On Sept 28, Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, attended and addressed the second plenary meeting of law enforcement inspection teams of the Law on Wetlands Protection in Beijing.

Li stressed the necessity to give priority to ecological protection and adhere to the principles of strict management, systematic governance, scientific restoration and proper utilization, to advance the implementation of the Law on Wetlands Protection and to promote the high-quality development of wetlands protection with legal guarantees.

He said that all localities and competent departments have thoroughly carried out the law, continuously raised public awareness of wetlands protection, and scored positive results on all fronts since the law took effect last June.

Noting that there are still lots of challenges and difficulties in wetlands protection and restoration, he called for concerted efforts to establish and improve collaboration and information reporting mechanisms, and strengthen the supervision of law enforcement and judicial protection.

He also urged related departments to accelerate the formulation of supporting laws and regulations to form a more unified, complete and coordinated legal system, to bolster legal popularization to create a favorable atmosphere for wetlands protection, and to follow up with concrete actions to ensure the effectiveness of the inspections.

Those in attendance of the meeting included Wang Dongming and Ding Zhongli, vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee.