CRI听力:How NPC Deputies Perform Their Duties

"The Residents at my constituency Maizidian came to me and complained about how their daily transportation was inconvenienced by the lack of a bus stop in the neighborhood."

Li Dajin is a lawyer at Beijing's Tianda Law Firm. He is also a deputy to the twelfth National People's Congress. He talks about how he has worked to address constituents' dissatisfaction, citing an example from 2008.

"After learning about the residents' complaint, I looked into the matter carefully by carrying out an on-the-spot study and found their request for a bus stop was both legitimate and feasible."

So he brought the case to the municipal government of Beijing, which consented to the proposed plan after conducting its own assessment.

Thanks to Li Dajin's effort, within a few months, the people at his constituency saw the installation of the bus stop they had been requesting for years.

"Deputies are elected by the people, so they should represent the people's wills and interests."

Professor Xu Shenjian from Law School at China University of Political Science and Law explains what NPC deputies do while they are not convening for an annual session in Beijing.

"They need to forge closer ties with the people, often visit them, establish connections with them, and listen to their viewpoints and suggestions, so as to better serve them."

The general public echoes the sentiments of Professor Xu.

"I think a qualified NPC deputy needs to consequently meet with residents in regions where he or she is based. Only when they go into the midst of the common people can they truly represent them."
"NPC deputies should make good use of the internet and learn about people's complaints and advice, and submit them in a timely manner."
"In remote areas, there should be some kind of liaison offices set up to make it easier for people to communicate with deputies."

Indeed, in order to make NPC deputies more approachable, new avenues for communication are being created. Among them are NPC deputy liaison offices.

Since around 2005, more and more such offices have been established across residential communities in China. They play the role of a bridge between the people and their NPC deputies.

"The common practice in Zhejiang province is that the whole year's schedule of the work of the deputy liaison offices will be available to the public. And different deputies will sit in the offices in turn on a set day every month."

The top presenter of Zhejiang Satellite TV, Xu Ting, is an NPC deputy. She says the way the offices are run allows people to choose the deputies they would like to meet so as to discuss their suggestions and complaints.

She recalls one story about how she performed her duty when she was sitting in the deputy liaison office in a residential area in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province in East China.

"That day quite a few people, including several residential community staff, community residents, and cleaners who are responsible for the disposal of garbage in the community, all came to see me in the office. And we sat down for a talk about their suggestion for the implementation of a real-name system on garbage sorting in that residential community."

Apart from group discussions, Xu Ting and some residents also visited several residential compounds that were already experimenting with the real-name system. She discovered that the system did help with the promotion of garbage classification.

"We even checked out the content of the garbage disposed, and found that at least, nobody disposed kitchen waste together with other kinds of garbage any more."

To Xu Ting and her constituents' satisfaction, several months after the final plan was submitted to Hangzhou's urban management department, the real-name system for garbage sorting was adopted by that particular community. It had also contributed to the newly released draft by the standing committee of Hangzhou People's Congress, which calls for the gradual implementation of the system throughout the whole city.

The annual session of the National People's Congress is an important occasion for deputies to China's top legislature, but the real challenge lies during the other 300 days of the year. Like Li Dajin and Xu Ting, NPC deputies in this country are also trying to live up to their commitment to their people even when they are not in the limelight.

For CRI, I'm Zhou Jingnan.