The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) reaffirmed on Monday that it will speed up legislation this year to promote sustained development of the telecom industry.

"The telecom law has already been listed as a priority item for the State Council in 2005 and efforts are being made to enhance the quality of the law," Yi Xueqing, director-general of the MII's Laws and Regulations Department, said at the ministry's annual policy-releasing conference in Beijing.

"We will work in collaboration with the State Council to enable the law to be submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) for evaluation as soon as possible," Yi said.

Draft legislation was submitted to the State Council at the end of last July and has been reviewed twice by its Legal Affairs Office, before going on to the NPC Standing Committee.

"After the submission to the NPC, we are continuing to help conduct all assessment work," he said.

According to Yi, the ministry is closely following the development of the global telecom industry and studying other countries' laws.

He said the ministry will organize seminars this year to deal with further potential issues before the official unveiling of the telecom law.

"We will accelerate efforts to produce a more open and transparent market environment to ensure the growth of the telecommunications industry this year," Information Industry Minister Wang Xudong told the ministry's working conference in January in Beijing.

"We need a detailed and complete law to better meet the development of the telecom industry due to explosive growth in the past decade," said Chen Jinqiao, director of the MII's China Academy of Telecommunications Research.

He said the new law is expected to contribute tremendously to phasing out malpractice and ensuring healthy development of the industry. Currently, there are only regulations to guide the development of the telecom industry.

Chen also suggested that the government should look at nurturing market demand and encouraging innovation within the industry.

"The sector is becoming more market-oriented and we are seeing increasing new opportunities and huge potential as the market opens further in line with China's WTO commitments," he said.

The MII said the telecom industry is expected to earn revenue of 557 billion yuan (US$67.1 billion) this year, representing a growth of 11.2 percent on last year.

The country is expected to sign up 103 million new telephone subscribers this year.

(China Daily March 1, 2005)