1. We have submitted the draft revision of the Criminal Procedure Law to this session for your deliberation and approval.

Revising the Criminal Procedure Law has been a focus of the legislative work of the NPC and its Standing Committee, and is of great interest to all sectors of society. A total of 2,485 deputies to the current NPC have submitted bills for revising the Criminal Procedure Law. We conscientiously sorted through the bills, fully investigated and studied them, and solicited a wide range of opinions on them, and on that basis, we prepared a draft amendment that considerably supplements and improves the law's system of evidence, system of defense, coercive measures, procedures for trials and procedures for executing judgments. A preliminary evaluation of the draft was made at the Standing Committee meeting last August, after which the entire draft was released to the public for their opinions. The draft was again evaluated at the Standing Committee meeting last December, and it was decided to submit the draft to this session for your deliberation and approval. There is widespread agreement among the members of the Standing Committee that the draft follows the central leadership's guidelines on deepening the reform of the judicial system, draws upon years of practical judicial experiences, incorporates relevant views of deputies, properly balances punishing crime and protecting human rights, accords with China's national conditions, and is basically complete.

In order to facilitate effective deliberation of the draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law, we distributed copies of it to you for your comments and suggestions before this session opened. The Standing Committee gave you an explanation of the draft earlier this session. All delegations carefully examined it, and we believe that through your hard work, we can produce a good revised version of the law.

2. We enacted amendments to a number of important laws.

The Standing Committee adopted the Decision on Amending the Law on Personal Income Tax, which sets forth two major changes to the law. One is to increase the salary threshold for personal income tax from 2,000 yuan to 3,500 yuan per month, and the other is to change the progressive tax rate structure on wages and salaries from nine to seven brackets, expand the lower tax brackets, and reduce the first bracket rate from 5 percent to 3 percent. The amendments further lower the tax burden on middle- and low-income individuals and appropriately raise the tax burden on high-income individuals. To meet the requirements of the 12th Five-Year Plan, we will next accelerate personal income tax reform and develop a sound personal income tax system that is comprehensive yet takes different situations into consideration to give a bigger role to taxation in adjusting income distribution.

The Standing Committee amended the Law Concerning the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases to make it more practicable. First, the law makes it clear that employers shall carry out measures to prevent and control occupational diseases in accordance with the law, ensures necessary funding, and further strengthens the responsibilities of oversight authorities. Second, the law improves the mechanisms for diagnosing and evaluating occupational diseases, streamlines the procedures for arbitrating labor disputes concerning them, and focuses on solving difficulties in diagnosing them. Third, the law stipulates that employers shall ensure that their employees who suffer from occupational diseases enjoy government-set benefits in accordance with the law. Persons suffering from occupational diseases whose employers no longer exist or whose labor histories cannot be confirmed may apply to their local people's governments for assistance with their medical care and everyday life.