First, many of the farms are running in the red and are not able to pay wages, pensions, medical bills and social security contributions, and their employee wages are lower than the net incomes of local farmers. Second, a great number of structures are dilapidated and badly in need of repair, and there is a fair amount of outstanding debt owed on infrastructure such as transportation, water supply and electricity supply. In addressing these problems, the investigating group worked out a report and recommended, "All employee wages, pension payments, medical bills and social security contributions in arrears owed by farms run by overseas Chinese should be cleared up within two years. The problems of dilapidated structures, infrastructure development and land-use rights on these farms should be solved in three to five years." The State Council views this as an important issue, and set up a special study on promoting reform and development of such farms. Concerned departments of the State Council carefully carried out investigations and studies, took vigorous measures and diligently acted on the comments and suggestions of the Standing Committee, with good results.

One important power of the Standing Committee is the duty to oversee budgetary and economic work. The Standing Committee listened to, deliberated and approved the final budget of the central government, the auditing work report and the report on implementing the plan, and deliberated and approved the 2005 central government final budget. It also heard, deliberated and approved the report of the State Council on reforming state-owned commercial banks to convert them into stock companies and deepening reform of the financial system. Everyone on the Standing Committee expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the plan for national economic and social development and affirmed the public finance, banking and accounting work. In addition, a number of suggestions were introduced on how to standardize budget compilation work, improve the system of government transfer payments, strictly implement the budget, strengthen auditing oversight, resolutely curb overheated growth of investment, intensify efforts to save energy, lower consumption and protect the environment, and pay more attention to social development and solving problems to improve people's well-being. The State Council sent a report to the Standing Committee last December on the use of surplus revenue over the budget target and on progress in correcting problems uncovered in auditing.

The filing and inspection of regulatory documents is an important aspect of the oversight work of the Standing Committee. We carefully handle the suggestions of individuals and organizations that are made during inspection and conduct focused inspections on our own initiative to safeguard consistency in the country's legal system. The Standing Committee pays close attention to petitions submitted through letters and visits from the general public. More than 150,000 letters were received from the public in 2006 and over 75,000 visits were recorded. For problems that occurred frequently, such as legal and judicial issues, land expropriation and requisition, relocation of people to build reservoirs, housing demolition, medical care, education, social security and environmental protection, we increased efforts to refer problems to concerned organizations for them to address and followed up on how they were handled, urged these organizations to handle problems in accordance with the law and government policy, and helped solve some of the problems reflected in the letters and visits, thus playing a positive role in solving problems in society and promoting social harmony.

III. Work related to you reached a new high.

The Standing Committee conscientiously implemented the guiding principles of Decree No. 9 issued by the Central Committee in 2005 by formulating a set of regulations for supporting and ensuring the lawful execution of your duties. This will not only give more play to your role but also ensure that the work of the Standing Committee remains full of life.

1. We carefully handled your proposals. During the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC last year, you submitted 1,006 bills and the presidium referred them to seven special committees for deliberation. The concerned special committees conducted in-depth investigations and listened to the opinions you expressed in letters, phone calls, personal visits or forums. Those of you responsible for submitting some proposals were also invited to participate in preparatory work, formulation and deliberation for the draft law related to the bill they submitted. For example, the revised Law on the Protection of Minors incorporated your comments such as how to keep harmful information on the Internet away from minors, how to protect the legitimate rights and interests of rural children left behind when their parents go to the city to work and how to improve the safety of school grounds. Many of the 1,006 bills aided in formulation of legislation. Ten laws were deliberated and passed by the Standing Committee related to 100 of the bills, 7 draft laws related to 26 bills were submitted to the Standing Committee for deliberation, and another 51 legislative items related to 358 bills were included in the schedule for legislation work or the annual plan. Some other bills were referred to the State Council for study in order to formulate related administrative regulations. Explanations were made about your bills that called for legislation where conditions are not yet ripe. The reports submitted by relevant special committees on the results of their deliberation of your bills were deliberated and approved at the meeting of the Standing Committee and printed and distributed to all of you.