President focuses on key issues related to livelihoods in talks at two sessions Tashi Dorje, a national legislator from Qinghai province, was excited
when talking about his meeting with President Xi Jinping during the
just-concluded two sessions in Beijing. When Xi took part in discussions with the province's deputies to the
13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, on March
7, Tashi Dorje told Xi about the development of his hometown in the
Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture, which was hit by a 7.1-magnitude
earthquake about 11 years ago. The disaster flattened a town and claimed
more than 2,600 lives. "I have been paying attention to Yushu's post-quake recovery all
these years," Xi said. He recalled his visit to Yushu after the
earthquake in June 2010, when he was vice-president. "I flew directly to
Yushu. I went to a village more than 4,000 meters above sea level. The
damage there was serious." Tashi Dorje told Xi that great changes have taken place in his
hometown. After the earthquake, the people of Yushu quickly rebuilt
their homes, and all the rural people in the prefecture have been lifted
out of poverty. "Now the streets of Yushu are cleaner, the houses are
better and the milk tea is sweeter." Xi asked in detail about people's livelihoods in the prefecture, and
said he is confident Yushu will develop even better amid the nation's
efforts to strive for high-quality growth. Every year when China holds the annual sessions of the NPC and the
National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, the top political advisory body, Xi always joins other
legislators and political advisers in discussing issues of national
importance, such as poverty alleviation, environmental protection,
reform and opening-up, and technological innovation. And during this year's two sessions, he talked more about "people's
well-being" and "high-quality development", and urged officials to stick
to the people-centered philosophy and enable the results of
high-quality growth to meet people's aspirations for a better life. He told the legislators from Qinghai province that high-quality
development remains the theme for China's social and economic growth in
the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period and beyond, and it matters to
the overall situation of the country's socialist modernization drive. He further explained that pursuing the high-quality development path
calls for upholding the people-centered development philosophy and
sticking to innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared growth. It
is not only related to economics, but covers all aspects of
socioeconomic development. Liu Shijin, deputy director of the Economic Affairs Committee of the
CPPCC National Committee, said that with the growing prosperity in
recent years, people have more diversified requirements for living a
better life. China's pursuit of high-quality development aims to further improve
people's living conditions not only in the economic and cultural
aspects, but also in terms of their living environment, Liu said. When Xi met legislators from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region,
environmental conservation was among the main topics of discussion. He has always stressed a "holistic approach" to conserving mountains,
rivers, forests, farmland, lakes and grasslands to achieve sustainable
growth. This time, he added deserts to the list of priorities. Top-level design and comprehensive measures are needed to protect the
ecosystems in mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands
and deserts, Xi said. Zhou Yizhe, an NPC deputy from Inner Mongolia who works at a tree
farm, told Xi that he used to be a logger, but now works as a forest
ranger. The tree farm where he works has completely abandoned timber
felling, and has shifted its focus to environmental protection. Zhou said that more wild animals are coming to the tree farm now, and
research has indicated that the ecosystem in the forests and wetlands
has greatly improved. "Your identity shift from a logger to a forest ranger epitomizes our
country's transformation in industrial structures," Xi said after
hearing Zhou's story. Highlighting the concept of "green GDP", Xi said that maintaining a
good environment is of enormous value. He called on Inner Mongolia to
continue to fight pollution and improve the environment in both urban
and rural areas. As the COVID-19 pandemic still rages globally and China is also
facing the risk of the resurgence of the virus, Xi stressed giving
priority to safeguarding people's health when he joined discussions with
national political advisers from the education, medical and health
sectors in a joint group meeting on March 6. Since the outbreak started, Xi has required "putting people first"
and "putting people's lives foremost" in the fight against the virus. As
China has made strategic achievements in epidemic control, he urged
efforts to accelerate the implementation of the Healthy China
Initiative, with an emphasis on major diseases and problems that matter
to people's health. People's health is the foundation of a civilization's progress and an important indicator of a nation's prosperity, he said. During discussions with legislators and political advisers, Xi
underlined the need to make consistent efforts to solve the problems
that matter to people's livelihoods, including employment, education,
social security, healthcare and housing, and improve the accessibility
of public services. Efforts should also be made to advance coordinated development
between urban and rural areas and fully carry out the rural vitalization
strategy, in order to improve the living conditions of urban and rural
residents, he said. Ma Shanxiang, a community worker in Jiangbei district of Chongqing,
said he was impressed by Xi's dedication to people's welfare. He knows
very well what people are concerned about and what they need, Ma said. Xi attaches a great deal of importance to employment, which is the
top concern for people in order to ensure stable livelihoods, said Liu
Wenxin, chairman of Wenxin Xinyang Tea Company Ltd in Xinyang, Henan
province. During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, his company will
continue to help rural development and create more jobs, Liu said.
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