NPC spokesperson answers questions of great concern

Fu Ying, spokesperson for the fifth session of China's 12th National People's Congress (NPC), speaks during a press conference on the session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 4, 2017. The fifth session of the 12th NPC is scheduled to open in Beijing on March 5. [Photo: Xinhua/Jin Liwang]

Just ahead of the annual session of China's top legislature, the spokesperson for the National People's Congress gave a briefing to answer some questions of great concern to the public.

Fu Ying revealed that China will increase military spending by 7 percent in 2017 compared with the year before.

Other highlights of the news conference on Saturday morning were details of the progress made in devising in the country's civil law and the progress of its anti-graft campaign.

The growth rate in the defense budget for this year could be the country's slowest in more than a decade and marks the second time that the defense budget has dipped to a single-digit increase since 2010.

Last year, China announced a 7.6 percent rise in military expenditure; eight years ago, it was 15 percent.

The NPC spokesperson Fu Ying said the country sets national defense expenditure every year based on the demands of the national defense construction and national economic development levels and the growth rate, but regardless of whether it's high or low, there is no threat to the regional peace.

"As for the disputes of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests between China and the surrounding countries, we ask them to be peacefully solved through dialogue. Meanwhile, we need to have the capability to defend our sovereignty and rights and interests. Particularly as you have noticed, we indeed have to prevent external powers from intervening in these disputes. The strengthening of China's ability is beneficial to maintaining the peace and security of this region, but not the opposite. The tendency on the disputes is very clear recently. China and some Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members have returned to the track of dialogue and negotiation and the situation in the South China Sea has been eased."

China's national defense budget has kept to a level of about 1.3 percent of its GDP for several years, as compared with NATO members' pledge to dedicate at least 2 percent of GDP to defense.

The exact figure for China's defense budget this year is expected to be released in a budget report on Sunday, when the country's top legislature starts its annual plenary session.

The meeting of the National People's Congress and the one held by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are dubbed as the "two sessions."

The dual gathering is significant in China's political calendar as it sets the national agenda for the year head and beyond.

This year's meetings carry extra weight as they are the fifth and last sessions of the 12th NPC and the 12th CPPCC National Committee.

Lawmakers and political advisers will also make use of the occasion to review and discuss a draft General Provisions of Civil Law.

During Saturday's news conference, Fu Ying explained the significance of the move.

"The draft of the general provisions of the civil law will be submitted for review by NPC deputies. The civil law is so all encompassing and profound that covers every aspect of society. The general provisions provide basic principles and general rules of civil activities. And it's an important basic law for civil affairs of a country. Many of us may not resort to civil law of other specialized laws in our lifetime, but our daily lives and activities are covered by civil law."

China's current "General Principles of Civil Law" has been in place for over 30 years.

The latest draft has already passed through three readings at the top legislature level since drafting began two years ago.

It states that personal liberties and human dignity are protected by the law.

If approved, the General Provisions will provide a framework for interpreting some 200 current civil and commercial laws and marks the first step in establishing a civil code, which is expected to be in place by 2020.

This year's meetings are also the first high-profile national political events held since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at a key party meeting last October.

Fu Ying said a key reform of the country's supervision system, which is directly under the leadership of the party committee with Xi Jinping as the core, is smoothly underway.

"Under the principle that all major reforms should have legal basis, the NPC standing committee decided at the end of last year to pilot the reform in Beijing, Shanxi and Zhejiang. According to the pilot program, the three localities would suspend the application of relevant laws and try out the new institution and mechanisms. The practice of the three localities will accumulate valuable experience for rolling out the reforms nationwide"

Pledges to conform to the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core are also expected to feature significantly at the meetings.