1st Ld-Writethru: Lawmakers support empowering county, township-level legislatures

Legislators on Wednesday expressed support for bills to give local legislatures more powers, as they deliberated amendments to three laws on people's congresses.

The amendments were submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for their first reading on Monday.

The NPC praised the amendments concerning the organization, election and staffing of legislatures for modernizing the system while adhering to the path of political development with Chinese characteristics.

The articles included the proposal that during adjournment the standing committee of township-level people's congresses should designate deputies to hear and review government reports that most concern the public.

In addition, it was advised that there should be more members of the standing committees of county-level people's congresses, and they should be authorized to establish committees on law, finance and the economy.

Lawmakers also reviewed an amendment to the Commercial Bank Law, which proposed the removal of the 75 percent loan-to-deposit ratio stipulation, and a bill on limiting local-government debt.

Li Shenglin, head of the NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said the loan-to-deposit ratio stipulation had already held back commercial banks. The removal of the statutory ratio will help banks to contribute to the real economy, and steady economic growth, Li said.

Lyu Wei, also from the NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said scrapping the ratio requirement will reduce the cost of business financing. Endi