Deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and members of
the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) come
from all parts of China and from many walks of life. To find out
how the people of China are best served by their chosen
representatives, china.org.cn takes a close-up look at the Congress
deputies and what concerns they have for the China of today.
Here we meet Zhang Zhuo, a college president from Hebei
Province.
Q: To which group of the CPPCC do you
belong?
A: I am from the Education Group.
Q: What is your profession?
A: I am a professor at the Ordnance Engineering
College and the president of the school.
Q: Where are you from originally?
A: Shijiazhuang City in Hebei Province.
Q: What is the issue of most concern to people
in your circle?
A: Higher education. The recent increase in university
enrollment quotas has helped to disseminate higher education to
more people, but it also has brought problems like shortages of
teaching facilities and staff. Higher education opportunities
shouldn’t be expanded at the expense of education quality. While
many universities have built many new classrooms in recent years,
they lack enough qualified teachers.
The government needs to increase investment into the education
sector to help more schools get out of trouble. The investment is
worthwhile, even though the rewards won’t be immediately
apparent.
Better education will bring a better future to the nation, as it
has more well-educated citizens.
Q: What proposals will you make, and what do
you hope to accomplish at this session?
A: I will submit four proposals. The first one
is about agriculture and farmers, which is such a hot topic today.
In the proposal I advise building more and better irrigation
systems for farmers. The second one concerns public security and
social stability. I suggest that the government improve the police
force and its work performance. My third and fourth proposals are
about information security: the third one proposes legislation of
related laws and regulations, and the last one sets out what needs
to be done to guarantee the safety and precision of information
flow.
Q: What are your comments on the new government
leadership?
A: They have done a quite good job, and you
know that Chinese citizens are satisfied with their work. They have
demonstrated their capabilities and determination in the battle
against the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, and
their wisdom and resoluteness in dealing with diplomatic affairs
and Taiwan affairs.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Chen Chao, March 6, 2004)