Li seeks public help for better work

People who know about leaking roofs are the ones who stay under such a roof. But the people who know the faults of governance are the ones working in rural lands, staying aloof from the government. "That's why you are here."

This is what Premier Li Keqiang said in Beijing while welcoming a group of people he had invited on Jan 27 to give their suggestions on a draft Government Work Report, the Chinese Cabinet's most important sum-up of the year.

It has been an annual practice of Chinese premiers to solicit suggestions from people from all walks of life on the Government Work Report, which is submitted to the deputies of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, to seek their approval when they meet for their annual session. This year, it is scheduled for early March.

The suggestions of Premier Li's guests included increasing the allocation on education to more than 4 percent of GDP despite the budgetary constraints and taking measures to develop the country's sports industry. Apart from Li, the others present at the meeting included vice-premiers, state councilors and ministers, who were seen busily jotting down the suggestions given by Li's guests.

Unlike think-tank experts or professional political advisory bodies, Li's guests, made up of publishers, teachers, doctors, actors, farmers, writers, sports people, laid-off workers, and college students, were more straight-forward and sharp in their opinions. The guests included a farmer from Central China's Henan province and a laid-off worker from Lanzhou in Northwest China's Gansu province, both of whom spoke in the local dialects.

To help his guests get the bigger picture of the economy and society, Li described his experience of what happened at the recently concluded World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. Surprisingly, few of them tried to flatter Li or praise the government's work. Instead, they took every second of the six minutes given to each of them to voice their suggestions borne out of their personal experiences, to which the premier responded thoughtfully.