Editor's notes: The Government Work Report delivered on March 5 sheds light on China's development in 2021 and its plans for 2022. What will be your focus on China in 2022? GDToday & Newsgd.com present the "China's prospects 2022" and interview people from different sectors to share their insight into the country.
The fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) kicked off today (March 5). Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the 2022 Government Work Report in front of 2790 deputies elected from 35 electoral units, including the deputy election councils of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Macao SAR as well as the Taiwan compatriots’ consultation election council.
The NPC session and the annual meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are known as "Two Sessions". It is an important part of China's whole-process people's democracy, which, in Harvey Dzodin's view, serves as a "guard rail" to ensure the stable progress of the country and the welfare of its people.
Harvey Dzodin. (Photo provided to Newsgd.com)
Dzodin is currently a senior fellow of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG). He has lived in both the US and China and observed the two country's systems closely. He once worked as legal adviser for the Carter administration and as vice president of ABC Television in New York.
What is the key feature of China's whole-process people's democracy?
Dzodin noted the key element of China's whole-process people's democracy is "a synergistic and inner-related two-body system" which consists of the system of people's congresses and the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
There are 5 levels of people's congresses in China, namely national, provincial, city, county and township levels, which are all established through democratic elections. They then create the administrative, supervisory, judicial and procuratorial departments of the state.
According to Xinhua's report, as of the end of 2020, 2.62 million deputies were elected to the people's congresses. Over 90 percent of the deputies were directly elected by 1 billion voters in counties and townships. Since 2012, more than 200 draft bills have been released for public consultation. More than 1.1 million people have put forward over 3 million comments and suggestions.
Chinese citizens cast their votes to elect deputies to the people’s congresses. (Photo/Nanfang Daily)
As for people's consultative conferences, they carry out democratic consultation, where 8 democratic parties participate in the formulation and enforcement of major principles, policies, laws and regulations of the state. They also exercise oversight over the Communist Party and state administrative departments.
For example, as illustrated in the white paper titled "China: Democracy that Works" released by Chinese government in 2021, the draft of China's 14th Five-Year Plan was circulated among various political parties to solicit opinions, and more than 1,000 suggestions were collated from a pool of some 1 million online messages. Through deliberation, 366 changes were made to the draft, reflecting 546 opinions and suggestions.
"In these Five-Year Plans, I've seen how input is sought and considered from all stakeholders and how after very careful deliberation, the Plan is adopted and targets are reviewed and re-reviewed to ensure success,"Dzodin said.
"Democracy is not one-size-fits-all"
Although China has an elaborate set of systems and policies to ensure democracy and protect every right of the people, it still faces doubt and distrust from the West. The Biden administration convened the Summit for Democracy in December 2021, where China as well as many other countries with political systems that are different from the US were excluded from the member list.
"I think that people in America not understanding China's system is a prejudice against anything labeled communist or socialist," Dzodin pointed out, "Democracy is not like a piece of spandex clothing. It's not one-size-fits-all. It depends on the country's history, culture and its particular and specific characteristics."
Deputies read the Government Work Report at the opening of the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress. (Photo/Xinhua)
Dzodin believes China's democracy has proven successful by its performance. "It did the best of any economy globally during the pandemic because of the Chinese government's leadership in containing COVID-19 pandemic," Dzodin elaborated.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.1 percent in 2021, according to the 2022 Government Work Report. "Next year, we expect that growth to be 5 to 6 percent, despite the fact that there’s still a global epidemic in process." Dzodin furthered, "I think it's all because of this model of democracy that you use in China."
China is also the country most trusted by its people across the world. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 published in January shows that the trust index of China reached 83 percent, ranked the first among 28 countries, while the US is placed 24th with only 43 percent of its population trusting their government, media, business and NGOs.
"The word 'democracy' comes from ancient Greek. It means the people rule. And it’s like Chairman Mao said 'Serve the people'," Dzodin said, "That's exactly what China is doing."
Center for China and Globalization also contributed to the report.
Reporter | Lydia Liu
Video script | Lydia Liu, Jiang Chang (intern)
Video editor | Zoey
Editor | Zhao Yang, Wing, Steven, Jasmine, Jerry
