BEIJING, Oct 30 (AP) -- Long-debated legislation to protect private property in China is a step closer to being passed after the country's top legislative panel reviewed the latest draft and deemed it ripe for approval, state media reported.

The head of the national legislature, Wu Bangguo, and a panel of senior lawmakers discussed the sixth version of the property law on Sunday and said the latest version strikes a balance between private property and state ownership, the Xinhua News Agency reported late Sunday.

The report and its positive tone suggested that the measure _ the first law to protect private property _ could be approved soon, perhaps at the next full session of the National People's Congress in March.

Since being proposed five years ago, the bill has attracted controversy and criticism in the Communist Party-run country where state ownership still dominates key parts of the economy.

Left-leaning economists, academics and officials voiced opposition to the law, saying it would lead to an erosion of state control and concentrate more wealth in the hands of a few. Proponents of free-market reforms argued that some other proposals did not go far enough in protecting private property.

The controversy came to a head in March, when the communist leadership withdrew the bill from consideration by the congress. Noting the debate, Xinhua said the proposal was withdrawn amid worries that the law "could undermine China's socialist system if the rights of individuals superseded state right to care for the collective good."

Xinhua said opposition faded after a fifth draft, debated in August, "put state ownership rights at the heart of the economic system."

The panel from the National People's Congress executive committee called the latest draft "relatively well-written" and asked for additional revisions before sending the draft to the full legislature for approval.