China’s top lawmakers will review a draft decision next month to apply more national laws in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) following the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in the city last year, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the top decision-making body of the country’s legislature, will deliberate draft laws and revisions, including adding more national laws to the Annex III of Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The committee will convene its 30th session from Aug. 17 to 20 in Beijing.
China’s national laws need to be listed in the annex of the Basic Law, the semi-autonomous region’s mini-constitution, in order to be applied in the city.
No details of what national legislation was being considered to be included were provided in the Xinhua report. Citing unnamed sources, local media in Hong Kong reported that the anti-foreign sanctions law, newly approved in June by the national legislature, may be included.
Last June, the standing committee of the NPC enacted the national security law for Hong Kong to restore stability after about a year of social unrest. The national law has been listed in the annex of the Basic Law.
Earlier this month, Xia Baolong, the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said at an event in Beijing that the law has been effective in keeping “Hong Kong safe, secure and peaceful.”
According to Xinhua, national lawmakers will also review draft laws including a personal information protection law. They will debate draft revisions to the population and family planning law, following a new policy that encourages married couples to have up to three children.
Contact reporter Cai Xuejiao (xuejiaocai@caixin.com) and editor Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com)
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