State assets oversight to be strengthened, official says

China's top legislature will strengthen oversight of State-owned assets and strengthen the effectiveness of such supervision, according to an official from the National People's Congress Standing Committee's Budgetary Affairs Commission.

Zhang Yongzhi, director of the commission's research office, made the remarks on Tuesday, announcing they will establish a tracking system to determine whether problems involving State-owned assets are rectified and those who made the problems are kept accountable.

He said reports about the management and oversight of State-owned assets as well as relevant documents should be disclosed in line with the law to receive public supervision and ensure their right to be informed.

Additionally, legislation involving State-owned assets' management and supervision also needs to be beefed up, he added.

He shared these measures with media after the NPC Standing Committee, the country's top legislative body, reviewed a special report last month.

On Oct 21, the report on management of State-owned natural resources was submitted to the top legislature for deliberation. It was the first time the State Council, China's Cabinet, made and submitted a report in this regard to the legislature.

The report showed China's achievements on natural resource protection and management in the past five years, and enumerated a few new policies on the protection of farmland, nature reserves and water resources.

Liao Yonglin, an official from the Ministry of Natural Resources, said on Tuesday they will intensify farmland protection through lawmaking and monitor changes in the use of cultivated land by remote sensing or other information technologies.

"While formulating rules we didn't have and are in urgent need, we should also specify the existing documents that are stipulated in principle and amend the pieces that cannot meet new requirements," he said. "Our aim is to make farmland-related rules clearer, more scientific and more practical."

"We'll seek clues involving farmland changes in use by remote sensing monitoring every six months. If we find illegal occupation of arable land, we'll punish them without hesitation," he added.