国内英语新闻:China's top legislature wraps up bi-monthly session

BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) closed its bi-monthly session here on Friday, preparing for the upcoming annual parliamentary session.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting of the three-day session.

Lawmakers passed a draft report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee. It will be submitted to the annual session after mild amendment based on the opinions of lawmakers.

Most lawmakers approved of the Standing Committee's work in the past year, Zhang said at the closing meeting.

At the upcoming parliamentary session, the NPC Standing Committee will work with other NPC deputies to accomplish all tasks on the session's agenda, representing public concerns and holding the session according to frugality protocols, he said.

Lawmakers also approved the draft agenda of the annual session, a draft list of candidates for the session's presidium and secretary-general, as well as the list of observers at the session.

Also at the meeting, the top legislature passed the country's first law on deep seafloor resource exploration, which aims to protect the maritime environment and ensure sustainable exploitation.

Before the closing session, the chair and vice chairs of the NPC Standing Committee met and decided to put these bills for a vote.