With an absence of potted plants in meeting rooms and expensive dishes in dining halls, delegates have noticed the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is a frugal affair.[Special Coverage]
"I am sure you will not find even a drop of alcohol in our dining halls," Li Wanjun, a delegate from northeast China's Jilin Province, told Xinhua. "It is plain and practical, but we are all satisfied and more enthusiastic and down-to-earth in our discussion."
"We are here for the meeting, not for comfort," said Li, who had been a delegate to the Party's 18th national congress.
FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE
The congress reflects the profound changes in Party building over the past five years, shown by people's satisfaction with the anti-corruption results and improved work styles of officials.
The country's changes and achievements in various sectors have been hailed by the about 2,300 delegates to the week-long congress, which opened Wednesday. They come from different walks of life, including officials, researchers, farmers and production workers.
The twice-a-decade congress of the ruling Party has ushered in a new era for socialism with Chinese characteristics, charting the course for developing China into a modernized, strong country by the middle of the century.
Chen Meirong, a delegate from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has felt the changes in her 30-plus years of judicial practice, particularly in the past five years.
Chen, 53, a district court judge in Shizuishan City, told Xinhua that a clean and just environment has taken shape in local grassroots law enforcement due to judicial reforms.
She attributed the progress, such as the dramatic drop in interference in judicial cases, to the implementation of reforms including the judicial accountability system and rules to ensure judges and prosecutors execute their duties justly and independently. She refused a senior district official who wanted to invite her to discuss a complicated lawsuit that was in the appeal process last year.
"As the rule of law goes deep in people's minds, their legal awareness and acceptance of legal verdicts are growing," said Chen.
Amid a tight congress schedule, she wrote down dozens of pages of notes about the report to the congress and other documents, as she participated in heated discussion or reviewed materials alone in her hotel room. She spent her free time responding to TV and newspaper interviews.
In the new era, a better life for the people should include fairness and justice throughout the lawsuit process, she said.
CRAFTSMANSHIP AND INNOVATION
The Party has attached unprecedented importance to innovation to achieve sustained quality growth with strategies, huge investment and support measures.
The delegates, backbones of various industries, have revealed a dynamic, innovative and promising CPC, which has led the nation to unprecedented development and aims "to develop China into a great modern socialist country" in the middle of the century.
Li Wanjun, a senior technician at a railway vehicles factory, was excited and encouraged by the spirit of craftsmanship mentioned in the key report to the Party congress.
"The report is a great boost to the morale of front-line technical workers. We should strive for perfection and remain innovative to jointly push Chinese manufacturing to a higher level," said Li of Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), China's largest rolling-stock maker. Its high-speed trains, named Fuxing (rejuvenation), run on the Beijing-Shanghai line at a speed of 350 km per hour, the fastest in the world.
Two days prior to the congress, the first China-made subway cars tailored for use in Boston in the United States rolled off production lines at Li's factory.
Li's retired father was one of the plant's first workers. Li has carried on his father's hardworking spirit and made innovations.
After years of reliance on foreign technology, China has developed its own key technology in high-speed train manufacturing. Li, 49, has contributed to the transformation.
Li established new welding methods for train bogies, a key component of high-speed trains, making a breakthrough in electric multiple unit technology.
