Another 233 Chinese cities are likely to be given certain legislative powers, according to a draft amendment to the 2000 Legislation Law delivered to the top legislature for deliberation on Monday.

All cities with subordinate districts will be allowed to make laws in accordance with local conditions, according to the amendment submitted during the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

At present, of 282 cities with subordinate districts, only 49 have legislative powers: 27 provincial capitals, four special economic zones and 18 big cities approved by the State Council.

Gan Chaoying, a law professor with Peking University, sees the amendment as a move to streamline administration and decentralize power, a policy advocated by the central government.

"The more mature the market is, the more necessary it is to confer local cities legislative powers. It is local governments that know the markets better than the central and provincial governments," Gan told the Global Times.

Facing increasingly complicated economic and social issues, more local governments have called for rights to make local laws that are more authoritative and could have more consistent implementation than regulations and policies, Qin Qianhong, a legal professor with Wuhan University, told the Global Times.

Li Shishi, director of the NPC Standing Committee's Legal Affairs Commission, said all cities with subordinate districts will be allowed to make local laws and regulations in areas including construction, sanitation and environmental protection in accordance with local conditions.

Qin said that the current management of issues such as food safety, sanitation and environmental protection is somewhat arbitrary.

As the measures local governments take often lack a legal basis, legislation in those fields will provide clear instructions and prevent leaders from making random decisions, he noted.

The draft makes improving legislative quality a basic requirement, saying that rules should be clear, concrete, executable and operable.

Qin pointed out that developing the professional competence of legislators and legislative democracy are of high importance to improve the quality of legislation.

"Citizens and legal experts should be involved in the discussion of draft bills," he added.

Gan added that China has enough institutional guarantees for legislation, but they failed to play a full role in supervision.

He encouraged China to draw on the experience of Japan on codifying relevant laws since Japan is a unitary state that boasts a high degree of local autonomy.

Gan also stressed the significance of thorough research on the market prior to the legislation process. Particular needs of citizens should be taken into account as they are fundamental to legislation, he said.