By Qin Xiaoying
The plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are two important meetings following the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last year. As widely known, the significance of these two meetings lies in succession: the re-election of the NPC, CPPCC and State Council's top officials. Beijing is drawing particular attention from around the world also because the NPC is expected to approve a plan to reorganize the State Council.
For me, however, that is not the only reason I am following the two conferences with great interest. The way I see it, some "side views", "highlights" and even slight changes happening in the Great Hall of the People reflect one way or another the progress China is making today toward democracy.
For example, a CPPCC member, representing the business community proposed three measures aimed at helping the rich and sparked heated debate nationwide. Zhang Yin, a successful self-made entrepreneur, and one of the richest women in China, suggested that labor-intensive enterprises should not have to sign open-ended employment contracts; lower the progressive tax rate of people whose monthly salary exceeds 100,000 yuan ($14,084) from 45 percent to 30 percent; and enterprises should be encouraged to import advanced and energy-efficient equipment, through a grace period of five to seven years before they are subject to import duties and value-added tax.
There is little doubt her proposals were seen as relatively self-serving and did not sit too well with the public, deputies and members because they neglected the interests of the common people.
Whether Zhang's proposals are right or not, the fact that a CPPCC member was able to speak on behalf of her social strata was a kind of "breakthrough". Whether NPC deputies and CPPCC members should be allowed to represent people like them and speak for their needs is a major issue the two national conferences must resolve. Is it not contradictory to emphasize that the deputies come from "all walks of life" but make no mention of their specific interests in their legislative bills?
On the other hand, how should the national meetings determine which bills are fair and how should the various departments of the State Council respond to them if they are community-specific? We can expect the NPC and CPPCC to face many issues like this as they push forward democracy.
Another CPPCC member's proposals were also met with strong opposition regarding the use of taxpayers' money. Sun Shuyi, from Shandong province, called on the central government to speed up the construction of Jining city - hometown of Confucius and Mencius - into an icon of Chinese culture and provide tens of billions of yuan in financial support for the project.