Chinese political advisors, lawmakers spend a lot of time on field trips to make proposals, motions more pragmatic

National lawmakers and political advisors in China have brought motions and proposals based on solid field investigation to the ongoing “two sessions”, namely the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, and the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body, showing close ties with the people and a strong sense of responsibility toward the people.

Gao Chunyan (second from left), director of agricultural technology promotion center of Muling city, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, and a deputy to the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, conducts a field survey of crop planting. (Photo/China Food Newspaper)

“Some of the proposals I’m going to submit this year are based on years of field trips, and some are the result of the hard work of many experts and my peers,” said Feng Yuan, chief engineer with China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Corp. Ltd., and also a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Feng always carries a notebook with her to write down ideas and thoughts during her field trips. Her unremitting efforts have paid off. According to Feng, she has submitted a total of 11 proposals over the past years, among which the ones on issues including furthering the implementation of the system of housing instruction manual have gained a lot of attention from and been adopted by relevant authorities.

Feng feels heartened when her proposals are adopted and translated into policies and the problems she reported on via proposals are gradually solved.

Bearing in mind people’s trust, members of the CPPCC committees and deputies to people’s congresses at various levels across the country make active efforts to perform their duties.

Just like Feng, political advisors and lawmakers in China earnestly conduct field investigation, summarize problems, examine the actual situation, and search for solutions, trying to contribute to the high-quality development of the country through high-quality performance of duties.

Ma Zhongming (right), head of Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a national political advisor in China, makes an investigation trip to a seed company in Baiyin city, northwest China’s Gansu province, to get a better understanding of the development of the seed industry in Gansu. (Photo/gansudaily.com.cn)

Gao Chunyan, director of the agricultural technology promotion center of Muling city, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, and a deputy to the NPC, makes field trips to rural areas every week. Over the past nearly one year, she visited more than 20 rural cooperatives and over 100 farmer households, and held discussions with local residents for more than 30 times to learn about the progress and efforts made in improving the living environment in rural areas.

Focusing his attention on the safety of seeds, Ma Zhongming, head of Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, spends at least a third of his time a year on field surveys.

“Investigation” and “responsibility” were among the most frequent words used by China’s political advisors and lawmakers during the recent interviews.

Deputies to people’s congress collect opinions and suggestions of citizens in Jinhu community, Zhenjiang city, east China’s Jiangsu province, Feb. 28, 2022. (People’s Daily Online/Shi Yucheng)

They said that “Only by understanding the actual situation can we truly find out the problems and put forward targeted countermeasures and proposals,” “To improve people’s participation in discussion on and handling of state affairs, we must involve ourselves deeply in their daily life,” and “Real knowledge comes from first-hand experience. How could we come up with good suggestions if we don’t make field trips to grassroots communities and maintain close ties with the people?”

Good suggestions are indeed the result of field trips. Only when based on first-hand experience can political advisors’ proposals and lawmakers’ motions truly reflect people’s life and aspirations and help the people better feel the breadth, depth, and warmth of China’s whole-process people’s democracy.

It’s firmly believed that the high-quality proposals and motions submitted by China’s CPPCC members and NPC deputies will be properly and carefully reviewed and handled, and eventually translated into pragmatic measures that will bring a better life to the people.