The scheduling decision was made by the NPC Standing Committee in Beijing yesterday.

The Standing Committee members also adopted resolutions to submit the drafts of a new corporate income tax law and property law to the next session of the national legislature for deliberation.

The draft of the corporate income tax law sets a unified income tax rate for domestic and foreign companies at 25 percent after years of criticism that the tax policies were unfair to domestic companies.

Chinese companies currently pay income tax at a nominal rate of 33 percent, while their foreign counterparts, which benefit from tax waivers and incentives, pay an average 15 percent.

There are 159 countries and regions that levy corporate income tax at an average 28.6 percent.

China's draft property law, a sweeping bill that is designed to protect both public and private ownership, has undergone more reviews than any other piece of legislation by the NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature. The draft law was described as heading in "the correct political direction" and represented China's basic economic system.