2. We actively dealt with your suggestions. During the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC you submitted 6,511 suggestions, and these were referred to 174 organizations to study and process. With the concerted efforts of everyone involved, 1,810 or 28 percent of the problems reflected in your suggestions have already been solved or are being addressed, and solutions have been found or work plans drawn up for 3,148 problems, or 48 percent of the total. Both figures were higher than the previous year. All the organizations processing the suggestions placed great value on the work. Even their top leaders became personally involved, maintained good communications with you and, strengthened their follow-up efforts. The Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and 12 departments of the State Council, including the National Development and Reform Commission, reported to the Standing Committee in writing on the handling of your suggestions. Last year the Ministry of Water Resources handled all the 194 suggestions it was given and wrote a reply to you for each and every one of them. Working with other relevant departments, the Ministry of Water Resources did a great deal of work to solve the problem of inadequate safe water supplies in the dry rural areas of central Ningxia, a problem raised by the region's delegation of NPC deputies. The Ministry set up a special fund for water to meet the emergency needs during the drought and to ensure safe water supplies for 250,000 local people and made plans to develop enough safe water supplies within three years or so to basically solve the problem of inadequate safe water supply for 540,000 rural residents in Ningxia. The Ministry formulated a plan to solve the problem raised by the Macao delegation concerning the effect of the salt tide on water supplies in the region. Beginning last September, emergency measures have been taken to curb the salt tide during the dry season to ensure that Macao residents can drink clean water.

3. We expanded your participation in the activities of the Standing Committee. The number of NPC deputies invited to the meetings of the Standing Committee as non-voting participants increased from 140-some to 185, and the number of deputies who participated in law compliance inspections and legislation-related investigations rose from nearly 400 to more than 500. Agendas, relevant documents and reference materials for the meetings were sent to the non-voting deputies in a timely manner. The Standing Committee held a forum for invited deputies before it met to brief them on its work, explain bills and listen to the comments and suggestions of the deputies concerning its work. Those of you who were invited to attend meetings and participate in activities carefully prepared before the events and were enthusiastic about speaking at the meetings, greatly contributing to the Standing Committee's work.

4. We improved the organization of activities and services for you. We improved organization and services for your investigations and studies on special topics. You were free to form investigating groups on your own, chose your topics based on actual conditions, much better focused your investigations and studies and made them much more effective. All this played an important role in raising the quality of your bills and proposals. Statistics show that 1,874 of you, 63 percent of all NPC deputies, participated in special topic investigations and studies last year, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the previous year, and your investigations resulted in 183 reports. We organized you on inspection tours centered on the building of a harmonious socialist society and arranged for those of you representing Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to make inspection and research tours in Anhui, Hubei, Xinjiang and Jiangsu. We held five training sessions attended by more than 400 of you to study and discuss issues such as how to protect resources and the environment, how to build a new socialist countryside and how to make China an innovative country. Each standing committee of the people's congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government set up a liaison office for you, further improving the level of service for you.