Following three days of study and discussion on the government work report by Premier Wen Jiabao, China's political advisors gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Saturday morning to voice their opinions on major development issues of the country.
Fourteen members of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), currently in its first annual full session here, spoke at the session's second plenary meeting.
Li Deshui, one of the 14 members, said China must start with enhanced regulation on capital to fulfill the primary task for macroeconomic regulation this year, or to prevent fast economic growth from becoming overheated growth and keep structural price increases from turning into significant inflation.
"We need to tighten oversight on the flow of capital across borders," said Li after expressing concerns over the influx of hot money into China.
The yuan's rising exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has attracted international surplus capital to flood the Chinese market via various legal or illegal channels, according to Li.
Liang Yanjun, in a joint speech with Ye Huili, said that in order to contain the structural price increases, China should take measures including increasing agricultural product supplies, macroeconomic regulation on prices and improving social assistance for low-income groups.
Wan Gang, on behalf of China Zhi Gong Party, said the country should attract more Chinese talents living abroad to return to their homeland and encourage them to make China more innovative.
China should tighten land expropriation, as the current law on land management stipulates that governments can expropriate collectively owned land "for public interests", but there is no specification what public interests mean, said Liang Jiyang.
"The term should be clearly defined to curb land seizures, and compensation should be paid in full," he said, adding land expropriation generates huge profits.
The political advisors also raised suggestions on drawing lessons from the recent snow and ice storms, development of county-level economy, management of investment into science and technology, education, implementation of the Labor Contract Law, social responsibility of enterprises run by private citizens, management of government fund expenditures and outsourcing in the service industry.
Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite members of the Chinese society who are willing to serve as the think tank for the government and for the country's legislative and judicial organs.
As an open forum where the ruling Communist Party of China, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China's socialist democracy.
(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2008)