BEIJING -- Chinese citizens are on their way to getting a civil code as a draft of rules stipulating the code's basic principles was submitted to the top legislature for first reading on Monday.

The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee will consider the draft general rules at its bi-monthly session, which runs until Saturday.

The civil code, a collection of laws designed to cover private law, will be implemented once the legislation is complete.

Li Shishi, head of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said at the opening meeting of the session that the draft general rules are expected to be approved in March 2017 and the whole civil code adopted in March 2020.

The code is important in modernizing state governance and safeguarding people's interests. It will also help the economy, Li said.

The drafting started in March 2015 and was carried out by a panel comprising officials from the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council. Jurists from China's academic circles were also involved.

The major principles of China's Civil Code include equality, fairness, and good faith, according to the draft general rules, which also define natural persons, legal persons, civil rights, unincorporated organizations, civil liability and limitation of civil actions, among the key terms.

The draft general rules increase provisions protecting the civil interests of fetuses in inheritance and acceptance of gifts.

The age standard for persons with limited civil capacity of conduct is lowered from 10 years old to six years old, in consideration of minors' physical and psychological maturity, and cognitive ability having increased thanks to social development and the improvement of living and educational standards.

Protecting civil interests is the core of civil laws, according to the bill read by Li, which stipulates that citizens' personal liberty and dignity are protected by law. Civil subjects' rights to property are safeguarded by law.

The draft general rules also stipulate that intellectual property rights, virtual property and data information are protected by law.

The draft general rules extend the current two years of limitation of civil actions to three years.

It was decided to compile the Civil Code at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2014.

Wang Liming, executive vice president of Renmin University and a jurist in civil laws, told Xinhua after the CPC session that a systematic and comprehensive civil code in line with China's conditions can safeguard the country's long-term prosperity.