Lawmakers and political advisors across China are arriving in Beijing for the annual "two sessions", at which they will debate laws and government policies and raise their concerns about the country's social and economic development.

 

Reporters and TV cameramen have swarmed in airport, train stations and hotels, eagerly looking for news relating to the upcoming meetings -- the last full sessions of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) and the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in their five-year terms.

 

Major debates by the NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members, who will start their meetings on March 5 and March 3 respectively, will cover the draft property right law which will grant equal protection to public and private properties, and the draft of unified corporate tax law which levies equal taxation for foreign and domestic companies.

 

Other topics likely to be discussed include the fight against corruption, the protection of deteriorating environment, the creation of more job opportunities, the narrowing of income gap, equal access to education, and affordable medical care for the poor.

 

By late Friday, most of CPPCC members and NPC deputies have arrived in Beijing. They are expected to put forward thousands of proposals and motions, with topics ranging from national policies to people's daily lives.

 

Official sources said that NPC deputies tabled more than 1,000 legislative motions and 6,511 suggestions during the previous annual full NPC session in March 2006, and all have received feedback from relevant government departments.

 

In 2006, lawmakers from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region urged the central government to address serious water shortage in the region's central area.

 

Their appeal has prompted the Ministry of Water Resources to invest 17 million yuan (US$2.2 million) in emergency water supply. Another 110 million yuan was promised to improve the water supply network for 750,000 residents in the area.

 

Becoming the first delegation to arrive in Beijing, lawmakers and political advisors from the Tibet Autonomous Region attracted great media attention on Wednesday.

 

The journey was a totally new and exciting experience for them, who used to fly to Beijing for the sessions but this year chose to travel by train, along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway completed in mid-2006.

 

"It's like a dream coming true. The landscape along the railway is superb, and I'm also impressed by the great changes that are taking place along the new railway," said CPPCC member Medong Qoezhoeu at the end of the nearly-48-hour journey, which is much longer than the previous four-hour flight.

 

The Tibetan lady told reporters that she would table proposals on the overall improvement of infrastructure in regions inhabited by ethnic minorities.

 

Expecting their representatives to better voice their concerns at the two sessions, many Chinese have expressed their hopes and worries through various channels.

 

One Internet survey conducted by xinhuanet.com showed that more than 90 percent of the people polled believed that environmental protection is "an urgent task" that should be dealt with immediately.

 

About 78 percent of the respondents even said they would rather have a slower economic growth for the sake of environmental protection.

 

Online BBS forums focusing on the upcoming two sessions have attracted hundreds of thousands of netizens to raise their concerns and suggestions to the lawmakers and advisors.

 

"Despite measures taken by the government, housing prices are still on the rise. Lawmakers should address this problem at the two sessions," one unidentified netizen wrote at the online forum of people.com.cn.

 

"I hope more measures will be taken to increase the income of ordinary people," another netizen wrote.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2007)