China's top legislature–the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or the NPC, began its bimonthly session on Monday, to review draft laws and prepare for its annual full session, which is scheduled to begin on March 5. A draft amendment to the Law on the Promotion of Clean Production has become the highlight of the session.

The three-day session is seen as the final preparation for the upcoming fifth plenum of the 11th NPC.

Senior legislators will deliberate a draft report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee which will be submitted to the annual session.

Wu Bangguo, Chairman of NPC Standing Committee, said, "On the agenda, the draft schedule of the annual plenary session, the lists of candidates for the presidium and secretary general and nonvoting attendants will be discussed."

On the first day, legislators will continue reading a draft amendment to the Law on the Promotion of Clean Production. The draft amendment was first reviewed by the NPC Standing Committee last October which required intensified inspections on the clean production of enterprises.

After several rounds of gathering opinions, the newly submitted draft amendment has highlighted a concise definition on the "excessive packaging of products" and a list of detailed conditions under which compulsory clean production checks should be imposed on companies.

During the group discussion, NPC Standing Committee member, Chen Sixi, said the new draft still has room for improvement.

Chen said, "I think the newly submitted amendment will further promote China's clean production. But I think the supervising responsibilities are not clear enough, and there are not enough explanations regarding the deadline of punishment."

The legislators said they believe that the current law, which came into effect in 2003, needs to be revised to meet the requirements of energy conservation and emissions control in the country's bid to build a greener and more sustainable economy.

(CNTV.cn February 27, 2012)