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Zhao Linzhong, 49, is nicknamed an "ace at motions" as he brought nearly 500 proposals to annual National People's Congress (NPC) sessions in five years from 1998 to 2003. This year, he has set forth a total of 83 proposals on varied tough issues and submitted to the top legislature's imminent annual session.
"I've got my own way to solicit views from general public," said the legislator from Zhuji city, east China's Zhejiang Province, who collected motions and proposals with the help of local government departments, enterprises and communities as well as media agencies. "I'm ready to acquaint myself with public opinions in an all-round way," he said.
Zhao, a former civil servant, quit his office work and became the leader of a money-losing textile mill in 1986, which was later turned into a profiting textile manufacturer with total assets of 1.5 billion yuan (about US$180.7 million).
In 1998, when Zhao was elected a deputy to the national legislative body, Zhao decided to bring his managerial talents to the political arena to manage state affairs. "Though I do not know much about business, I feel a high sense of honor as an NPC deputy," he said, acknowledging that "a NPC deputy has to work for people at the grassroots and to inform the high-ups and serve the nation wholeheartedly."
Most of his proposals have been responded by relevant authorities, and Zhao would then sort out and compiled them one by one, and return them to individual local voters in his native city.” I’d like my voters to see the outcome, so they would trust me and confide in me," Zhao told Xinhua.
His proposals have produced an impact on Chinese policy-makers in a certain way.
In an effort to help cope with a huge amount of surplus commercial housing in 1998, Zhao proposed lowering the sales prices of commercial housing within a prescribed time limit. His proposal was adopted in the ensuing year in China's southernmost Hainan Province and it turned out to be a success. Last year, his motions concerning mental health, Internet safety, and employment attracted attention from the central government departments concerned.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2004)
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