All parties of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held panel discussions on the 9th CPPCC National Committee's work report. Members of non-communist parties summed up the CPPCC's experience in raising proposals over the last five years and put forward their hope and suggestions to the newly elected government as well as the CPPCC. Their summing up was as follows:

Zhu Ercheng, member of the China Democratic League: "Compared with the NPC, China's top legislature, the CPPCC is the top advisory body. CPPCC at all levels should give priority to key monographic studies because advice is based on thorough investigation and research. It indicates the importance of the CPPCC in the democratic political system with Chinese characteristics.

"Submitting proposals is the most efficient way that CPPCC members can perform their functions. It is a big system consisting of many parts. The settlement of the problems are predicated on the qualities of proposals and the key is implementation. We have noticed in the national CPPCC proposal work report that the leaders of the CPPCC National Committee have held informal discussions four times with responsible organizations for the proposals and visited the organizations many times setting an example for the CPPCC at local levels.

Wei Wei, member of the China Democratic League: "We should strengthen ties between members of the CPPCC National Committee and local committees. The 10th CPPCC National Committee should also keep strengthening implementation of the proposals, not only urging departments concerned to reply to the proposals, but asking the government to carry out indeed."

Shang Shaohua, a member of the China Democratic League: "As a newly elected member, I shoulder heavy responsibilities. There are many practical problems in safeguarding the female workers' interests and rights. The government should find out the crucial causes of the problems and offer measures to put them into practice."

Lu Budong, member of the China Democratic National Construction Association: "In my opinion, investigation is the basis for submitting proposals. Most of the CPPCC members are from all walks of life, so they should raise more proposals closely connected with ordinary people's lives".

Yang Xianming, member of the China Democratic National Construction Association: "I teach in a university, my colleagues and I believe that in recent years the CPPCC has entered common people's lives. Many CPPCC members entered the government to hold official posts and many famous people, like many professors in the universities, had joined the CPPCC at various levels. I feel that the CPPCC is much closer to the common person. As a newly elected member, I hope we can improve the CPPCC's work in two aspects: one, making the aim of the proposals clearer and improving the operations of the proposals; two, that the newly elected CPPCC leadership should give priority to vulnerable groups when they quicken economic development."

Lai Ming, member of the Jiu San Society: "As a senior member of the 9th CPPCC National Committee, I had submitted 14 proposals to the last CPPCC in which two have become the country's relevant policies: one, on water saving and the other, on garbage and sewage disposal. The government attached great importance to these key problems which obstructed the country's sustainable development. Along with relevant departments, the government worked out a policy on accelerating the disposal of garbage and sewage last year. It really shows the CPPCC's active support of the country's economic development.

Zhang Daning, a member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party: "I think we can improve the quality of proposals from three aspects: first, attending administrative meetings in the capacity of different parties; second, coordinating with professional departments when setting the proposals; third, the members putting forward suggestions from the viewpoints of their own familiar regions. Also, governments at all levels should attach more importance to the proposals raised by the members."

Zhang Xinjian, a member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Parties: "We should establish a proposal tracking system so as to improve the implementation of proposals."

(China.org.cn by Staff Reporter Chen Ji, translated by Li Xiao, March 11, 2003)