Advice on various important state affairs offered by members of the Ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body, has played a vital role in the country's decision-making process, said CPPCC officials.

Statistics show that in the past year, 2,904 proposals, or 93.1 percent of the total put forward by the second annual session of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee, have been responded to by China's central government. Some 2,538 suggestions, 87.4 percent of the total, have been accepted or are being considered.

Giving suggestions is a major way for members of the CPPCC National Committee, non-Communist parties and other people's groups to participate in China's government and political affairs,and the practice has been supported by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council.

During the second session of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee, held between March 3 and 11, 1999, and again after the session, 3,341 proposals were issued covering a wide range of issues such as economic development, revitalization of the nation through science and technology, and environmental protection. Most of these topics are already on the government's agenda and some are very serious but have not yet received attention.

All the proposals were submitted to the CPC Central Committee, the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court, and the governments at provincial levels.

The Ninth CPPCC National Committee will start its third annual session on March 3 in Beijing. "We're trying to improve the system of proposals and will bring our role of participating in the government and political affairs into full play," said the officials.