Chinese Public Holds High Hopes for Party Congress

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 10, 2002

Chinese Public Holds High Hopes for Party Congress

The Communist Party of China's focus on the building of a "well-off", or "Xiao Kang", society as its main task has received an enthusiastic welcome from the general public.

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The Communist Party of China's focus on the building of a "well-off", or "Xiao Kang", society as its main task has received an enthusiastic welcome from the general public.

The country's business community has certainly welcomed the Party Congress. Business has picked up among the lanterns and flags in downtown Beijing. Couples have even chosen this time to have their wedding pictures taken. Xu Weichen is manager of a wedding photo studio. He's been running the shop for six years, and he knows how the Congress can help his business. He said, "I hope the Party Congress will spur on the country's economic growth. Only if the economy is good will our business be good, and only if ordinary people are well off will all businesses do well." Xu said his business has improved step by step as people have become better off and he hopes the congress will give it an even greater boost.

Ordinary citizens also hold high hopes for the congress. 59-year-old Mrs Zu Xiaoyun has been living in an old neighborhood in Beijing for more than ten years. Located in the heart of a famous district of hutongs, or small traditional alleys, her neighborhood is a frequent site for tourists. But for Zu, living here is not very comfortable. Among other inconveniences, she has to burn coal to cook and to warm her house. Though she still prefers to live in this courtyard house because of its familiar surroundings, she wishes it could be more modern.

"I wish we could have gas and heating systems so that people living in old neighborhoods didn't need to burn coal any more. It's very dirty to burn coal in the house and it would be a lot better if the square yards were equipped with modern facilities," said Zu.

She said her living standards had been improving constantly over the years and she hopes the Party Congress will further improve the living environment of Beijing's older residents, like her.

Although the Party Congress is most concerned with politics and macro-economic matters, some of the policy decisions it makes will have a real impact on people's lives. With the power to affect everyone in the country, average householders and business figures alike are hoping the congress will bring real benefits to their lives.

China in Party mood

The CPC congress has put the whole country in a Party mood. Over the last few days, people around China have been holding all kinds of activities to mark the occasion.

In north China's Hebei province, more than 3,000 villagers held a gong and drum competition to celebrate the harvest and greet the CPC National Congress. In the city of Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, around 10,000 citizens showed off their creativity with special performances in honor of the party congress. In the northwestern Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region, a series of folk performances were put on by local villagers and herdsmen. In the city of Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong province, 5,000 citizens paid their own tribute to the congress by partying into the night in the Windows on the World theme park.

And a group of artists created two sets of paintings today in Beijing. One, called "the Dawn of the Century", is five meters long and two meters high. It represents the love of people from all ethnic groups for the Communist Party of China. The other, called "Love Our Motherland", stands for Chinese people's love for their country and their hopes for a more prosperous China. The two paintings will later be sent to the organizing committee of the party congress.

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