Political season: hopes and worries

This year, more than 6,000 delegates from all over the country gathered here in Beijing for the two sessions, a meeting of China's top political advisory and legislative bodies. This year the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) began on March 3 and March 5 respectively. Over the past few days, we have witnessed leaders reiterating their fight against corruption, Premier Wen Jiabao saying farewell, leaders and lawmakers discussing government work reports, and delegates delivering political initiatives. What do Beijingers think of the two sessions? What are their top concerns? Qian Chengya hit the streets around the World Trade Plaza to find out.

Wang Yundong, car park attendant, 45

The original purpose of the two sessions is to show the concerns of common people to those who are in power, and come up with viable policies. What I want to know most is how are the reforms of rural medical treatment doing now? I remember a while ago, somebody mentioned a "pay later policy", which guaranteed that rural residents would receive proper treatment before having to pay medical bills. I'm eager to know about the follow-up.

Zhang Ying, retiree, 50

From this year's two sessions, we can see some delightful changes, like no traffic controls when leaders' cars pass through, or no deliberate investments in vanity projects just to make our government look good. It's really a good thing that our government finally realizes how important it is to be frugal, and it is really nice to see them using actions to show their determination.  

Wang Rui, security guard, 22

My primary concern is housing prices. Though many regulations have been released, no tangible changes have been made. Sure, we can read in newspapers, see on TV and on the Internet everyday that our government has come up with so many promising policies and that we are able to count the days until we can all enjoy low housing prices. However, behind this excited promotion is endless waiting and rising housing prices.

Chen Long, employee of a trade venture, 30

It is not close to my life. I don't attend either of the two sessions because I'm not one of the delegates, and I don't even participate through voting for our delegates. I don't even know who represents me in those sessions, so how could I know whether their policy initiatives actually speak for me or not? Undeniably, there are some really good ones, but in the end, many good policy initiatives go nowhere after the sessions end.

Bai Qian, college student, 22 

There was one policy initiative that caught my attention. It was about the introduction of a new tax for anyone who wants to sell his or her house, which suggests that our government impose a 20 percent tax on the income obtained from selling a house. It feels more like our government is trying to take more money from us. With such a high tax rate and so many fees I really don't think we can afford any more. What is our government going to do with so much money?