by Xinhua writers Dai A''di, Ma Mengli
"How and what will China do?" at its upcoming parliamentary plenary sessions has recently become a focus of world media.
As the annual plenary sessions of China''s National People''s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People''s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are set to start on March 5 and March 3 respectively, the international community has started to turn its attention to China.
The two meetings will discuss and analyze such topics and issues as China''s role in the global financial crisis, government measures to benefit the people and redivide social wealth, a drafted voting law that allows both urban and rural residents to enjoy equal rights to vote, and the building of China''s democratic politics, among others.
All of the topics and issues, which are of rich, in-depth and far-reaching significance, show that China''s development and progress have caused wide discussion in the world media.
TRANSFORMATION OF CHINA''S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Last year was the most difficult for China''s economic development since the new century started. But the Chinese people of all nationalities, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), worked hard to manage the country''s economy. That effort led to the achievement of an overall recovering trend while China was still facing the impact of the world financial crisis.
The world's media offered a favorable accounting of China's role in the world financial crisis.
People can give various names when defining the year 2009, the Independence, a leading Russian newspaper, said in a recent editorial. But the newspaper said that if 2009 was to be named after a country according to its role in handling the world financial crisis, 2009 should be called "the year of China."
The newspaper said that was because "China played a role of locomotive in the world economy during the financial crisis."
"The transformation of economic development mode brooks no delay based on a comprehensive judgement on international and domestic economic situation," President Hu Jintao said last month at the CPC Central Committee School in Beijing.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said in a report last Sunday that the Chinese government, after the worldwide financial crisis, has realized that an export-oriented economy with cheap prices cannot tide over crisis of various kinds in the years ahead. Therefore, the news agency said, China is now accelerating the tempo of transforming the mode of economic development.
The news agency added that China should equally develop the service sector and agriculture to cultivate a domestic market-oriented economy.
Referring to the change of China's economy, Michael Pettis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an expert on China's economy, said China's economy is experiencing an important stage of transformation.
The change in China's economy will face painful difficulties and financial deflation, resulting in excessive investments and surplus production capacity. The change also will slow down the pace of economic development.
However, Pettis said China's adjustment of economic development is of active significance: the acceleration of urbanization will raise family income and create new economic growth points, the improvement of education and investment in infrastructures will raise Chinese laborers' production efficiency, and more reasonable distribution of allocation will improve productivity of small and midsized enterprises.
The Japanese media held that China will adjust financial policy this year, but will continuously implement a policy to stimulate the economic growth. Under the circumstance of the world economy recovery, the trend of China's economy in 2010 will have an important significance of the economy of both the Asian-Pacific region and the world.
DISTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL WEALTH
Premier Wen Jiabao talked with netizens about many "livelihood concerns" of Chinese people during an online chat on Saturday.
It is the government's responsibility, Wen said, to "make the cake of social wealth as big as possible" and the government's conscience to "distribute the cake in a fair way."
The fair distribution of social wealth concerns social justice, he said.
He called for an increase of the proportion of residents' income in the distribution of national income, and the use of fiscal and taxation instruments to help "the disadvantaged groups."
In the era of the Internet, the Chinese people have become more aware of their rights, the South Korean news agency Yonhap said.
With China's economy gaining momentum and people's income increasing, the public will become ever more concerned with economic issues such as employment, medicare, housing and pension, it said.
Pierre Picquart, an expert on China from the University of Paris, said China should give priority to economic growth and create more wealth in order to improve the people's living standards.
On the other hand, efforts should be made to achieve a balance between regional development and urge those who have become rich first to contribute in return to society, Picquart said.
Moreover, he said it is also very important to ensure adequate investment in public institutions such as schools and hospitals, and improve social security and welfare policy on medical care, retirement and vacation.
It is also necessary to devote great efforts in developing educational system, which is essential for both improving people's living standard and constructing a harmonious society, Picquart said.
The expert stressed that education is key to proving equal opportunities and maintaining national cohesion.
NETWORK POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, an increasing number of Chinese choose cyberspace to express their opinions.
Currently, there are more than 400 million Chinese, who have access to the Internet.
In June 2008, Hu talked with net users via an online forum, the first time that China's leaders conducted direct online communications with web users.
Wen jumped in his first ever online chat on Feb. 28, 2009, facing questions from nearly 300,000 netizens and mobile phone users on such topics as unemployment, the wealth gap, social justice and democracy.
More and more people in China are now gaining access to the Internet, and online communications have attracted great interest from the Chinese leaders, said an article in the BBC Chinese website.
During communications with their leaders, the netizens expressed strong concerns about social issues concerning people's welfare such as housing, medicare, employment and U.S.-China relations, the article said.
Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asia Institute of National University of Singapore, said that it was a very good way for the Chinese leaders to reach out to the people.
Yonhap News Agency said that the Internet has become a major channel for the Chinese media and web portal to solicit public opinions for the upcoming parliamentary sessions.
The deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of CPPCC will explore even more efficient ways to communicate with the netizens during this year's parliamentary sessions, it said.