Deputies of the PLA delegation attend a meeting yesterday ahead of the opening of the first session of the 11th NPC.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) delegation to the National People's Congress might be uniformly dressed but it is also a charmingly diverse team that combines generals, combat heroes and technology experts.

The 268-member delegation has more members from the ranks, more heroes and more members with high educational backgrounds, according to NPC statistics.

As a sign of the growing significance of front-line troops, almost 26 percent of this year's PLA deputies are from the ranks, compared to a little over 23 percent last year. The ratio of senior officers has fallen from almost 77 percent to 74 percent.

Meanwhile, more heroic figures have joined the delegation.

Thirty-nine deputies hold second-class or higher PLA merit citations for courage in combat or for major technological achievements.

Of the deputies, 216 boast a university education, up 16 percent on last year, while 77 have master's degrees, almost twice the number that attended last year's congress.

And this year's PLA deputies have plenty of ideas.

Bai Yonghui, an officer from a border barracks in Xinjiang, said he will voice the opinions of troops serving on the borders.

He said living conditions in border units are improving and "not as tough as you might imagine", because of the growing investment in barracks, food and other facilities.

"What our soldiers want to say is they have full confidence in guarding the country's borders," Bai said.

Wang Xixin, commander of a corps under the Beijing Military Command, said he has had lots of talks with combat troops and will submit a proposal on improving military training.

Within the CPPCC, the country's top political advisory body, there are 124 members from the military, three-quarters of them new faces.

Mao Xinyu, grandson of the late Chairman Mao Zedong and a researcher at PLA's Academy of Military Science, is a member of the CPPCC.

(China Daily March 5, 2008)