2. We supervised and guided relevant authorities in completing the concentrated review of existing administrative regulations and local statutes.

Administrative regulations and local statutes are important components of the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, and they play an important role in ensuring effective law enforcement, promoting administration in accordance with the law, and managing state and local affairs. Nevertheless, some existing regulations and statutes are unsuitable, uncoordinated or incomplete. Therefore, on the foundation of the concentrated review of existing laws completed in 2009, we focused on supervising and guiding relevant authorities in their concentrated review of existing administrative regulations and local statutes last year. The State Council and local people's congresses attached great importance to this work and, on the basis of a concentrated review, dealt with the regulations and statutes within their respective purview by type. By the end of last year, they had revised 107 administrative regulations and 1,417 local statutes, repealed seven administrative regulations and 455 local statutes, and completed the concentrated review of existing administrative regulations and local statutes, thereby ensuring the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics was established on schedule in 2010.

3. We worked hard to make legislation more scientific and democratic.

First, we got NPC deputies to fully play their role in legislative work. Regardless of whether we were debating and making decisions concerning legislative items or drawing up and deliberating draft laws, we earnestly studied and drew upon suggestions expressed in deputies' bills and invited concerned deputies to participate in legislative work.

Second, we expanded the orderly participation of citizens in the legislative process. We adhered to and improved the mechanism for making draft bills public; selected issues raised in draft laws that are of widespread concern to the people and fully debated them; earnestly solicited opinions from a wide range of sources, especially people at the primary level; and constantly improved the drafts. The Vehicle and Vessel Tax Law is an important law of widespread concern to the people. In just the first month after the full text of the draft bill was published, we received nearly 100,000 comments from all sectors of society, which we conscientiously sorted out and analyzed, and promptly gave feedback on. Taking into account that roughly 87 percent of our country's passenger vehicles have small or medium displacement and are mainly used by wage earners, we made important revisions to the draft bill on the basis of the views of the majority of respondents so that the law does not increase people's tax burden yet helps to promote energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Third, we launched a pilot project last year for evaluating enacted legislation. We chose the Law on Scientific and Technological Progress, the Law on Promoting Agricultural Mechanization, the Law on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology, and the Environmental Protection Law to focus on. We analyzed, discussed and evaluated the system of laws, legal provisions, law enforcement and the degree of public satisfaction with laws by means of questionnaires, field investigations and studies, case studies and various other ways, and gained valuable experience in evaluating enacted legislation in an orderly manner.

II. Strengthening Our Oversight Work With the Focus On Facilitating the Implementation of the Central Leadership's Major Decisions and Arrangements

To successfully complete the objectives and tasks set forth in the 11th Five-Year Plan, we strengthened oversight of economic work and efforts to ensure and improve the people's wellbeing. We constantly improved the way we exercise oversight and carried out inquiries on three special topics in accordance with the law, thus making our oversight more effective.

1. We strengthened oversight of economic work, focusing on helping transform the pattern of economic development.

Last year, in addition to the established practice of hearing and deliberating the reports on the implementation the country's annual plan and budgets, on the final accounts of the Central Government, and on auditing work, as well as deliberating and approving the final accounts of the Central Government, we also heard and deliberated reports on expediting the development of the service sector, developing the culture industry, and national grain security; inspected compliance with the Law on Scientific and Technological Progress, the Law on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology, the Energy Conservation Law, the Law on Promoting Cleaner Production, and Law on the Protection of Investments by Compatriots from Taiwan; and carried out follow-up investigations and studies on the implementation of some major public-funded projects. During the deliberation, members of the Standing Committee emphasized the following three points.

First, we need to make strategic economic restructuring the main orientation of transforming the pattern of economic development more quickly, make significantly developing the service sector the focus of optimizing and upgrading our industrial structure, vigorously support strategic emerging industries, more quickly foster new areas of economic growth, and effectively curb excessively rapid growth of energy-intensive and highly polluting industries.

Second, we need to make increasing our innovation capacity our strategic foundation, focus on making breakthroughs in major scientific research programs and key technologies that affect our country's future development, and strive to capture the technological high ground in the new round of international competition.

Third, we need to greatly improve irrigation and water conservancy, speed up the translation of advances in agricultural science and technology into actual productive forces and widely apply them, constantly increase the contribution of agricultural science and technology to agricultural development, ensure national food security, and foster sustained agricultural development and steady increases in farmers' incomes.

2. Concentrating on resolving problems affecting the people's wellbeing, we strengthened oversight of the major work related to the people's wellbeing that is of great concern to the general public.

We heard and deliberated the State Council's reports on deepening the reform of the pharmaceutical and healthcare systems, the movement of the rural workforce and safeguarding the rights and interests of rural migrant workers, the economic and social development of ethnic minorities and ethnic minority areas, and strengthening road traffic safety management. We inspected compliance with the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, and also heard and deliberated the report by the Supreme People's Court on civil trials and the report by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on improving procuratorial work concerning dereliction of duty and infringement of rights. During their deliberation, members of the Standing Committee noted the following six points.

First, we need to make deepening the pharmaceutical and healthcare systems and giving priority to meeting people's basic medical and healthcare demand our important task of ensuring and improving their wellbeing, actively yet prudently deal with new situations and problems occurring in medical reforms, and ensure smooth implementation of key reforms, so that the people receive tangible benefits from them.

Second, we need to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of rural migrant workers; work vigorously to provide them with vocational training; and strive to solve practical problems concerning their pay, working conditions, social security, workplace safety and children's education.

Third, we need to fully implement the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and the central leadership's policies and measures, particularly the new ones to strongly support the development of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and increase our support for infrastructure development, development of industries with local advantages, and basic public services in ethnic minority areas to help them achieve leap-frog development.

Fourth, we need to implement the basic state policy of gender equality, safeguard the labor and property rights and interests of women and their personal rights in accordance with the law, promptly adjust the scope of work prohibited for female employees, solve the problem of women's rights and interests being infringed on in rural land contracting, and firmly crack down on crimes involving the trafficking of women and children.

Fifth, we need to further strengthen road traffic safety work, improve regulations and measures, eliminate traffic hazards, intensify supervision of law enforcement, prevent serious traffic accidents, and protect people's lives and property.

Sixth, we need to continue to improve the quality and professional competence of employees of people's courts and procuratorates, improve the mechanisms for doing judicial and procuratorial work, constantly raise the level of the administration of justice, better satisfy people's demands on the judiciary, and effectively safeguard social fairness and justice.