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Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), delivers a report on the work of the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee over the past year at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 3, 2011. The Fourth Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee opened on Thursday afternoon. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
The annual session of CPPCC National Committee this year is scheduled to conclude on March 13. More than 2,000 CPPCC National Committee members, from across the country, will discuss major issues concerning the nation's development during the session.
Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were present at the opening meeting.
Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite members of the Chinese society who are willing to serve the think tank for the government and for the country's legislative and judicial organs.
As an open forum where the ruling CPC, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China's socialist democracy.
CPPCC National Committee members submitted 5,678 proposals over the past year, covering a spectrum of issues with regard to education, housing, employment, finance, industrial restructuring and modernization of agriculture, among others, according to the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee.
As of Feb. 20 this year, 5,273 proposals had been handled, the Standing Committee said Thursday in a report delivered at the opening meeting.
Shi Jie, a CPPCC National Committee member and lawyer from Sichuan Province in southwest China, said he was glad to see his proposal of criminalizing the act of "drunk driving" was adopted.
This year, he is to propose meting out heavy penalties for jaywalkers and hope his proposal will be useful again.
Wang Haibo, a CPPCC National Committee member and agricultural expert from north China's Hebei Province, spoke highly of Jia's report. He had paid special attention to Jia's remarks on people's livelihood in the work report.
"I have brought with me 12 proposals this year. All of them touch on issues concerning people's livelihood such as the reduction of income gap and improvement of welfare for migrant workers." he said. |
