The top legislators convened here on Friday for another round of
once-every-two-month meeting and began deliberating a couple of key
draft laws including one concerning government's expropriation of
urban housing.
Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress, chaired the Standing Committee meeting on
Friday.
The amended Urban Real Estate Administration Law, which has been
prepared in line with the new Property Law, will top the agenda of
the now 170-member Committee in the next seven days.
Forceful evictions of urban residents for new urban developments
have incited protests and conflicts, and have been condemned across
the country. To equally protect both people's private property
rights and the public interest, the country's new Property Law, to
be effective in October, entitles the government to the right of
expropriation only for the public interests.
But it said that the government can only do so "in accordance
with the rights and procedures as stipulated by the law." It also
stressed that due compensations shall be paid and habitation of
relevant individuals must be guaranteed.
As the existing regulations by the State Council on urban
expropriation run contradictory with the Property Law and will be
nullified, new regulations covering the rampant evictions in urban
areas must be in place in time, Wang Guangdao, minister of
construction, told legislators Friday.
Thus the State Council suggests that the legislature amend the
law on urban real estate administration and authorize the State
Council to issue new regulations on procedures and rights of local
governments in expropriation operations, Wang explained.
According to the agenda, the lawmakers will also discuss the
draft amendment to the laws of anti-monopoly, employment promotion,
emergency response and animal epidemic prevention and the draft law
of urban and rural planning.
They will ratify two international treaties relating to the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the
week-long meeting.
Wu chaired on Friday morning a lecture on ITER delivered by Huo
Yuping, the leading scientist in China's ITER office.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2007)