CPPCC uses high-tech for consultation

Political advisers finding innovative methods to improve effectiveness

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of preview stories focusing on major issues expected to be discussed at the two sessions - the annual gatherings of the nation's top legislature and its top body of political advisers. The two sessions will start in early March.

Information technology has become a valuable tool for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since it adopted the technology last year as a new way to hold consultations.

The CPPCC, China's political advisory body, held three such remote discussions by video link, allowing political advisers to join the meetings on their computers or mobile phones.

For a discussion on the environmentally responsible development of the express delivery industry, Wei Qingsong, a CPPCC National Committee member from Jiangsu province, used his phone to livestream images from a parcel collection center at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Jiangsu.

More than 1,000 political advisers, together with government officials, were able to participate in the Dec 17 session at five meeting rooms in Beijing and Fujian, Sichuan and Jiangsu provinces.

Wei shared how packaging is recycled at the university parcel center, where more than 5,000 packages are received or sent every day.

During the streaming session, he showed how students left packaging from parcels they received in recycling bins. Students who planned to send parcels could easily find the packaging they needed in those bins.

In the three-hour meeting, the video feed cut back and forth among the venues where 14 other political advisers spoke about the issue.

Wang Xiaodong of the Beijing committee of the advisory body streamed shots of the intelligent sorting equipment at an express distribution center in suburban Beijing.

Wang, manager of the China Post Group Beijing branch, said, "After the live show, my mobile kept ringing, giving me a lot of feedback from other members. They told me that using these methods, they understood the issues in a direct way, that it was worth a thousand words."

He received other advisers' messages via a mobile application developed by the CPPCC in August for its members. It allows them to submit proposals, discuss issues in a group chat, read news, receive notifications, make contacts and read documents in a secure format.

An hour before the December meeting began, 1,090 political advisers from across the country had logged on to the platform. During the meeting, 221 participants sent more than 780 messages totaling more than 120,000 words to express opinions or give suggestions.

Wang Yang, China's top political adviser, praised the innovation in consultation methods to improve the quality of the advisory body's work. He spoke at an online meeting attended by about 500 advisers nationwide on Feb 20.

"We should sum up the experience and make the method into a formal procedure. More advisers can join the online discussions, which will mobilize their initiative and creativity," said Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Li Zhiyong, director of the committee for handling proposals with the CPPCC National Committee, said that the use of information technology would be expanded this year, including the development of more functions for the mobile app and the use of big data analytics in the presentation of proposals.