CPPCC a wellspring of ideas for reform

Political advisers play active role in drawing up development blueprint  [Special coverage]

The second session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's 12th National Committee, has got off to a quick start.

Scheduled to run through March 12 in Beijing, the gathering of the country's top political advisory body had received 11,130 proposals from members by 5 pm on Sunday, with 637 proposals registered officially in the fields of economics, politics, culture, society and ecology.

The hottest areas included urbanization, regional economic development, finance, tax reform, innovation, local government debt and the transformation of the government's role.

CPPCC National Committee Chairman Yu Zhengsheng, delivering the work report of the Standing Committee at the opening ceremony, noted that economic issues were the main focus of work last year and the CPPCC contributed greatly to reforms. The session was attended by 2,172 committee members.

Han Qide, vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, vowed that the committee will maintain its momentum and serve reforms in key fields this year as well.

"We must accurately understand the new situations and new missions so that advisers can play a better role in national development," Han said.

CPPCC spokesman Lyu Xinhua said on Sunday that the CPPCC will urge its nine special committees, which boast a high level of expertise from intellectuals in various fields, to make full use of their resources to provide valuable proposals for reforms this year.

Yu, the body's chairman, reported that in the past year, the CPPCC made great efforts to create a favorable environment for the deepening of reforms. It provided the government with 5,403 proposals on key issues in various fields of national development, most of which were about economic, social and ecological reform and construction.

The CPPCC conducted special research on reforms in fiscal taxation, finance and other economic fields, and invited relevant department heads of the central government to listen directly to its proposals on these topics, Yu reported.

Yu said such face-to-face interaction between the advisers and the decision-makers "accelerates the transformation of the proposals from paper to policies".

CPPCC National Committee members also lobbied the government to respect several principles in economic work, such as promoting innovation in enterprises, science and technology and management; developing a mixed-ownership economy; encouraging harmonious development of State-owned enterprises and private enterprises; adhering to a market-oriented direction; and improving access to basic public services.

Responding to the need to deepen reforms, the CPPCC paid special attention to strengthening its research on key issues in economic fields of national and industrial importance.

Members of the CPPCC include top experts in economics who stepped up their efforts in studying macroeconomic dynamics.

They made valuable suggestions relating to structural adjustments, including solving overcapacity, saving energy, cutting emissions and fostering healthy development of the real estate market.

The CPPCC also attached great significance to some regional development strategies in China, Yu said.

Last year, it gave a complete set of suggestions on several regional initiatives, including the development of the economic belt along the Pearl River and the Xijiang River, the innovative development of resources in Sichuan and poverty alleviation in Central China.

To promote growth through innovation, the CPPCC lobbied the government to increase fundamental research and start new research and development organizations; improve its supporting policies for science, technology and finance; and encourage the development of biomass energy technology.

The CPPCC also suggested that the government respect human needs in the process of urbanization and in the construction of smart cities.

Most of the principles and proposals were translated into specific reforms in November by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Han asked all members of the CPPCC to actively carry out in-depth research in their respective fields to serve the people this year.