CPPCC Beijing committee begins session with strict epidemic control

The opening ceremony of the fourth session of the 13th Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference kicked off on Thursday afternoon. Given the current needs of epidemic prevention and control, the session will last four and a half days, one day shorter than usual.

Last year, the committee held 37 political consultative events, with 1,356 proposals handled, committee chair Ji Lin said during the ceremony. "We have launched wider information solicitation, and collected 3,600 epidemic-related messages," Ji said.

Cheng Hong, vice-chairman of the committee, said the committee allowed epidemic-related proposals to be delivered directly to the CPC Beijing Committee and the Beijing Municipal Government through express channels.

"We prolonged the processing time from three months to six months to properly handle proposals. Those referring to supporting small enterprises and the mental health of medical workers have promoted related policies," she said when delivering a report at the ceremony.

As an innovative move this year, the session has arranged six livestream events, including the opening ceremony and sideline interviews with political advisers, through the committee's official website, accounts on short-video platforms and a dedicated app, which allows the public to watch the conference online.

For the first time, eight political advisers attended a livestreamed interview on Thursday morning to share their views with media and public on hot topics, such as developing the digital economy, conserving the historical and cultural sites in the capital and promoting traditional Chinese medicine.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan, a key progress will be made in the project of enlisting the Central Axis of Beijing in the intangible cultural heritage," political adviser Shu Xiaofeng said during the interview.

This year the Beijing International Convention Center, the main venue for the session, and the Beijing Continental Grand Hotel set up to accommodate political advisers have been sealed as required by the city's epidemic control measures, with all staff members having conducted nucleic tests.