BEIJING -- The draft civil code will be submitted to next year's annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation, according to an NPC Standing Committee decision.

The decision was approved Saturday at the end of a bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which ran from Dec. 23 to 28.

The draft consists of general provisions and six sections on property, contracts, personality rights, marriage and family, inheritance, and torts.

The draft will be sent to all national lawmakers to solicit opinions in January, and opinions of local legislatures, relevant authorities and the public will also be solicited to improve the draft before it is submitted to the NPC annual session, said Shen Chunyao, vice chairman of the NPC Constitution and Law Committee, while briefing lawmakers on the draft Monday.

The third annual session of the 13th NPC will be held on March 5, 2020.

While deliberating the draft civil code in panel discussions during the session, lawmakers acknowledged the significance of the draft and proposed further improvements.

Lauding the draft's personality rights section as a "major innovation," lawmaker Li Wei said incorporating personality rights provisions into an independent section has reflected the Chinese characteristics in codification and China's confidence in its system and culture.

The personality rights section covers stipulations on a civil subject's rights to their life, body, health, name, portrait, reputation and privacy, among others.

The section made stipulations on regulating studies related to human genes or embryos, banning illegal entering, spying on and filming others' private spaces, and other hot topics of public interest.

Lawmaker Xu Xianming proposed giving the section more prominence in the draft by making it the second section after the general provisions, saying it would better demonstrate China's "people-centered approach" in doing things.

Commending the codification as a great event of the new era, lawmaker Liu Xiuwen said the civil code will be of great significance to advancing the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance.

Cao Jianming, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the draft has reflected the zeitgeist of the new era and adapted to people's new demands for rule of law.

"Only a great era can breed a great law code," said Xu Xianming.