Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday called for strengthening and improving the law-making work of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, while giving full play to the role of NPC and its Standing Committee.
Addressing a grand rally here to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the NPC, Hu urged the NPC and its Standing Committee to earnestly exercise the functions and powers endowed by the Constitution in a drive of building a relatively well-off society in an all-round way.
To this end, the legislative work of the NPC and its Standing Committee should be further improved, he said, stressing the quality of legislation.
"To meet the requirement for economic and social development, especially for establishing and improving the socialist market economic system, greater attention should be paid to economic laws in future legislation," he said.
Meanwhile, efforts must be made to accelerate the making of laws on socialist democratic politics to guarantee citizen's rights, safeguard social stability and promote overall social progress, said Hu, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
In enacting and amending laws, Hu stressed adhering to the Constitution, putting the people first and following scientific approaches.
He underscored the enhancement of the NPC's supervisory role, saying, "Exercising power without restriction or supervision is bound to result in power abusing and corruption."
As the organ of state power, people's congresses and their standing committees exercise legal supervision on behalf of the state and the people in order to ensure the Constitution and laws are implemented correctly.
Currently, some local governments and government departments fail to strictly abide by or implement laws. Local protectionism, power abuse and corruption have greatly impaired the image of the Party and the state, and harmed the interests of the state and the people, he said.
Hu urged people's congresses and their standing committees at all levels to focus their supervision on major issues concerning the fundamental interests of the people.
All administrative organs, judicial organs and procuratorial organs must do their duties faithfully and put themselves under the supervision of people's congresses and their standing committees, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2004)
