China builds legal Great Wall to safeguard national security: Official

BEIJING -- China has put in place a legal Great Wall to safeguard national security by instituting new laws as well as revisions to the existing ones in this regard over the past 10 years, an official with the country's top legislature said Monday.

"We have formulated or revised more than 20 laws directly related to national security since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in late 2012," Tong Weidong, an official with the Legislative Affairs Commission under the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, told a press conference.

In addition to relevant administrative regulations established by the State Council and its departments over the years, laws with provisions directly related to national security were also formulated.

"These legal provisions have resulted in the establishment of a system of national security legislation that is tailored to China's strategic security environment," Tong said.

A series of relevant laws were enacted or revised over the past 10 years, including laws on national security, counter-espionage, anti-terrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity and nuclear safety.

Among them, the new National Security Law, enacted in 2015, plays a leading, comprehensive and fundamental role in the system of national security legislation, according to the official.