Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, speaks during a press conference held by the State Council Information Office about the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

BEIJING -- Opinions were solicited from all relevant sectors, in particular those from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), during the formulation of the law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR, a senior legislator said Wednesday.

From drafting to the deliberation, views were heard from various channels including those from professionals and experts, Shen Chunyao, head of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, told a press conference in Beijing.

"The law was formulated in full compliance with the legislative procedure," he said.

Stressing the broad-based consensus and calls for the legislation, Shen said multiple calls for speeding up the process were received during this year's "two sessions" -- the annual sessions of the NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), or the top political advisory body.

He said as the NPC was making the decision to introduce the legislation, the drafting preparation process had started. A competent team that included legal experts pooled their wisdom and worked closely together. This resulted in finishing a draft in a short period of time, he said.

In various stages of the legislation, lawmakers paid close attention to hearing comments from across the board, especially those in Hong Kong including the chief executive and major officials of the HKSAR, head of the Legislative Council, pro-establishment representatives, NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members from the HKSAR, as well as people from the legal, economic, education, trade and commerce sectors.

Lawmakers also sought opinions from the HKSAR through multiple channels as well as experts' opinions on the draft law, even though the draft was not released to the public for collecting opinions, Shen said.

The HKSAR Basic Law Committee of the NPC Standing Committee and the HKSAR government had also been consulted before a decision was made by the NPC Standing Committee to list the new law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law, he added.