China's top legislature Monday began reviewing a draft revision of the Law on Water and Soil Conservation in order to provide better protection for China's land and water resources.

The draft was the second version of the law revision. The first version was reviewed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in August this year.

According to the second revision, if people fail to work on controlling water and soil losses in a certain amount of time, they should pay the full expense of the government's water and soil conservation work on the project.

The revision also requires compensation fees for water and soil control if the projects are carried out in areas that are more likely to see water loss and soil erosion, including mountain areas and sandy regions.

According to the revision, besides China's water authorities, other government organs including departments of forestry, agriculture and land and resources, are also responsible to work with the water departments on the country's water and soil conservation work.

The draft was submitted Monday to the NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislature, for review at its bimonthly session. The session started Monday and will run until Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2010)