The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC),
China's top advisory body, abided by the No. 5 Document, which sets
out the central tasks of the ruling Communist Party, strengthened
its efforts in exercising political consultation and democratic
supervision, and in the deliberation and administration of state
affairs, a top CPPCC advisor said yesterday.
"I submitted a proposal last year to rehabilitate the Shangyou
and Huichang reservoirs in Jiangxi Province. Now, over 13 million yuan
has been allocated to the project," said Li Yonghai, vice chairman
of the Chinese Association for Development of Old Revolutionary
Areas, who was attending the 12-day annual session of the CPPCC
National Committee, which concluded in Beijing today.
"At the First Session of the Tenth National Committee of the
CPPCC, there were complaints that submitting proposals was
ineffective because they were largely ignored. But things have
changed since then, and more CPPCC members have been willing to
speak out during this session."
Li added: "The role of the CPPCC has been strengthened."
Liu Qingzhu, an archaeologist from the Institute of Cultural
Relics and Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, agrees.
In March 2006, 58 CPPCC members submitted a joint proposal
calling for more efforts in the protection of the Beijing-Hangzhou
Canal and the application for its listing as a World Heritage site.
The Committee for Learning and Cultural and Historical Data of the
CPPCC National Committee also organized an investigation conducted
by 40 CPPCC members and scholars along the 2,500-km-long canal in
May last year. They argued that the canal, like the Great Wall,
should be given adequate protection. As a result of their efforts,
the State Council and local governments of provinces along the
canal acknowledged that it was a key cultural relic and was
subsequently accorded national protection status.
Yang Baojian, a CPPCC member from Yunnan Province, explained that this was just
one of the improvements in performing functions of the CPPCC in the
past year.
According to Yang, the CPPCC actively studied innovative methods
that optimize consultation processes. To achieve this, they held
special consultative conferences in addition to the scheduled
plenary sessions and consultative conferences of the Standing
Committee. Last year, two such special consultative conferences
were organized, the focus of which were West China development and
carrying out the Medium- and Long-term Plan of Science and
Technology Development. Senior officials of the State Council and
related ministries exchanged views with CPPCC members and reached a
consensus on issues relating to the enhanced development of West
China's social cause, accelerating infrastructure construction in
the region, optimizing and integrating scientific resources, and
building a new mechanism of technology innovation. Consultation
results were presented to the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Central Committee, the State Council and other relevant
ministries.
"The CPPCC seriously implemented the No. 5 Document, which sets
out the central tasks of the Party and the country, strengthened
its efforts in exercising political consultation and democratic
supervision, and the deliberation and administration of state
affairs," Yang said.
The No.5 Document, entitled "Opinions of the CPC Central
Committee on Strengthening the Work of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference", was issued by the General
Office of the CPC Central Committee on March 1, 2006. The document
clearly states that the CPPCC is an important organ of multi-party
cooperation and political consultation and stresses that the CPPCC
will play a bigger role in participating in the management of state
affairs in the future.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wu Nanlan, March 15, 2007)