Govt handles suggestions efficiently

State Council departments handled 6,319 suggestions by national legislators and 3,863 proposals by national political advisers last year, during which targeted policies were promulgated to promote high-quality development and improve people’s livelihoods, highranking officials said.

The suggestions handled by the government accounted for 88.5 percent of all suggestions submitted by National People’s Congress deputies, and proposals handled by the government made up 87 percent of all proposals made by members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said Xi Yanchun, spokeswoman for the State Council Information Office, at a policy briefing on Wednesday in Beijing.

In considering these suggestions and proposals, the central government released a series of policies guarding against major risks, targeting poverty alleviation, fighting pollution, spurring rural revitalization and promoting high-quality development, Xi said. More than 98 percent of legislators and political advisers were satisfied with the follow-ups, she said.

For example, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment handled 782 suggestions and proposals last year, one of the biggest amounts for State Council departments.

The ministry aimed to reach consensus with national legislators and political advisers by meeting with them and conducting relevant surveys, said Zhuang Guotai, vice-minister of ecology and environment.

Zhuang said the ministry did its utmost to transform the suggestions and proposals into action and new policies in order to protect the environment. These suggestions and proposals contributed much to four pollution control plans already released this year, he said.

Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs, said the administration dealt with 207 suggestions and proposals last year.

Last year, the administration actively responded to national legislators and political advisers on their suggestions and proposals on increasing efficiency of customs clearance and reducing institutional costs, Zou said.

The average time needed for customs clearance of exports went down by 61 percent year-on-year last year, with 56 percent lower times for import procedures, he said. China rose 32 places in 2018 in the World Bank’s business environment ranking of cross-border trade, he said.

In the next step, the administration will strengthen exchanges with NPC deputies and CPPCC members and adopt their suggestions and proposals to boost supervision, safeguard the security at ports of entry, and optimize the business environment at trading ports, Zou said.