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Wu Bangguo - Chairman of NPC Standing Committee
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As the top legislator, he lost no time to promote the enactment of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law.

Wu also placed great importance on legislation to address social problems.

In 2007 alone, a batch of laws, including the Labor Contract Law, Employment Promotion Law and Law on the Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, were enacted along with the revision of the Law on Compulsory Education and Law on the Protection of Minors, all catering to public concerns.

Mass line

Wu often reminded his fellow lawmakers that China is in a transitional period of economic and social development, and attention should be paid to the complicated relations among different interest groups.

It is necessary to take into consideration people's fundamental interests, their current concerns and the special interests of different groups, Wu said.

Having deep insight into the changing society and interest groups, he advocated the top legislature should "open its door" to common people to solicit opinions for legislation.

According to him, draft laws concerning the people's immediate interests shall "be publicized in full text" and public hearings shall be held to address problems that demand professional knowledge or arouse disputes.

Intensive media reports revealed the public is more zealous to participate in legislation and many of their constructive suggestions have been accepted.

In September 2005, some 40 people from all walks of life across the country, including company employees, teachers and lawyers, were invited to the first-ever NPC hearing to give their ideas about the reset of the cutoff point of the personal income tax.

Migrant workers also had their voices heard by lawmakers when the draft Labor Contract Law was publicized, and more than 190,000 proposals on modification were pooled.

These cases are described by the media as examples of "democratic legislation" and "scientific legislation", which Wu, in his plain words, interpreted as "following the mass line".

Wu's "mass line" could be traced back to the days he worked in Shanghai. As Party chief of the metropolis, Wu often went to bazaars and stores, picking up vegetables and rice and chatting with farmers, peddlers, customers and shopkeepers on the street.

The reason is simple. "To see more and hear more, I can have my mind enriched and broadened," he told his friends.

Written instruction

Wu always seeks "substantial achievements" in supervision work, another duty as important as legislation the NPC shoulders, from the very beginning when he became chairman of the NPC Standing Committee in 2003.

In 2005, a week before the Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year, Wu received a report of complaints from migrant workers about their defaulted payment.

After learning that the migrant workers could not make ends meet and their children were forced to drop out from school due to wage arrear, Wu wrote an instruction on the report, urging immediate payment to them.

"Migrant workers have plodded throughout the year, but can not get their pay. It's unacceptable," Wu wrote.

The NPC Standing Committee reacted quickly at Wu's instruction, and the migrant workers finally retrieved their arreared wages.

The NPC also strengthened supervision over an array of issues ranging from water deterioration and coal mine safety to the correction of problems found by auditors in the past five years.

All the supervision work never stopped half-way.

Meanwhile, the NPC, the supreme power of the state, has become more transparent, with more panel discussions during its annul sessions open to the press. As reporters from outside China are free to interview deputies face to face, more than 870 foreign journalists have registered to cover this year's annual session of the NPC.

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