CPPCC concludes annual session

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference concludes its annual session on Saturday in Beijing. [Xinhua]

BEIJING - The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, concluded its annual session here Saturday morning.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the closing ceremony.

Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were present at the ceremony.

Hailing the annual session a success, Jia Qinglin said year 2010 was crucial for China to continue to deal with the global financial crisis, maintain steady and relatively fast economic development, realize the goals set in its 11th Five Year Plan, and lay foundations for its development in the next five years.

He called on the advisors to stick to the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, and focus on accelerating transformation of the economic growth pattern.

The advisors should also pay more attention to the improvement of people's well-being, help safeguard prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, and make further contributions to the cause of peaceful unification of the country.

The meeting elected Edmund Ho Hau Wah, former chief executive of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), as vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, with 2,057 of the 2,113 political advisors present at the meeting voting for him.

It also adopted the work report of the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee over the past year, and the report on how suggestions and proposals from CPPCC members were handled since the last session.

By 2 pm on March 7, a total of 1,987 CPPCC members who attended the annual session had submitted 5,430 proposals on China's economic, political, cultural and social development, and environmental protection, among other issues.

According to the report on the handling of proposals, the political advisors attached great importance to China's economic development, people's well-being, and the country's social harmony and stability.

The political advisors also provided suggestions on the development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, the hosting of the Shanghai World Expo, education to further raise public awareness, and on the improvement of the CPPCC's work, the report said.

It said the Committee for Handling Proposals of the CPPCC National Committee had called two special meetings during the 11-day annual session, focusing on the development of strategic emerging industries, and on narrowing the income gap among the people.

Officials from key government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, joined discussions with the political advisors about how to handle the proposals at the two meetings.

According to the report, the CPPCC National Committee will hold a meeting on March 30, during which the proposals will be transferred to 168 government departments and units for further handling.

A political resolution was also adopted at the closing ceremony. The resolution hailed China's achievements in 2009, saying that the CPC Central Committee had led the country in dealing with the global financial crisis, maintaining economic growth, people's well-being and social stability, and making major progress in the country's reform and opening up and socialist modernization.

It said accelerating the transformation of China's economic growth pattern was a profound reform in the country's economy sector, urging the political advisors to offer advises on the issue and on maintaining stable and relatively fast economic development of the country.

It urged the political advisors to put people first, focus on the development of social undertakings and the improvement of people's well-being, and contribute strength and wisdom to help safeguard China's social harmony and stability.

CPPCC members from ethnic minority groups and religious circles were asked to work harder to promote ethnic unity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups. Efforts should be made to facilitate "leapfrog social and economic development and lasting peace and stability" in Tibet, the resolution said.

It noted that Hong Kong and Macao had maintained overall prosperity and stability while actively dealing with the global financial crisis over the past year.

"The CPPCC supports members from Hong Kong and Macao to work actively to improve Hong Kong and Macao's international economic competitiveness and their abilities to achieve sustainable development, to safeguard social harmony and stability in the two regions, to enhance their exchange and cooperation with the Chinese inland, and to facilitate peaceful development of cross-Strait ties between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan," it said.

Hailing major progress made in cross-Strait ties in the past year, the resolution called for more efforts to expand exchanges with relevant parties, social organizations and the people in Taiwan, to further contribute to the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.

It also vowed to enhance the CPPCC's working ability through reform and innovation.

The 11th CPPCC National Committee currently has 2,237 members, and 2,113 of them attended the closing meeting of the annual session that kicked off on March 3.

The CPPCC is a patriotic united front organization of the Chinese people, serving as a key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and a major manifestation of socialist democracy.

Members of the CPPCC are representatives of the CPC and non-Communist parties, personages without party affiliation, and representatives of people's organizations, ethnic minorities and various social strata.

The CPPCC also has the representation of compatriots of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, returned overseas Chinese, and specially invited people.