A record of 1,374 motions had been tabled to the ongoing Second Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, an NPC official said in Beijing Thursday.

By the deadline for getting in legislators' motions at 6 pm Wednesday, the number of motions received had reached 1,374, a record high in two decades since the motion delivery system was first introduced at the First Session of the Sixth NPC convened in1983.

The issues covering agriculture, rural areas and farmers turned to be the issues the NPC deputies were most concerned about at the current NPC session, as more than 10 percent of the motions were related to these problems.

Other major protruding issues the motions addressed, include those straightening out and regulating the market order, guaranteeing the legitimate rights of the disadvantaged people, building public sanitation network, maintaining production safety, food and drug safety, state security, and guaranteeing judicial fairness and maintaining social stability.

"An increasing number of motions, submitted this year, were about the lives of common folks, especially those disadvantaged groups and the people in abject need," said Peng Yibing, director of liaison affairs of the General Office under the 10th NPC Standing Committee, noting that another striking feature amid this year's motion submission was that the deputies concerned themselves more with public security and state security." Approximately three fifths of the 1374 motions are concentrated on legislation and law amendment, he added.

The motion affairs office of the current NPC session had received over 3,180 motions or proposals from deputies by 7:45 pm Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2004)