Political advisers urged to develop first-rate proposals

Efforts have been made to ensure that quality proposals made by national political advisers are thoroughly addressed so as to better promote the overall progress of the nation, a senior official said.

In the past five years, the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, has sifted through 29,000 proposals, selecting 312 of them as key proposals to deal with.

Li Zhiyong, director of the committee for handling proposals with the CPPCC National Committee, said that political advisers have been guided to "correctly understand the relationship between the quantity and quality of proposals".

"They shouldn't submit proposals without research, and every member is encouraged to focus on making one or two high-quality proposals each year," he said.

While filing a proposal, the committee ensures suggestions put forward are clear, specific, practical and feasible, he added.

The proposals in the past five years were formulated based on major national tasks and issues that have concerned the Chinese people the most, and have contributed to the course of turning China into a modern socialist country, Li said.

He said efforts were made to supervise how key proposals are dealt with, such as conducting investigations and consultations on the topics with advisers, officials, experts and ordinary people.

Song Jianchao, a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee and a legal expert in rural affairs, has witnessed and participated in the handling of a proposal he raised years ago.

Song submitted proposals with several other members in the past for promoting the construction of an agricultural food quality and safety traceability system, usually with a QR code or paper tag with details about the products.

"The quality and safety of agricultural products is an important indicator to measure the level of a country's economic development and the quality of people's lives. It is also one of the most direct and practical interests of the people," he said.

"The tracing system can force producers to fulfill their main responsibilities and promote the quality and safety of agricultural products," he added.

After the proposal was put forward during the CPPCC session in 2019, it was chosen as a key proposal for handling. Advisers conducted surveys and held meetings with related government sectors to push for the development of the issue.

After years of efforts, the suggestion of constructing a quality tracing system for agricultural products in Song's proposal has been written into the amended Law on Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products, which took effect on Jan 1.