Chinese residents are expected to stay glued to their TV sets and
newspapers for the next two weeks, to follow how the nation's top
legislators will address the public's key concerns and to review
the new year's round of State spending and economic policies.
The annual session of the
National People's Congress, set to open tomorrow and run
through March 15, will focus on the public call for a crackdown on
corruption, implications of World Trade Organization entry and how
to enrich rural communities and lighten their tax burden.
It
will also hold debates on such public concerns as how to combat the
global economic slump, how to create jobs for surplus rural
workers, safety in the workplace, social security and health care
reform, and the war on pollution.
It
is the final meeting for the current NPC membership, which spans a
five-year term. A total of 2,987 legislators, including farmers,
lawyers, scholars, private business investors and State officials
from throughout the country, will attend the gathering.
"The campaign against corruption has rooted out quite a few rotten
officials in the last two years. This is good news. But the problem
is far from over," said Liu Xiaoyang, a 45-year-old taxi driver in
Beijing. "I hope the legislators can come up with tightened laws
against such misconduct."
A
recent survey prior to the NPC meeting by People's Daily ranked
corruption first of the top 10 concerns among the public, followed
by WTO impact and the rural income issue. The daily reached more
than 1,000 respondents via the Internet.
Wang Xiaoxia, a newspaper vendor, said she was concerned about the
impact WTO entry will have on her life. Wang said many people in
her neighbourhood are worried that the entry will force some ailing
State-owned enterprises to get rid of more redundant workers.
"I
want to know whether people can secure jobs and money in the
post-WTO period, especially right now with the global economy still
in a slump," said Wang.
All eyes will be fixed on Premier Zhu Rongji's state-of-the-union
address at the opening session tomorrow, as he will address how
China will keep the economy on a healthy track by expanding
domestic demand and consumption.
China secured a 7.3 percent growth in its economy last year, and
this year it is expected to maintain about a 7 percent growth
rate.
Along with Zhu, Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng will detail the
annual State budget plan, with a new issuance of national bonds to
buoy up the domestic economy.
But what Gao Huixian, a farmer from Central China's Henan Province,
is concerned about is getting a job in Beijing. He just arrived in
the capital, hoping to get a job to feed his family by taking
advantage of the construction boom for the upcoming 2008 Olympic
Games.
"In rural areas, the bread-and-butter issue is not a big deal as we
can grow crops for food, but we are suffering from a money squeeze.
People have to go to the towns for job opportunities," said
Gao.
Gao hoped that the NPC meeting can help create new jobs in the
cities while reducing taxes and random administrative charges on
farmers and finding more ways to increase rural incomes.
The WTO entry is expected to put more heat on the nation's 800
million rural residents as imported agriculture products will be
gunning for consumers in the domestic market.
Zhang Huanyu, a NPC deputy from North China's Hebei Province, said
that farmers now have little idea of how to restructure their
production to compete in the market, and called for more
agriculture engineers and experts to go to the countryside to
assist them.
Zhang also called for creating more small towns to handle the
surplus rural workers, with township enterprises becoming a major
channel for new jobs.
(China
Daily March 4, 2002)