Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the sixth session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 20, 2023. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]

BEIJING -- The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, started its sixth session Friday in Beijing.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the session's first plenary meeting.

Lawmakers reviewed a draft revision to the Marine Environment Protection Law submitted to the session for its third reading by the NPC Constitution and Law Committee.

The latest draft highlights coordinated efforts to monitor the marine environment and strengthen pollution control while boosting the protection of marine biodiversity.

They deliberated a draft law on patriotic education, which was submitted for its second reading.

The draft adds provisions that patriotic education should promote the inheritance and development of fine traditional Chinese culture, help the people build up cultural confidence, and make them more capable of building a modern Chinese civilization.

Lawmakers also deliberated draft laws on food security and tariffs and a draft amendment to the Charity Law. They reviewed draft revisions to the State Council Organic Law, the Law on Guarding State Secrets, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, and the Law on Protection of Cultural Relics.

The session also reviewed a raft of bills, including one on an extradition treaty with Mauritius and another on personnel appointments and removals.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the sixth session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 20, 2023. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]