NPC deputy from Qinghai submits suggestions to improve people’s wellbeing, access to higher-quality education

A Shengqing, a deputy to the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) and a member of the Tu ethnic group from northwest China’s Qinghai Province, has continued to maintain her focus on the improvement of people’s wellbeing.

Photo shows A Shengqing, a deputy to the 13th National People’s Congress. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

The deputy, who is also chair of the Federation of Industry and Commerce of the Huzhu Tu Autonomous County in Qinghai, introduced the tremendous changes to Banyan village and poverty alleviation achievements in the county in front of President Xi Jinping, who took part in a group deliberation with deputies from Qinghai at the fourth session of the 13th NPC, the country’s top legislature, on March 7, 2021. Xi, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspected poverty relief efforts in the village in 2016.

The woman recalled that during the deliberation President Xi asked her questions about whether local people use latrines or flush toilets, what their electrically-heated brick beds look like, and the population, origins and customs of the Tu ethnic people. President Xi also learned about embroidery’s contribution to poverty alleviation, the development of the local liquor industry, and the planting of Chinese medicinal herbs, among other issues concerning people’s wellbeing. “I deeply felt General Secretary Xi Jinping’s care for the people,” she said.

“As a woman born and raised in a village, I felt excited to report on our county’s achievements in poverty alleviation to General Secretary Xi Jinping. Besides, my participation in the deliberation and administration of state affairs with fellow deputies demonstrates whole-process people’s democracy in our country,” the deputy said.

The strength of China’s political system has boosted the confidence of the deputy and people who are no longer living in poverty in Huzhu county. “After being lifted out of poverty, people have taken the initiative to pursue a better life,” she said.

The deputy introduced that residents in Banyan village now enjoy a happy and prosperous life thanks to the use of electrically-heated brick beds, the building of flush toilets with sound sanitary conditions, as well as the development of pig breeding, rural tourism, the embroidery and liquor industries, agritainment, homestay businesses, and e-commerce.

Noting that the high-quality development of enterprises carries great significance for boosting rural vitalization, the deputy suggested guiding enterprises to launch more projects in rural areas to facilitate their own development while helping create jobs.

This year, the deputy plans to submit suggestions on the topic of education, after she carried out multiple surveys in Qinghai. She noted that the unbalanced and inadequate development of preschool education remains a problem in the province, especially in agricultural and rural areas, where the development of public preschool education has been relatively slow. The deputy has prepared multiple suggestions for addressing these problems.