China's top legislature opens bimonthly session

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Monday started to review nine draft laws, law amendments and revisions, including a new draft decision on Internet management.

At a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee that opened Monday morning, lawmakers were briefed with reports on draft revisions to the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly and the Law on Funds for Investment in Securities.

Presided over by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, the session was attended by 142 members of the NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature.

The lawmakers will deliberate amendments to the Land Administration Law, the Labor Contract Law and the Trademark Law during the session running from Dec. 24 to 28 in Beijing.

The draft amendment to the Land Administration Law, submitted by the State Council, proposes raising compensation for farmers whose collectively-owned land is expropriated and suggests more strict rules to manage excessive land expropriations.

Farmers' protests over land expropriation have occurred in villages across the country in recent years, prompting calls for better protection of farmers' property rights.

In a report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last month, Hu Jintao pressed for making reforms in the land expropriation system and increasing farmers' share of gains in land value.

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