The current session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) is unprecedented in several regards. For 12 consecutive days, the NPC deputies have reviewed and debated in earnest some of the most crucial issues related to China's long-term development and stability.
Major documents include the long-awaited drafts of the property law and corporate income tax law. Both are under parliamentary deliberation and likely to be passed at this NPC session. They will exert a fundamental and far-reaching impact on China's transition toward a mature, full-fledged market economy as well as her ongoing integration into the global economic system.
Moreover, Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report is a refreshing and indeed encouraging indicator of the deepening commitment and determination on the part of the Chinese leadership to develop a harmonious society based on sustaining economic prosperity and socio-political stability.
Premier Wen's work report does not toe the line of conveying good tidings while ignoring bad ones, instead, it chooses not to gloat over past achievements. It provides an unusually sobering survey of the deficiencies and ineffectiveness in such pivotal policy areas as economic restructuring, agricultural development, environmental protection, the healthcare system and education.
By calling a spade a spade, the Chinese leadership demonstrates a remarkable willingness to allow for more solid, substantive policy discussions on the basis of greater transparency and accountability. It also demonstrates a firm commitment to tackle and resolve the multiplying problems confronting China.
True, the NPC deputies - the people's representatives - have become increasingly vocal in expressing their opinions. They have become sufficiently empowered to roll back key legislation items on the NPC agenda.
Meaningful participation in policymaking does not merely denote the right to say "yes" or "no". It means being involved in an entire process built on formal institutional arrangements, with abiding rules, compliancy procedures, and standard operating practices.
Only through these institutionalized mechanisms can the policy process become a truly inclusive and transparent one that best serves the interests of people from all walks of life.
Thus, the NPC still faces the formidable task of further institutional innovation to ensure a more fruitful and constructive participation in policymaking. The formal institutional arrangements must be structured to embody a system of checks and balances in political affairs.
Only with institutionalized participation by the NPC deputies in the policymaking process can we expect to secure policy transparency and inclusiveness while effectively preventing abuse of power in decision-making. Ultimately, developing new political institutions is necessary not just for public participation in policymaking but for coping with the fundamental changes caused by China's unprecedented transition so as to sustain China's socio-political stability and economic growth.
The author is a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Studies, the Brookings Institution
(China Daily 03/15/2007 page9)
