With stringent anti-epidemic measures, political advisors in Beijing
kicked off their annual meeting Thursday to pool wisdom for the city's
development in the coming year. The meeting came at a time when a string of locally transmitted
COVID-19 cases have been reported in the national capital, sounding the
alarm bell in epidemic prevention and control. A total of 609 political advisors attended the meeting in person, while 116 others joined the discussions virtually. The in-person attendees were asked to take nucleic acid tests after
checking into the hotel and were forbidden from leaving their rooms
before receiving negative results. They were also advised to have meals at staggered timings. Physical
barriers using transparent panels were erected on dining tables as part
of prevention measures. The municipal legislative meeting will open on Saturday. Both the
political consultative and legislative meetings, collectively known as
"two sessions," have been slashed to four and a half days, compared with
six and seven days last year. Li Wenjun, a political advisor in Beijing and chairman of
pharmaceutical company Shouyao Holdings, said convening the "two
sessions" after an epidemic-ravaged year can help stabilize social
development and public sentiment in Beijing. "China effectively contained the spread of the virus early on and
became the only major economy to achieve positive growth in 2020," Li
said, adding that he hopes the "two sessions" in Beijing will be able to
inject new impetus into the city's development in 2021. China entered the local "two sessions" season this week, with central
China's Henan Province taking the lead and kicking off its annual
provincial political consultative meeting on Sunday. All attendees to Henan's "two sessions" meetings were asked to take
nucleic acid tests and wear masks during meeting sessions. They also had
their temperature checked on a daily basis. On Wednesday, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region began its
annual legislative meeting, where Qizhala, chairman of the regional
government, said the region's GDP posted a stellar 7.8 percent growth in
2020 despite the epidemic. A number of provincial-level regions are also scheduled to open their
local "two sessions" in the coming weeks. Provinces worst hit by recent
sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks, including north China's Hebei Province and
northeast China's Liaoning Province, have postponed their annual
meetings. "The format of the meetings, including a plenary session and group
discussion, poses the risk of cluster infections," said Zhang Sining, a
researcher with Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. "Postponing the
meetings is in the interest of people's health." Zhang noted that postponing the meetings is particularly necessary
since many attendees are medical professionals and local officials who
are tasked with epidemic prevention work. "The experience of the past year tells us that we need to put
people's life and health first, respect facts and scientific rules, and
take effective measures," said Zhao Ji, president of Northeast
University. Enditem
|