China's national legislature starts 2nd plenary meeting of annual session

(Xinhua)      Updated : 2022-03-08

The second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING -- The fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, started its second plenary meeting on March 8.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, delivered a work report of the NPC Standing Committee to the meeting.

Lawmakers also heard the work report of the Supreme People's Court delivered by its president Zhou Qiang and the work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate delivered by Procurator-General Zhang Jun.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, delivers a work report of the NPC Standing Committee to the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Highlights of the work report of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress:

- China will prepare legal tools for conflicts in international relations, and be ready to use legal means to stand up for the country in the international arena.

- China will formulate a food security law in 2022.

- China will formulate a law on the protection of the Yellow River.

- China will formulate laws on tariffs and other taxes in 2022.

- China will formulate a law on the ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 2022.

- China will formulate a law on energy.

- China will formulate a public health emergency response law in 2022.

- China will formulate a law on telecom and online fraud in 2022.

Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, delivers a work report of the Supreme People's Court to the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei / chinadaily.com.cn]

Highlights of the work report of the Supreme People's Court:

- In 2021, people's courts at various levels concluded over 1.25 million criminal cases of first instance and convicted about 1.72 million criminals. The number of eight types of major criminal cases, such as homicide, rape and kidnap, has stayed at a low level.

- A total of 739 courts in China provide 24-hour litigation services.

- China will improve its adjudication rules for anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition cases in 2022.

- Chinese courts concluded 23,000 cases related to corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty in 2021, involving 27,000 people.

- China handled some 13,000 cases involving market manipulation, insider trading, illegal fund-raising and money laundering in 2021.

- Chinese livestreaming court trials have registered 45.6 billion views in 2021. A total of 130 million written judgments were made available to the public online in 2021.

Procurator-general Zhang Jun delivers a work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate to the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

Highlights of the work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate:

- Twenty three former Chinese officials at the provincial or ministerial level were prosecuted in 2021.

- A total of 43,000 people involving financial fraud or undermining the order of financial administration have been prosecuted last year, up 3.3 percent year on year.

- About 282,000 people were prosecuted for engaging in fraud, gambling or spreading pornographic contents on internet last year, up 98.5 percent from 2020.

- Chinese procuratorial organs filed and handled 169,000 public interest litigation cases in 2021, up 50 percent from 2018.

- A total of 39,000 Chinese procurators have been appointed vice principals in 77,000 primary and middle schools.

- China prosecuted 49,000 people for illegal activities jeopardizing the environment last year, the first decline in eight years.

- China prosecuted 134,000 people on charges of disrupting the order of the market economy in 2021.

Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) attend the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) attend the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) attend the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) walk out of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]