China will continue to work on a law on international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country and a cyber security law, according to a work report of the top legislature delivered on Wednesday.

The draft law on overseas NGOs was tabled for second reading in April last year to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The bill aims to regulate overseas NGO activities in China, protect their rights and interests, and promote exchanges and cooperation.

However, there are concerns that the bill would restrict overseas NGO activities in China, as some of them have set up branches and are active in the country.

Fu Ying, a spokeswoman for the annual session of the NPC, said Friday that the law is not meant to restrict their lawful, helpful activities in China, but to provide a sound legal environment.

Overseas NGOs will have to register with and be approved by Chinese authorities if they want to set up representative offices in the mainland or temporarily operate programs on the mainland, said Yang Huanning, vice minister of public security, in December 2014. Yang said sources of funds are one aspect that the new bill will address, as he expects the new bill to provide a legal basis for regulators to investigate the source of overseas NGO funds to prevent the organizations from being used for illegal activities such as money laundering.

China currently lacks laws to regulate overseas NGOs, Deng Guosheng, director of the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, previously told the Global Times, saying "the new law will help to provide legitimacy to NGOs in fund-raising and running projects."

"China has seen an increasing number of overseas NGOs in the country, bringing in capital, technology and management expertise conducive to China's development," said Deng. But he also said some came with political agenda that have harmed China.

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