China to start making foreign investment law

BEIJING - China's national legislature will take steps to make a foreign investment law and do research on formulating a real estate tax law, according to a work report released Sunday.

The legislation plan was included in the work report of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), delivered by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the committee, at the first session of the 13th NPC for deliberation.

Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the first session of the 13th NPC, said at a press conference a week ago that the foreign investment law was meant to promote and protect foreign investment.

The new legislation will stick to policies of high-standard liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and significantly ease market access for foreign companies, Zhang said.

It will create a transparent, stable and predictable business environment for foreign investors and protect their rights and interests, ensuring that they enjoy national treatment and a fair market, he said.

In addition to the foreign investment law, Chinese lawmakers will formulate laws on taxation, including vehicle purchase tax and resource tax, and an E-commerce law, according to the NPC's legislation plan for the next five years.

To be revised are the Law on Tax Collection and Administration, the Law on the Contracting of Rural Land and the Land Administration Law, and the Criminal Procedure Law, according to the report.

It added that work on compiling the civil code will move faster, so its individual books can undergo deliberation.

In other areas, the organic laws for state institutions will be improved, with revisions to be made to the Organic Law of the People's Courts, the Organic Law of the People's Procuratorates, and the Civil Service Law.

Legislative efforts in the social, cultural, and environmental sectors will be strengthened to formulate a community correction law, a law on promoting basic medical and health care, and a law on the prevention and control of soil pollution, and to revise the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste.