Mainland lawmakers have made the critical shift from regulating commercial relationships to resolving social issues during the past five years, and the trend must continue with the new legislature, mainland legal analysts say.
During the 10th National People's Congress, which began in 2003, the mainland saw the introduction of heavyweight commercial legislation such as the Property Law and the Anti-Monopoly Law.
But there were also efforts to protect people's rights such as the Labour Contract Law, the Employment Promotion Law and the Labour Dispute Resolution Law.
Other legislative moves designed to chime in with a harmonious society included lifting the personal income tax exemption from 800 yuan to 2,000 yuan (HK$873 to HK$2,183), and the amendments to strengthen the protection of women's and minors' rights.
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Li Lin said that before the 10th NPC only 2 to 6 per cent of new legislation was related to social issues, and up to 60 per cent involved commercial matters. But in the past five years, social legislation's share of bills had expanded to 20 per cent at the NPC level, and as much as 40 per cent at the provincial and lower levels.
Legal analysts have hailed this as a correction of the previous 'one leg long and one leg short' legislative imbalance but say more needs to be done, and urgently.
