Hainan’s provincial legislature 1st to vote on livelihood projects

The deputies of the provincial People’s Congress of South China’s Hainan Province on Saturday voted on government projects concerning people’s well-being, a first for a provincial legislature. The vote is an embodiment of the country’s efforts in promoting whole-process people’s democracy, observers noted.

The 365 deputies to the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress voted on 12 candidate projects, selecting 10 to be implemented with government funding in 2024, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. The chosen projects include free vaccination against hepatitis B and a drive to make infant care more accessible.

“The implementation of this voting system is an important measure to practice whole-process people’s democracy,” said a representative of the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee, as quoted by Hainan Daily on Sunday.

Yang Xuedong, a professor of political science at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Sunday that the provincial government used to be the final decision maker on livelihood projects.

“Allowing important livelihood issues to be decided by the provincial People’s Congress enables the People’s Congress to better fulfill its role as the country’s legislative body and also better reflects public opinion,” Yang said.

“Voting approval is not the end, but the beginning,” said Huang Liju, a deputy of the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress, noting that the provincial People’s Congress will strengthen supervision of the implementation of projects related to people’s livelihood, regularly track the progress of project implementation, and promote the implementation of projects related to people’s livelihood, Hainan Daily reported.

This change will place higher demands on the People’s Congress, said Yang.