The head of China's top political advisory body urged its
members on Friday to heed the calls from the grass roots to build a
harmonious society as advocated by the central government.
"We should pay more attention to social development and people's
livelihoods," said Jia
Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference's (CPPCC)
National Committee, at the opening of its annual plenary session.
The meeting will last until March 13.
The other important item on the agenda is the country's 11th
Five-Year?Guidelines (2006-10) on economic and social
development.
Jia urged the 2,154 CPPCC members at the meeting to reflect the
desires and needs of people at the grass roots and help them solve
their problems.
"CPPCC members should contribute to building harmony among the
different social strata and interest groups," he said.
Jia's remark came as the country focuses on solving problems
that affect people's immediate interests and their everyday lives,
which used to play a subordinate role to such issues as economic
growth goals in the past.
They include poverty alleviation in the countryside, reforms of
public health care and education systems and workplace safety,
among others.
These issues are already in the minds of CPPCC members. Almost
all who talked to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting
mentioned these topics.
"It is high time to focus on the development of rural areas,"
said Li Shantong, a CPPCC member who is also a veteran researcher
at the State Council Development Research Centre. "Otherwise, our
plan of building a well-off society will never become reality."
Ding Yu, another member representing the Jiu San Society, a
minority party, said she would tender a proposal on the reform of
the health-care system.
Ingrained problems in the sector include strained resources and
high medical bills. "These problems may not be solved in a few
years," said Ding, an engineer from Fujian Province. "But we must
start to tackle them and move in the right direction."
Issues that relate to people's well-being are also expected to
dominate the annual session of the National People's Congress(NPC),
which starts from Sunday and ends on March 15.
China will officially begin implementing its 11th
Five-Year?Guidelines after the NPC approves it.
The plan will outline the country's goal, strategy and approach
in pursuing economic and social development starting from this year
to 2010.
On Friday, Jia called on CPPCC members to make it their top
priority in providing advice for the implementation of the
Five-Year Plan. Key topics include building an innovation-oriented
country, building a resource-efficient, environmentally friendly
society, and reforming the fiscal system, he said.
Jia said that the CPPCC's working mechanism would be improved to
better promote unity and democracy.
Specifically, he said, the CPPCC would help its members from
non-Communist parties to play a bigger role in the political
consultation process.
Representatives from China's eight non-Communist parties form an
important part of the CPPCC.
The CPPCC is cross-section of society, composed of members of
the Communist Party of China, the eight non-Communist parties,
non-governmental organizations, public figures without party
affiliations, representatives of local communities and ethnic
minorities. It also has representatives from Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Macao.
Known as the government's "think tank," the CPPCC comprises
committees that contain public figures from various walks of
life.
Making proposals is the most direct way for CPPCC members to
participate in State affairs and the drafting of national
policies.
(China Daily March 4, 2006)