Deputies persevere on winding road to change

School principal He Youlin, an NPC deputy visit with people to discuss their problems and get their suggestions. [Provided to China Daily]

He said deputies and members devote a lot of time and energy every year to visiting people to collect suggestions for proposals and become fully conversant with the problems they face. Once a deputy's round of visits has been concluded, they conduct research and consult the data to compose practical reports that will ensure extensive discussion of hot issues during the two sessions.

When formulated, the proposals are sent to the relevant government departments, which are obliged to reply to the deputies and members within a certain period.

"Proposals from deputies are the best way of lodging an appeal," said Sun Chunlong, founding director of the Longyue Charity Foundation, one of China's leading advocates of improved welfare for Kuomintang veterans of World War II.

Sun said his efforts to incorporate all surviving KMT veterans into China's social welfare network were in vain until he found an NPC deputy who was willing to propose the issue at the two sessions. "I tried everything, including sending letters to the government and making appeals via the media, but nothing worked," Sun said. "Then an NPC deputy from Hong Kong read my story on Sina Weibo (China's Twitter-like social networking site) and said he wanted to help."

With Sun's help, Wang Mingang, a business tycoon and NPC deputy, drafted a proposal and presented it at the two sessions in 2013. The proposal was adopted and four months later, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced that all surviving KMT veterans of World War II would be incorporated in the social welfare network, something that had been denied them before.

"Deputies have more power and influence than the average person and grassroots organizations," Sun said. His proposal gained widespread attention and at least five other deputies indicated their support by shelving similar motions. "When more deputies participate, the possibility of change increases," he said.

Because the new regulation is still thin on details, including the exact monthly allowance to be paid to each veteran, Sun will continue to lobby for amendments. "I will fly to Beijing during the two sessions and try to talk to more deputies about the issue," he said.

Last year, 99.8 percent of the 5,403 proposals submitted by CPPCC members garnered replies from the related government departments, according to a report published at a CPPCC meeting in February. While 24.2 percent of the proposals have been adopted, 61.7 percent are awaiting further processing. When proposals are not adopted, the departments have to explain the decision to the deputies involved.

According to the NPC secretariat, the quality of the proposals from the 2,987 NPC deputies is high. With its relevance to and influence on all the major social aspects of daily life, including people's livelihoods and measures to eliminate corruption, the proposal system has bolstered the powers of the NPC.

To ensure that the opinions of different ethnic groups are heard, each of the country's 55 ethnic groups has at least one representative at the meetings. There are 409 deputies from these groups, accounting for 13.69 percent of the total number of delegates, while female deputies account for 23.4 percent and workers and peasants for 13.42 percent. Male Han Chinese representatives account for the remainder.

Celebrity deputies

"We need to admit that some people question the effect of the deputies and members' involvement in the management of the country," said Xie from the Party school. "I think that's because a large number of people are unfamiliar with the way the NPC and CPPCC work. Also, some of the media reports on the sessions focus heavily on celebrity deputies and members. That results in the voices of grassroots deputies and members not being heard."

Moreover, a very small number of deputies and members use the sessions for their own ends, according to Xie, who urged greater supervision of the deputies and members to ensure that they have correctly discharged their duties. He said the number of deputies and members from the grassroots should rise.

He, the middle school president, agreed, saying: "Some deputies are only interested in their own ambitions and problems, not those of the people. I know a NPC deputy who is the chairman of a business. Instead of handing in proposals about hot social issues, he mainly promotes and talks about his business and its products during the meetings."

Chen Gong, a CPPCC member from Beijing, said she collects more than 200 opinions every year as a member of the Beijing Dongcheng district committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association, a group mainly composed of people from the world of commerce.

Chen said all the issues people raise with her, ranging from drain-cover management to foreign policy initiatives, will be sent to the relevant government departments. In her experience, 30 to 50 percent of them are noted or adopted every year, such as her 2012 proposal about the development of Beijing's culture industry, which was adopted and overseen directly by the mayor.

Chen said she spends a lot of time talking with those she represents and conducting research before drafting each proposal.

"I know that my proposals can make a real difference, and so I have to be responsible for them," she said. "I am a representative of the people, and speaking on their behalf is what I do."

Contact the writers at hena@chinadaily.com.cn and pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn