BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang said China's first counter-terrorism law was key part of a law system to ensure national security.

The law, adopted by the top legislature on Sunday, establishes basic principles for counter-terrorism work and strengthens measures of prevention, handling, punishment as well as international cooperation.

The legislation will provide legal guarantee for the nation to improve the capacity in preventing and cracking down on terrorism, Zhang said when presiding over the closing meeting of a week-long bimonthly session of the top legislature, which opened Monday.

Before the new bill, China did not have a specialized counter-terrorism law, though related provisions feature in various NPC Standing Committee decisions, as well as the Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law and Emergency Response Law.