China's top legislature to expedite legislation promoting private economy

BEIJING -- China's top legislature will conduct a second reading of the draft private economy promotion law next week and will then solicit further opinions from various sectors to refine the draft.

Efforts will be made to ensure the prompt deliberation and adoption of the law, a spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee said on Friday.

The draft was submitted to lawmakers for its initial reading in December 2024 and subsequently distributed to local people's congresses, central departments, universities, research institutions and 54 local legislative outreach offices for feedback, the spokesperson said.

It was fully published on the website of the Chinese National People's Congress to solicit public opinion from Dec 25, 2024 to Jan 23, 2025. During this period, 574 comments and 30 letters were received from 249 members of the public, along with 87 suggestions from 22 NPC deputies.

A meeting was held to gather opinions from central departments, local people's congresses, local legislative outreach offices, industry associations, chambers of commerce, NPC deputies and businesses.

"All parties consulted strongly support the formulation of the private economy promotion law and affirmed the draft, recommending further revisions to facilitate its prompt deliberation and adoption," said the spokesperson.

The NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature, will convene its legislative session from Feb 24 to 25 in Beijing.