Session draws public attention, excitement for future directions

The opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has become one of the most discussed topics among the public in China because they believe it provides important guidelines for the nation's future development.

The Congress opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday morning, and is scheduled to conclude on Saturday. Xi Jinping, on behalf of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC, delivered a report at the opening session of the congress.

The breakdown of the report became one of the most read topics on Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter-like platform, on Sunday, receiving more than 390 million views by 4 pm.

Like Wu Qing, a community worker in Beijing's Xicheng district, many watched the opening session live on TV, online or social media as they want to witness Xi delivering the report, which laid out the plan for the country's future.

"The plan will affect people's lives in all aspects. More important, it has made people confident about the Party's leadership and China's future," said Wu.

Wu is in charge of providing aid to low-income households in the community, so she felt very excited when hearing the country will make more efforts to increase the income of low-income earners.

"Reducing the gap between rich and poor is key to realizing the goal of common prosperity. And by first successfully eliminating extreme poverty, the Party has already shown the public and the world how committed it is to achieve the goal," she added.

Yan Wei, a villager in Beijing's Mentougou district, said he has witnessed how the Party's policies in poverty alleviation and rural vitalization have transformed the rural areas and people's lives in the past decade.

"The villagers have been talking about the report since this morning and are all quite excited. We are confident that the new goals set in the report can be realized because we know the Party can deliver," Yan said.

In Hong Kong, many social groups and residents took the initiative to watch the live broadcast of the opening session on Sunday. Some said they paid special attention to Xi's remarks about Hong Kong while others said they hope to learn about the country's latest development through watching the opening session.

Also, secondary schools in Hong Kong organized teachers to watch the live broadcast of the opening session. School principals agreed that the congress is of vital importance for the development of the country and the world, which will affect the personal development of every young student, and schools should let students know the relevant content.

Wong Yik-kwan, vice-principal of HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Islands district, said the school had arranged for its principal to introduce the highlights of Xi's speech to students at the morning assembly on Monday.

Wong said it's important for the students to understand the congress as it determines the nation's future, and Hong Kong's future is closely intertwined with that of the country.

Li Bingcun contributed to this story.