Cabinet briefed on two sessions suggestions

The State Council executive meeting on April 28 was briefed about the handling of suggestions and proposals submitted to the two sessions last year.

It was told that its departments handled 7,162 suggestions last year that were put forward by deputies to the National People's Congress, accounting for 87.8 percent of all the suggestions the NPC's annual session received that year.

They also handled 3,281 proposals put forward by members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, accounting for 85 percent of all the proposals at the committee's 2019 session.

The departments carefully studied and adopted the suggestions and proposals, and came up with more than 1,500 policies in response that boosted the government's work on issues such as poverty elimination, administrative streamlining and support for medium-sized, small and micro-sized businesses.

The meeting was told the departments should carefully handle suggestions and proposals collected this year, listen closely to the calls of society and the people, build consensuses and carry out government work in a more targeted manner.

They should gather advice from all sectors of society, consult deputies and members at the two sessions, absorb their insights and translate them into policies that not only help control the novel coronavirus pneumonia pandemic but also promote economic and social development.

The two sessions, usually held in March, will be held later this month after their postponement due to the pandemic.

Circular outlines antipollution criteria

China has issued a circular to introduce assessment measures for provincial-level governments' antipollution work in a bid to win the battle against pollution.

Assessment indicators should target prominent ecological and environmental problems and focus on tasks in the battle against pollution, the circular, issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, said.

The main things to be assessed will include legislation on ecological and environmental protection and supervision, performance in meeting annual targets in the battle against pollution and the use of relevant funds.

Provincial-level governments' antipollution work last year and this year will be evaluated, the circular said, with the results to serve as an important basis for evaluating the performance of officials and allocating funds for ecological and environmental protection.