Deputy’s three decades of effort for her community

Since becoming a deputy to the National People’s Congress in 1988, Jin Lanying has attended 30 of the body’s annual meetings in Beijing. She was the head of a community committee in Tai’an city, Shandong province, when she was elected as a national legislator.

“For me, as a deputy, it is very fulfilling but also very tiring. I am so tired sometimes that I don’t want to eat but only sleep,” said the 71-year-old.

“I was proud when I was elected, as there were not many deputies who were community heads back then — but I knew a deputy should shoulder a lot of responsibilities.”

Aware of her responsibilities as a deputy to the National People’s Congress, Jin resolved to take on board grassroots opinions at all times, no matter if she was exercising, eating dinner or doing field research in rural areas. She also made her phone number public so people could reach her easily to report problems.

“There used to be a lot of people coming to visit me to report problems, many of which were related to judicial departments,” she recalled.

“I received at least three visitors a month. Some of them even knelt down before me asking me to help solve their problems.”

To help find resolutions, Jin visited courts, procuratorates and public security bureaus. Sometimes, it took more than two months to find an answer.

“I fed the people that visited me and gave them money for transportation if they were in financial difficulties,” she said.

“Some came from outside of Tai’an and I received all of them with hospitality, as it was not easy for them to reach me.”

On occasion, Jin said she would spend so long on the phone listening to people’s problems that her ears would ring for hours afterward.

But all that started to change eight years ago, as the effects of China’s judicial reforms began to be felt.

“Life is better now. The judiciary has improved the work they do and no people kneel before me begging for help anymore,” she said.

Jin, who dropped out of high school, finds it difficult to draft motions but often brings more than five suggestions with her to the annual session of the National People’s Congress.

All of these suggestions are related to the grassroots, covering topics such as expanding endowment insurance to all citizens, offering welfare policies to military veterans as well as increasing the salaries of officers at the community and village-committee level.

This year, one of her seven suggestions touched upon the biologically safe disposal of livestock and poultry manure, a problem she has been confronted with as the honorary head of a cattle-raising cooperative.

Jin Lanying, an NPC deputy from Tai’an, Shandong province