Reporting on the work of the NPC Standing Committee to the current annual session of the Ninth National People's Congress Saturday, the NPC Chairman said that the election at the township level is going on at present and that at the county level and above is scheduled to start from the latter half of this year and the election of deputies to the Tenth National People's Congress will also be completed by the end of January next year.

The NPC Chairman drew the attention to the importance of the election in building up state power and encouraged the NPC standing committee to do the job well within their powers and functions invested by the Constitution and other laws.

Deputies to new township-level people's congresses will be elected directly from among voters; deputies to people's congresses at the county level and above will be elected indirectly; leaders of state power organs and administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs at the county, prefecture, provincial and national levels will be elected at the new people's congresses of their respective levels.

Hong Kong and Macao will also elect their deputies to the new National People's Congress and the NPC Standing Committee will help them with work associated with the election, said Li Peng.

He called for full display of democracy and the election of high-quality, enterprising and pioneering people loyal to the Constitution and law and ready to fulfill the requirements of "three represents" to the new people's congresses and to the organs of state power at all levels.

All law-violating activities will be brought to book, he stressed.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2002)