A total of 2,150 CPPCC National Committee members from across the country attended the opening meeting, which was presided over by Jia Qinglin, presider of the meetings of executive chairpersons of the session's Presidium.

Party and state leaders Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Li Lanqing, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan, were present at the meeting.

The CPPCC members heard a report on the work of the Standing Committee of the 9th CPPCC National Committee, and a report on the handling of proposals put forward by members of the 9th CPPCC National Committee.

Li Guixian, an executive chairman of the session's Presidium, was entrusted by the Standing Committee of the 9th CPPCC National Committee to deliver its work report.

Li said that in its five-year term, the 9th CPPCC National Committee provided broadly democracy-based support to major state affairs according to the principle of "democracy truth-seeking, unity and encouragement."

The 9th CPPCC National Committee has made every effort to make every annual session a success and earnestly participated in the discussion of national economic and social plans, annual government work report, reports on the budget and final accounts, and reports by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. It received more than 3,000 proposals from different non-communist parties, organizations and CPPCC members, many of which are of great value.

The Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee held 20 meetings and its chairman and vice-chairmen met on 48 occasions to air their views on a large number of major issues, including rural work, state-owned enterprise reform and a series of major resolutions adopted by the central leadership. Many of the views and proposals have been accepted by related policy decision making bodies and some views have been written into documents of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Over the past five years, Li said, the CPPCC National Committee members attended workshops and discussions sponsored by the State Council and the National People's Congress (NPC). The CPPCC National Committee also organized 123 investigation tours around the country.

The 9th CPPCC National Committee received more than 95,900 letters from ordinary people, collected more than 27,200 pieces of information, and submitted more than 7,740 comments and suggestions to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

Li attributed the achievements of the 9th CPPCC National Committee to the correct CPC leadership, which he said has provided the fundamental guarantee for the development of the CPPCC.

Delivering the report on the proposal-handling work of the Standing Committee of the 9th CPPCC National Committee, Zhou Tienong, another Presidium executive chairman, said that the committee in the past five years received 17,722 proposals from its members across the country, most of which were handled or replied appropriately.

"Of the 16,281 proposals which were accepted after due examination, 98.8 percent have so far been properly dealt with or replied," said Zhou.

After being sorted out, these proposals were forwarded to more than 180 related government departments, which either replied to the proposals in an earnest and meticulous manner or took them as priority references in the decision-making process, he added.

By revealing social problems, reporting public complaints and submitting suggestions in their proposals, Zhou said, the CPPCC National Committee members have contributed significantly to China's economic growth, political and cultural development and the cause of peaceful reunification of the motherland.

Heads of relevant departments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, as well as resident diplomatic envoys, were invited to attend Monday's opening meeting as observers.

During the current CPPCC session, the CPPCC members will elect the chairman, vice-chairmen, secretary-general and members of the Standing Committee of the 10th CPPCC National Committee, and deliberate and adopt a political resolution of the First Session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee.

They are also expected to adopt a resolution on the work report of the Standing Committee of the 9th CPPCC National Committee, a resolution on the work report of the Standing Committee of the 9th CPPCC National Committee regarding its proposal-handling work, and a report of the Proposals Examination Committee of the First Session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee regarding the examination of proposals submitted to this session.

The CPPCC members will attend the First Session of the 10th National People's Congress, due to begin Wednesday, as non-voting observers, and hear and discuss the Government Work Report and other relevant reports to be delivered at the NPC session.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2003)