Chinese civil servants should be fired if they put on too much weight, middle-aged anchors on the state-run television news should be replaced by younger, more attractive presenters, and professional footballers should not be allowed to visit prostitutes.

Children are no longer allowed to appear in tv commercials

These were just some of the demands that came out of CPC last week as delegates met in Beijing for their annual two-week session.

Many of the proposals passed covered familiar terrain - calling on Taiwan to curb its independence movement, urging the government to improve rural education and to take more initiatives to eradicate poverty - but less predictable suggestions were also mooted by delegates who insisted that they reflected the wishes of ordinary citizens.

A further 2,000 representatives are appointed to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a body intended to keep the country's leaders in touch with what concerns their citizens. Both bodies are becoming increasingly vocal on social, political and economic concerns. More than 6,000 policy proposals were made during the conference, which ended last week.

To combat the corruption that plagues China, delegates backed a call for any civil servant who puts on too much weight to be sacked. Their demand reflects widespread anger at the frequent sight of Communist officials wining and dining at lavish banquets, usually at the public's expense.

Television was also a target for delegates, who proposed that two of China's most familiar news anchors, Luo Jing and his female colleague Xing Zhibin, who have presented the main state-run evening bulletin for the past 20 years, be replaced by younger, more attractive hosts.

Delegates were also concerned about the behaviour of Chinese footballers who, despite being less well paid than their counterparts abroad, appear to indulge in similar behaviour. Recent press reports of players turning up in brothels prompted a demand for a ban on professional footballers using the services of the "oldest profession".

In the deepening moral climate, it was also proposed that children should no longer be allowed to appear in television advertisements.

The proposals backed by the congress are being passed on to the relevant ministries, which must decide whether to turn them into legislation. Only a small percentage of the proposals are likely to end up on the statute books.