The country needs to invest more in healthcare in rural areas. This is what concerns me most. The country's health services at county, township and village levels still do not satisfy the needs of the people, because of a lack of talent, equipment and technology.

Zhou Huimin

A doctor from the Women and Children's Hospital of Jiaxian County, Henan Province

The Party congress is the most frequently mentioned topic in my community.

Everyone hopes that the good policies launched in recent years will remain stable and can be further implemented.

Dong Xuefa

A civil servant from Beijing's Jinsong Neighborhood Committee

The Party needs to take down-to-earth measures to improve living conditions, such as building new roads for villagers and raising incomes.

Lan Xiaozhen

An official with Longgang Township of Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province

Without the Party's policy of reform and opening-up and without the Party's historical transformation decisions in the new period, we would have had no opportunity of revitalizing the art of Peking Opera, and I would have had no chance of going to school to learn the art. I cherish this opportunity very much.

Yu Kuizhi

A Peking Opera performer

The low salaries of teachers in rural areas have become an obstacle to the further development of rural education. The real voice from the grassroots needs to be heard at the congress.

Ma Xianhua

A teacher from the Guoshu Village Primary School in Huichun, Jilin Province

I believe that the Party congress will boost China's independent innovation level and help us keep up with the world's most advanced technology.

Xiao Zhiyong

An engineer at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang Province

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page7)