CHINESE legislators will press ahead with the drafting of securities legislation, although government officials had previously said it would be deferred.
The sixth draft of the legislation will be tabled at the meeting of the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) later this month.
The draft of the country's first companies law, considered a pre-requisite to the creation of a securities law, will also be considered at the meeting.
Analysts say the NPC's plan to go ahead with the securities law despite the administration's reservations shows that the legislature is eager to shed its ''rubber-stamp'' image.
A key member of the securities law drafting committee, Professor Cao Fengqi, of Beijing University, said: ''From the NPC's point of view, there is no question of deferring the law. On the contrary, the drafting process will be sped up.'' In a victory for the NPC-commissioned drafting committee, several government ministries reached agreement on five key areas during a recent conference in Beijing.
Officials from the NPC, the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, the State Council Law Office and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) were at the conference.
