China's top advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will kick off
its annual session today in Beijing.
Hailing it a significant event of Chinese people's political
life, Zhang Guoxiang, spokesman of the Second Session of the 10th
National Committee of CPPCC, said the members will discuss the
government report, examine the report of CPPCC National Committee
chairman and amendments to the CPPCC Charter.
Zhang also told a news conference yesterday: "The secretariat
has received 223 proposals and 324 written speeches."
Though not all of them have been reviewed, he said there are
proposals to tackle the rural problems and revitalization of
Northeast China.
"Such proposals will attract high attention from the central
government so they will facilitate solutions to the problems," he
said.
By yesterday, all the preparations for the meeting had been
completed smoothly, said Zhang. The current session has nearly
2,230 members.
During the session, members will also attend a plenary session
of the National People's Congress (NPC) to hear explanations on the
draft of the amendments to the Constitution as non-voting members,
he said.
Constitutional amendments are widely regarded as the most
important agenda item of the Second Session of the 10th NPC, which
will open on March 5.
Other hot issues on the agenda of both sessions include fighting
corruption, increasing farmers' income, helping laid-off workers
find jobs, improving social security, protecting the environment as
well as coping with land requisition.
The spokesman said the CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin will deliver a
work report of the CPPCC National Committee to the session at the
opening ceremony today. The CPPCC will also look at amending its
Charter.
Members have agreed that the important thought of "
three represents" and major theoretical principles, ideas and
policies set forth by the 16th CPC
Congress should be incorporated into the new Charter, Zhang
said.
Besides, successful experiences of CPPCC work should be
reflected in the charter while procedure should be further improved
and standardized to streamline the CPPCC's role.
About 2,900 Chinese and overseas journalists registered to cover
this year's NPC and CPPCC sessions, according to the press
center.
According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China,
multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the
leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are basic to the
political system of China.
Full consultations are conducted with representatives from all
walks of life before the state makes major policy decisions in
order to strengthen unity and cooperation among all ethnic groups,
political parties, social sectors and democratic personages without
party affiliation and promote the progress of the cause of
socialist construction.
And the consultations have been conducted in the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) since it was
founded in 1949.
The CPPCC is composed of members of the Communist Party of
China, the eight non-Communist parties in China, non-government
organizations, public figures with no party affiliation,
representatives of local communities and ethnic minorities,
representatives of compatriots from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao,
and returned overseas Chinese, and individuals invited as special
representatives.
Sixty percent of CPPCC members are non-CPC members and come from
almost all important fields in China.
The CPPCC has adopted this democratic consultation system and
all members are welcome to express their different opinions and
suggestions.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949,
consultations have been conducted in the CPPCC on many major issues
concerning China's economic development, political life, social
activities and the united front.
More than 50,000 proposals have been raised by the CPPCC members
in the past 50-plus years and almost half of them are on economic
development issues.
The main function of the CPPCC is to hold political
consultations, exercise democratic supervision and concern itself
with the country's governance.
Political consultation is held on major central and local
government policies, on important political, economic, cultural and
social issues before decisions are made as well as in the process
of implementation.
Democratic supervision is exercised over the enforcement of
China's Constitution, laws and regulations, the implementation of
the major policies and the performance of government departments
and their employees by making proposals and criticisms.
The CPPCC is elected for a five-year term and a plenary session
is held annually. The current chairman of the 10th CPPCC National
Committee is Jia Qinglin.
(China Daily March 3, 2004)