China's parliament chief says Hong Kong Basic Law interpretation necessary.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Chairman of China's National People's Congress Wu Bangguo has said it is both "necessary" and "timely" for China's parliament to interpret Hong Kong's Basic Law in order to ensure its correct understanding and to ensure the healthy development of Hong Kong's political system. He noted that Hong Kong society had been engaged in debate about the Basic Law which had led to different interpretations and this had affected the Hong Kong government's conduct of relevant work. He said the Basic Law suited the reality of Hong Kong and was an important safeguard for the territory's stability and prosperity. The following is the text of a report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 6 April: At the eighth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress [NPC], which closed today, Wu Bangguo, member of the Standing Committee of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] Central Committee Political Bureau and chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, pointed out that the NPC Standing Committee's offering legal interpretation of the relevant provisions in the annexes to the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region [SAR] in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution …