Li Zhanshu (C), chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, speaks at a meeting on the committee's legislation work for the next five years at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING -- Top legislator Li Zhanshu on Friday called on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) to write a new chapter for the legislation work in the new era.

Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC, made the comments at a meeting on the committee's legislation work for the next five years.

The NPC Standing Committee must improve the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, with the Constitution as its core, to cope with the need to modernize the country's system and capacity for governance, Li said.

"We must be fully aware of the new circumstances, changes, tasks and demands in the new era," he said. "We must place the legislation work in the overall interests of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country."

Li also stressed that the NPC should uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over the legislation work.

The NPC and its standing committee should play the leading role in the legislation work, he said, urging the NPC to speed up its work.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, speaks at a meeting on the committee's legislation work for the next five years at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)