China's top legislature Wednesday began to deliberate the amendment to the Administrative Supervision Law, aiming to enhance supervision of the country's civil servants.

The draft was submitted by the State Council to the three-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which started Wednesday, for its first reading.

Supervision Minister Ma Wen said when briefing lawmakers about the draft amendment that it aimed to improve the supervisory and offence reporting system so as to fight corruption and work inefficiency.

The draft states that its targets only people working in government departments, with lawmakers, political advisors and judicial staff excluded.

It says supervision bodies should offer advice on removing government officials, suspending officials from duties and improving the anti-corruption mechanism.

The current Administrative Supervision Law, which took effect in May 1997, has played an important role in "ensuring government decrees be implemented, safeguarding administrative disciplines, promoting clean governance and boosting governance efficiency," Ma said.

The draft also provides details about the offence reporting system.

It says supervision departments should apply real-name reporting and should not make public the reporting information so as to protect informants.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2010)