China's top legislature on Saturday began its first hearings of the draft emergency management and anti-monopoly laws.

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presided over the 22nd session of the 10th NPC Standing Committee held in Beijing.

The law on emergency management focuses on the prevention of disasters and accidents.

"China is frequently hit by natural disasters and industrial accidents, which have caused huge loss of life and property," said Cao Kangtai, director of Legislative Affairs Office under the State Council, or China's cabinet.

Four colors of emergency declaration (blue, yellow, orange and red) would be used to indicate the escalating hazard level, with "red" signaling the most serious situation, according to the draft law.

Police records show 5.61 million sudden natural and industrial mishaps were reported in 2004, leaving 210,000 people dead and 1.75 million injured. Direct economic losses topped 450 billion yuan (US$56.3 billion).

Last year's bird flu outbreak led to tens of millions of fowl being culled and a toxic spill in the northeastern Songhua River in November deprived four million residents in nearby Harbin city of tap water for four days.

The bill stipulated penalties, including dismissal, for failures of local government officials in handling emergencies, such failing to take precautionary measures, delaying emergency declarations, or trying to cover up.

Over the past three years, many officials have resigned or been dismissed for their inability to control emergency situations, including former Health Minister Zhang Wenkang, sacked for the SARS cover-up in 2003, and former Environment Minister Xie Zhenhua, who quit in 2005 for the mishandling of the Songhua River pollution.

The aim of China's first anti-monopoly law is to protect fair competition, prevent and check monopolistic behavior and maintain a regulated market place.

"With frequent domestic and overseas mergers and restructuring, monopolies are forming in some areas and in certain industries in China. This is why an anti-monopoly law is essential," said Cao.

The law would prohibit monopolies from wielding their market status to curb competition, fix prices, enforce package sales, refuse or enforce trade, and provides for the supervision of enterprises which have a dominant status in their industries.

It would also prohibit governments from appointing producers or suppliers for unit or individual procurement, ban any hindrance to free commodity distribution, and forbid governments stipulating discriminatory tender requirements to block bids from firms from other places.

Some industries in China, such as telecommunications, railways and electricity, are monopolized by a few state-owned enterprises. The introduction of an anti-monopoly law was imperative in boosting the socialist market economy, said experts.

The legislative session also reviewed the draft sixth amendment to the Criminal Law, the draft amendment to the compulsory education law, the draft law on supervision, the draft partnership law and the draft farmers cooperatives law.

It also discussed the convention on the proposed Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization, the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, the Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between China and Spain, and the Treaty on Criminal Matters between China and Mexico.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2006)