Delegates discussing national affairs
 Updated: 2004-03-12 07:51

The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body, are currently holding their annual sessions in Beijing. The following are excerpts of speeches by NPC deputies and CPPCC members on current issues.

Environmental aid

Wang Shuqing (NPC deputy): Environmentally-friendly projects should be kept at the top of the agenda.

Natural forest and key shelter-forest should be protected, and sand sources in Beijing and Tianjing should be brought under control. But mere protection is not enough. The government should make ecological compensation for construction of shelter-forest.

After cancellation of taxes on special agricultural and forest products and reduction of agricultural tax, local financial revenue will be decreased. The government should make a total compensation for the local loss, not a partial compensation.

And for protecting farmers' enthusiasm for planting grain, the country should resume the policy of purchasing grain with a protective price.

Help ill rural people

Li Jianjun (NPC deputy): Difficulties encountered by rural people who require medical treatment must be addressed.

Current medical facilities in rural areas are very poor. Private capital should be encouraged to pump into hospitals at the town and village levels. Competition should be introduced to select highly-qualified medical staff, and medical personnel from hospitals of municipal and county levels tabbed for promotion should be dispatched to grass-roots hospitals to work for one year. Graduate students majoring in medicine should also be placed in grass-roots hospitals for work experience.

Management on medical treatment and medicine should be also strengthened.

Fighting poverty

Wan Xuanrong (CPPCC member): Poverty alleviation for disabled people is an important part of the nation's work to fight poverty.

There have been many achievements since the State established a special fund for that in 1992.

However, nearly one-third of the country's poverty-stricken population is disabled. They are among the most needy and face the greatest hardships in terms of self-reliance.

The 800 million yuan (US$96.4 million) of loans for nearly 10 million poverty-stricken disabled people cannot satisfy their needs or offer proper training in professional skills.

The central government should allocate more funding to help impoverished disabled people obtain training and education in agriculture and husbandry.

Also, there are 800,000 children under 7 years of age who have lost their hearing, and the figure grows by 30,000 every year. Current medical procedure can restore children's hearing before they turn 7. The government should pay due attention to this issue and offer the necessary fiscal support.

Talk to farmers

Qian Jihui (CPPCC member): It is the common wish of most CPPCC members that we should express the hopes and demands of the people. But we have few chances to go to farmers' houses or talk to them directly. Therefore, we do not have much first-hand material when we discuss problems related with agriculture, rural areas and farmers.

As a matter of fact, rural people and laid-off workers both belong to the less-privileged groups of our society. They need delegates to speak out for them.

Measures should be taken to enhance communication between CPPCC members and groups like farmers and laid-off workers in order to help them tackle problems in their lives.

This move also agrees with "a balanced development of the society" stressed by President Hu Jintao and other leaders.

Removing TBTs

Wang Fengqing (CPPCC member): After becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China has integrated with the world in a much more comprehensive sense. And it should try to master and make full use of the rules and regulations of the WTO as soon as possible.

WTO agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) are major protocols governing the so-called "technical barriers" in multilateral commodity trade.

In recent years, Chinese exports have faced increasing technical trade barriers, or even discriminatory treatment.

Statistics show the loss to Chinese exports caused by technical trade barriers, directly and indirectly, totalled between US$17 billion to US$20 billion in 2002. There are reasons to believe the actual losses are much higher.

When a WTO member issues measures related to TBT or SPS agreements, it must notify all member countries beforehand and take their review opinions into consideration.

China only set up an authority to review the TBT or SPS related measures of other WTO members in July 2003. But its role is no more than communication and co-ordination.

As a matter of fact, the review of TBT or SPS measures should be done by professional experts in related fields to give accurate assessment to the measures' influences upon China. And once the conclusion is drawn, the authority should be able to raise its review judgement representing the State.

Of course, the review should also be carried out under certain guidelines, so that the related departments can have a clear map of their roles and responsibility and co-operate to guard the country's interests.

Therefore, the central government should set up a special institute to take care of the notification and review of TBT or SPS related measures. This institute should be granted necessary power to organize its specialist faculty and issue technical reviews regarding the country's trade.

Also, the State Council should draft regulations about notification, review and consultation of the TBT and SPS measures.

(China Daily)

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