Beijing will improve its legal system this year by enacting or amending laws on land management, urban environment, pre-school education, Chinese medicine, private economy development, budget supervision, earthquake prevention and disaster relief.

All these are required to improve the health of the city in the coming five years, said Zhang Jianmin, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 11th Beijing Municipal People's Congress (BMPC) Sunday, on the first session of the committee this year.

Zhang said people's deputies have been playing an increasing role in the city's development.

Last year, the Standing Committee formulated or revised some key local laws and regulations, including one on the Zhongguancun high-tech park.

It also launched reviews of the city's existing laws and regulations, examined the implementation of 27 of them and listened to 16 work reports from the municipal government.

The committee furthermore demanded the municipal government take concrete measures to ensure the quality of pork, on which consumers have many complaints, and to ban smoking in public places.

Other significant actions included efforts to guarantee better education in the mountainous area and protection of local museums and science exhibition halls.

Proposals by BMPC members actually have helped local people live a more comfortable life.

One case most welcomed by local residents was the renovation of Chongwen District's Longtanxili residential quarter, where many dwellers bid farewell to the time when three generations squeezed into a single, 10-square-metre room.

All of the 1,609 proposals produced by BMPC deputies during the third session of the 11th BMPC have been handled by municipal departments

(People's Daily 01/15/01)