' formula," Zeng said. "We do not accept the confederation system."
The spokesman also tackled the Falun Gong issue during his 70-minute press conference.
"We are very much concerned about the recent activities of the Falun Gong in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)," said Zeng, adding that he has heard that Hong Kong residents were deeply upset by the fact that five Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire on the eve of Chinese lunar New Year on Tian'anmen Square.
"We believe that the SAR government will properly handle the Falun Gong issue strictly in accordance with the 'one country, two systems' policy, and the Basic Law and Hong Kong's statutes, and deal with the issue from the standpoint of protecting the interests of the Hong Kong people," Zeng said.
(China Daily March 5, 2001)
