The government, courts and prosecutors in the capital are swiftly heeding advice from the municipal People's Congress.

Almost 68 percent of the problems identified in 1,430 pieces of advice submitted by the 12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress this year have already been dealt with, said Dong Hong, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing municipal government.

Another 5 percent of the recommendations have been included in the agenda for the next two to three years, he said.

The remaining recommendations, he said, may be more difficult to deal with due to different reasons such as a lack of legal proof or a lack of funding, said Dong.

The official made the remarks yesterday at a conference of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the city's legislature.

The recommendations that have already been dealt with touch on economy, urban layout, education, science, health, civil affairs, labor and personnel, sources said.

"Dealing with advice from congress deputies has helped significantly promote the work of the government," Dong said.

"In response to advice from deputies involving ensuring public safety, the Beijing municipal government has carried out regular safety examinations," he said.

"Through efforts of government at various levels, Beijing eradicated 781 hidden dangers by the end of last month," he said.

The Beijing High People's Court received 28 recommendations from the deputies earlier this year, said Qin Zheng'an, president of the Beijing High People's Court.

One recommendation, put forward by deputy Ding Zhiming, urged the courts to give priority to payment defaults which seriously affected migrant workers.

"In response, contract cases involving salaries of migrant workers were completed ahead of Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year) this year," he told the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

Over 4 million yuan (US$480,000) in salaries was paid to workers ahead of the Lunar New Year, sources said.

Meanwhile, Xu Haifeng, Procurator-General of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, said Thursday the department has already responded to all six recommendations it received.

"All the deputies who made the recommendations all told us they were satisfied with the results," Xu said.

(China Daily December 3, 2004)