19th CPC National Congress to feature more grassroots delegates (2)

DENIM INNOVATOR

Some of the delegates deal with things that are more concrete.

Deng Jianjun is the technical director of Black Peony (Group) Co. Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer of denim, yarn-dyed fabrics and garments.

The process of making denim involves dyeing yarn with a dyeing and sizing machine.

In the 1980s, all machines had to be paused during the dyeing process for components to be replaced due to a technical defect.

Every pause wasted more than 300 meters of yarn, which was a common problem for global denim industry.

Determined to solve the problem, Deng spent more than a year visiting Chinese and foreign experts, then inventing new designs to improve the machines.

Deng's efforts paid off. In the early 1990s he made a series of improvements that allowed his company's dyeing and sizing machines to be able to operate without interruption, which has saved the company more than30 million yuan.

Since 1994, Deng's team has made hundreds of updates to the company's machinery to increase production capacity saving more than 80 million yuan.

As a Party delegate representing workers, Deng has attended the last two congresses. He sees it as his duty to represent the benefits of workers.

"We are currently trying to let machines do more of the work," Deng said, adding that the aim is to reduce the burden on workers and improve the working environment.

WHEAT SCIENTIST

One out of every eight mantou, or steamed buns, in China is made from wheat developed by Ru Zhengang.

Ru, a professor at Henan Institute of Science and Technology, is China's leading agricultural scientist renowned for his expertise in breeding new species of wheat.

Back in the 1980s, when Ru had just graduated from university, China's wheat crops were mostly species imported from Italy.

Ru took it upon himself to make China independent in terms of wheat. After years of work, he developed the "Bainong-62" and "Aikang-58" species.

The Aikang-58 species has helped increase China's wheat output by 12.1 billion kilograms.

After being selected as a delegate to this year's CPC National Congress, Ru feels the weight of his new responsibility.

"Apart from my own research, I will perform my duty as a delegate to work with more people to build our nation," Ru said.