The National People's Congress (NPC) and the
National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) held in March are the biggest annual events on
China's political calendar. Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies and more than
2,000 CPPCC National Committee members gather in Beijing, hearing
and deliberating on the government work report delivered by Premier
Wen Jiabao and discussing other issues on social and economic
development.
This year marks the second year of China's
12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and also the last year of the current
government. The NPC and CPPCC sessions are an important event
before the convening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China. Given the unclear global economic prospects and
increasing difficulties in its own economic transition, it is
crucial for China to make the right decisions on its future
economic and political development.
The NPC and the CPPCC are also a window for
people to observe China's political and economic development.
Before the opening of this year's NPC and CPPCC, People.com.cn, one
of China's major websites, held an online survey on the issues most
important to Chinese people today. Around 1.55 million netizens
responded. The survey shows that social security, income
distribution, medical reform, social management, education
equality, issues concerning agriculture, the countryside and
farmers, anti-corruption work, commodity prices, food safety and
housing prices are the hottest issues.
Premier Wen responded to these issues one by
one in his report on March 5. He said the top task of the
government this year is to promote steady and robust economic
growth, with a target economic growth rate of 7.5 percent, the
first time that China has lowered its expectation on economic
growth to below 8 percent in eight years. It implies that China has
put more emphasis on the quality of its economic growth, instead of
the speed.
Apart from the adjustment of the economic
structure, the lowered target also means the Central Government is
resolved to make economic growth benefit more people and ensure
people's incomes keep up with the country's economic growth
pace.
PM2.5, which stands for fine particulate
matter in the air, has been a buzz word in China since last year.
Some cities, including Beijing, have included the concentration of
PM 2.5 in the air into their daily air quality forecast. This year,
the problem about PM2.5 was mentioned on the government work
report.
The Central Government has also decided to
allocate 4 percent of the country's GDP to education. The increased
proportion of education spending will help to increase the capital
input to the central and western regions, the rural areas and other
less developed areas.
The word "reform" appeared nearly 70 times in
Premier Wen's report this year, and it was always strengthened by
phrases like "to be pushed forward with greater decision." All this
implies this term of government's resolute attitude toward reform
in its last year in office.
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