China's top legislature heard the explanation of the draft food safety law and three reports on medical system reform, protection of workers' rights and development of rural areas made by the State Council on Wednesday.

Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress also deliberated a draft resolution on the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and for forming the Legislative Council of the HKSAR in 2012 and on issues concerning universal suffrage.

Entrusted by the State Council, Cao Kangtai, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, told the legislative session that food safety incidents occurred from time to time and unsafe factors existed in many kinds of food, which caused the public to lose confidence in the domestic food supply and damaged the reputation of Chinese food around the world.

China currently has a hygiene law to regulate food safety, but many lawmakers said it does not meet the country's needs in practice.

He also elaborated on the food safety supervision system, the safety risk evaluation mechanism, and national standards of food safety proposed in the draft law.

Health Minister Chen Zhu told the legislative session about the latest developments in urban and rural medical system reform and supervision of food and drug safety.

China's government has made progress on medical system reforms and strengthened the supervision of food and drug safety. However, problems persisted in the food and medical sectors, including an imperfect medical care system, food safety issues and unsuspected dangers in drugs.

He outlined further plans to deepen reforms and supervision.

Sun Baoshu, Vice Minister of Labor and Social Security, reported on the protection of workers' legal rights, detailing the efforts that have been made by relevant departments concerning employment, pay, social security, labor contracts, labor disputes and work safety.

Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai reported the development of building the new socialist countryside, listing the government's favorable policies for farmers, support to agriculture, and infrastructure construction in rural areas.

During the ongoing session, lawmakers also discussed the Report by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the Standing Committee of the NPC on the Public Consultation on Constitutional Development, and whether there is a need to amend the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and for forming the Legislative Council of the HKSAR in 2012.

Based on the regulations of the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the suggestions of members of the NPC Standing Committee, the meeting of chairman and vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee has proposed a draft resolution on the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the HKSAR and for forming the Legislative Council of the HKSAR in 2012 and on issues concerning universal suffrage.

Entrusted by the meeting of chairman and vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, Qiao Xiaoyang, deputy secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee, delivered an explanation of the draft resolution to lawmakers on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)