Amid falling snow, Chinese President Hu Jintao walked to Huairentang polling booth in the Zhongnanhai electoral ward around 9 o'clock on Wednesday to vote for deputies to the Xicheng District People's Congress.

Entering the polling booth, Hu showed his voter's identification card, and received a ballot. After carefully filling it out, he put it in a ballot box.

"I am very happy to take part in the voting as an ordinary voter of Xicheng District," Hu said. "Just now I cast my vote, and performed the democratic right the Constitution confers to me."

Hu urged the would-be deputies to the district People's Congress to keep close contact with the people, reflect the people's voice in time, perform a deputy's duty in line with the law, and make their own contributions to safeguarding and realizing the people’s interests.

Following him, Jiang Zemin, chairman of China's Central Military Commission, briskly stepped into the same polling booth.

Jiang said, "The people's congress system is China's fundamental political system. People's congresses at all levels are the organs for the Chinese people to exercise state power. To stick to and keep improving the people's congress system is our duty."

To step up the democratic construction of the people's congress system is of great significance for promoting China's socialist democratic politics, and construction of socialist political civilization, Jiang added.

Premier Wen Jiabao, on a goodwill tour to the United States, entrusted a member of his staff to cast his vote at the Wenqing Street electoral ward of Xicheng District.

Dec. 10 was voting day for residents of Beijing. Although two rural districts voted on Saturday and Monday, the major part of the voting for deputies to district and county people's congresses was held Wednesday.

Together with the state leaders, an estimated 7.1 million Beijing voters are expected to cast their votes in the city's 9,127 polling booths to elect deputies to Beijing's 15 district or county people's congresses.

At about 8 o'clock this morning, a long queue had been formed by hundreds of Muslims outside a polling booth located on Niujie Street, the capital city's major residential area for Muslim and other ethnic groups.

Feng Guanying, a 73-year-old Muslim who was patiently waiting his turn to vote, told Xinhua that he had come to vote, because it was a golden opportunity for him to exert the democratic right of the people. Moreover, there are three Muslims out of the four final deputy candidates in the electoral ward. He was satisfied with the ratio of Muslim candidates to Han candidates, and said people's living standards have been remarkably improved in the Niujie Street area, making local residents more enthusiastic about getting involved in political affairs, including voting.

Wang Yuzhen, although 76 years old, hobbled along to the polling booth in Niujie Street on the chilly snowy morning to cast her vote, saying that she believed that today's deputies to the district people's congresses are more willing to uphold the interests of the people they represent.

An Jiqiang came to vote together with his young grandson. "I want to let my grandson learn what voting is and what democracy is by witnessing how it is done," said An, while showing his grandson how to fill in a ballot.

Guo Jinzhong, an official with the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, said many new characteristics have emerged in this year's Beijing district elections.

Migrant workers in Beijing were allowed to vote for the first time in local legislative elections, as long as they have stable work and can show a valid voter ID issued in their hometown, Guo said.

In the Hongqiao area of Xuanwu District alone, thousands of migrant people have registered as Beijing voters.

It is estimated that Beijing currently has 2.5 million migrant workers, and it is believed that the decision to allow migrant voting rights, follows a series of measures aimed at making it easier for rural people to move to cities in search of work as China follows the 20th century trend of increasing urbanization.

In addition, Beijing's local election regulations have newly stipulated that the number of candidates nominated by the political parties and organizations should not exceed 20 percent of the total number, which means that at least 80 percent of the final deputy candidates were jointly nominated by 10 voters or more.

"This regulation guarantees that deputies to district people's congresses are closer to the ordinary people, and can more easily reflect what the ordinary people think and want," Guo said.

Beijing's district elections, which used to be held once every five years, will be completed at the end of this year. At that time, some eight million eligible voters will have chosen between about 6,750 nominees for 4,403 seats on district people's congresses in 18 urban and rural districts.

The completion of Beijing's district elections will also mark the end of the local district elections nationwide, which started in the later half of 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2003)