Guideline issued for future legislation to cover Shanghai's most pressing priorities

Shanghai's legislative body yesterday released a lawmaking guideline through and beyond 2020, aiming to improve people's life, environment and public security.

The guideline, the first of this kind in the city, involves 100 “legislation demands," of which lawmakers will take reference to decide what new legislation will be made in the next five years, according to Shanghai People's Congress.

The demands, or lawmaking suggestions, are collected from local lawmakers and experts, covering the city's economic development, urban planning and management, culture, livelihood, environment and legal systems.

The guideline offers a vision to Shanghai's future legislation and what is needed for its economic and social development, said Yin Yicui, chairwoman of the standing committee of the congress.

"The city's following legislation aims to guarantee and support its economic development, as well as improve people's life, environment and public security," said Fu Aiming, deputy director with the legislators' work committee of the legislative body.

On the urban planning and management section, for instance, new regulations are suggested in fields such as taxi management, car parking, courier safety and protection of historic scenery.

It is essential to make new regulations on the taxi management in the wake of a rapid development of online cab hailing, which has greatly influenced the traditional taxi businesses, according to the guideline.

It suggests amending the existing taxi management regulation, principally to better protect consumers' rights while regulating the taxi companies and drivers.

For car parking, the guideline notes that many drivers struggle to find parking lots at communities, and especially hospitals and schools.

"The current road and traffic management regulation as well as parking sites management regulation can hardly solve the problem," it stated, suggesting a specialized law on the car parking.

It also seeks improved regulations to cover the city's over 2,000 registered courier firms along with their 120,000 deliverymen, because "there are still some illegal cases in Shanghai on delivering dangerous chemicals, controlled knives, guns and bullets as well as drugs," the guideline said.

An amendment to the current historic building protection regulation is proposed, because "it only focuses on the single building protection, but should expand to historic streets, blocks and neighborhoods."

Other public concerns, including those about house prices, cultural services, environmental protection, seniors' care, education, rubbish sorting and public security are also brought up in the guideline.

The legislative body started the research project for the guideline in June 2015. More than 800 legislators have been surveyed through questionnaires and discussions.

Experts from Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and other research institutes as well as over 10 local universities have been asked to advise, said Li Gang, deputy director with the research department of the standing committee.

Lawmakers have also studied the residents' most frequent complaints via the city's 12345 hotline as well as media reports, Li added. "The guideline will be updated according to new national policies as well as to cope with new problems arising from future urban development."