President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, walks into the conference hall during the first session of the 13th National People's Congress, which opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday. (Photo by Xu Jingxing/China Daily)
Lawmakers who talked with President Xi Jinping vowed to take concrete measures to implement Xi's requirements to pursue higher-quality economic growth and reduce poverty. [Special coverage]
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended a panel discussion with deputies of the National People's Congress from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region at the top legislature's annual session in Beijing on Monday.
Zhao Huijie, Party secretary of the village of Xiaomiaozi in the Songshan district of Chifeng, said she was thrilled to see the president discuss poverty reduction in rural areas and other issues with her.
"With the great attention paid by the general secretary to rural development, we now have more confidence in the future," she said.
During Monday's discussion, she talked about villagers' efforts to plant produce that brings them a higher income, such as carrots and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Xi asked her questions from time to time.
Zhao also called the "toilet revolution" campaign－building and renovating toilets in tourism resorts and rural areas－a great idea. It demonstrates the government's consideration for even small things related to the people's quality of life.
Gong Mingzhu, an NPC deputy and mayor of Erdos, said Xi has set tasks on issues like higher-quality growth, poverty alleviation and ethnic unity, and local government will take effective measures to complete them.
At Monday's discussion, Gong spoke about his coalrich city's efforts to develop clean energy.
"The general secretary has also highlighted the importance of ecological protection," he said, adding that the local government will work harder to deal with desertification.
Li Cuizhi, an NPC deputy and director of the quality monitoring center at Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, said Xi's emphasis on higher-quality growth has set the direction for the company's development.
"I will introduce the spirit of pursuing high-quality growth to my colleagues, and such a spirit will guide our work in all respects," she said. In January 2014, Xi visited the dairy company.
On Monday, Li described the company's measures, including technology training and financial support, to help dairy farmers out of poverty.
Li Jiheng, Party secretary of Inner Mongolia, said that as the general designer of China's overall reform and opening-up in the new era, Xi has set the direction for development of the Party and the country.
