Eric's Insight: Yunnan forges ahead in democracy, unity, pragmatism

Yunnan province convened its annual Two Sessions in late January. This year, Yunnan's Two Sessions refer to the second session of the 14th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress and the second session of the 13th CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee, and together they formed a grand political event that features whole-process democracy, ethnic solidarity and progress, and pragmatism for people’s well-being.

Deputies to and members of Yunnan's provincial Two Sessions gather at Yunnan Conference Center in Kunming.

Whole-process democracy

The Yunnan provincial Two Sessions are a whole-process democratic event for decision-making. Before the event, the Yunnan cities and prefectures like Kunming, Qujing, Zhaotong and Wenshan had held their own Two Sessions in early January to get fully prepared for the provincial event in Kunming, and soon after the provincial Two Sessions, the cities and prefectures of Chuxiong, Dali, Honghe and Pu’er have kicked off their sessions to put into practice the development schemes just formulated. On the whole, the provincial Two Sessions have paved the way for Yunnan to be well-prepared for the national Two Sessions that is expected to take place in Beijing in early March.

In January 2023, a total of 632 deputies were elected to the 14th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress. Among them, 299 belong to ethnic minorities, making up 47.31% of the total; 182 are women deputies, accounting for 28.8% of the total; and 140 deputies come from the grassroots. Meanwhile, a total of 627 members were nominated to the 13th CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee. Among them, 203 belong to ethnic minorities, making up 32.37% of the total; 192 are women members, accounting for 30.62% of the total; and 394 members are newly nominated. The deputies and members represent the Yunnan public in the widest possible terms, working for a tenure of five years.

In the past year, the Standing Committee of the 14th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress has set up deputy branches in counties/cities, deputy workstations in towns/townships/streets, and deputy offices in villages/neighborhoods. Focusing on the problems and difficulties of public concern, the deputies talked with 382,700 folks, collecting 107,800 problems from them, of which 72,700 have been solved. Based on the talks and analysis, the deputies put forward 29,000 suggestions. Since March last year, the 13th CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee has joined hands with committees at the prefecture/city and county/district levels in dealing with the difficulties in rural development and others. Through some 1,000 court-yard consultations, the CPPCC committees at various levels resolved more than 2,800 problems or difficulties.

 

Opening of the 2nd session of the 14th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress on January 24

Ethnic solidarity and progress

At this year’s provincial Two Sessions that lasted from January 23 to 29 in Kunming, the public was once again impressed by the congress deputies and conference members in richly-decorated ethnic costumes. Coming from the 16 cities and prefectures across Yunnan, the deputies and members of all 26 ethnic groups in the province gathered at Yunnan Conference Center on the bank of the Daichi Lake in high spirits, working in concert to formulate a new blueprint for provincial development in the new year and contributing to forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Impressed by the words on ethnic unity in the government work report, Lai Hong, deputy to Yunnan Provincial People's Congress and Party secretary of the Santaishan Deang township in west Yunnan’s Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture, suggested fund-raising for protecting the Yunnan-Myanmar Road, for it witnessed the solidarity of Yunnan ethnic groups in fighting against foreign invasion in the 1940s. As a major tourist province, Yunnan is working hard for inclusiveness of all ethnic cultures. Wang Ling, member of the CCPPC Yunnan Provincial Committee and deputy director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture, said Wenshan has tried to be creative and innovative in building a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, holding diverse festivities of extensive participation for ethnic unity and progress.
　　
Actually, ethnic unity and progress has been a mainstream voice shortly after the founding of the PRC. In 1951, more than 3,000 representatives of the 26 provincial ethnic groups gathered in southwest Yunnan's Ning'er county for an oath: “From now on, we’ll unite as one for ever under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), striving to build a big (Chinese national) family of equality, freedom and happiness.” In 2015, President Xi Jinping had an inspection tour to Yunnan, encouraging the province to be a “demonstration area for ethnic solidarity and progress”. Since then, the 26 Yunnan ethnic groups have been holding tightly together like pomegranate seeds for progress. Yunnan’s economic output reached one trillion yuan in 2012, two trillion yuan in 2018, and a historic high of three trillion yuan in 2023.

As of now, all the 62 poverty-stricken counties in Yunnan ethnic areas have been raised out of poverty as scheduled, together with 11 ethnic groups that entered the socialist society directly from the primitive society and the ethnic groups with tiny populations. As the Dali-Baoshan railway was opened for operation in 2023, development of the Bai and Yi ethnic minority areas along the line was quickened. Now Yunnan houses a total of 137 model entities for ethnic unity and progress, ranking 2nd in Chinese provinces. Yunnan is well on its way to be a model area for ethnic unity and progress. When attending the deliberation by Honghe prefecture delegation, Yunnan Party secretary Wang Ning, who is also chairman of the Standing Committee of Yunnan Provincial People’s Congress, stressed ethnic unity. Through strengthening party building in the ethnic areas, Yunnan will set an example for ethnic unity and social stability.

 

Deputies to and members of Yunnan's provincial Two Sessions enter Yunnan Conference Center in Kunming.

Pragmatism for people’s well-being

According to the government work report delivered by Yunnan governor Wang Yubo at the 2nd session of the 14th Yunnan Provincial People's Congress, Yunnan’s added value of industries above designated size went up by 5.2%, the total retail sales of social consumer goods grew by 6.7%, and provincial general public budget revenue soared by 10.3%. In spite of this, Yunnan's provincial GDP grew by a modest 4.4% in 2023, while the national GDP increased by 5.2%. So Yunnan needs to be more pragmatic in development and people’s well-being, catching up with the fast-growing provinces with dogged efforts.

The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and it is also a crucial year for Yunnan province to implement its "3815" development scheme. Through a series of 3-year action plans from 2023 to 2025, Yunnan aims to push ahead high-quality growth and upgrade its leap-forward development, and through a 15-year hard work from 2021 to 2035, Yunnan will largely realize socialist modernization in synchronization with the other provinces across China. At the provincial Two Sessions, Yunnan set forth the target of a 5% rise in provincial GDP, with the government work report sorting out quite a few pragmatic goals for people’s well-being: Over 500,000 new jobs will be created in cities and towns, construction of 40,000 affordable apartments for rent will be started, at least 4 baby-sitting places will be offered to per 1,000 permanent residents...

The congress deputies and conference members also made practical suggestions for people’s well-being, focusing on tourism, education and agriculture. "High-quality development of cultural tourism is what Yunnan can contribute to the Chinese-style modernization", said Zhong Hongwei, deputy to Yunnan Provincial People's Congress and head of Jianshui county, adding Jianshui aims to be the most unforgettable place in south Yunnan. "I’ll try my best to help my students to achieve the all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique and art," said Luo Fang, deputy to Yunnan Provincial People's Congress and head teacher of southwest Yunnan’s Pu'er No.1 Middle School. When it came to agricultural scientific innovation and high-quality development of agriculture, Yan Taocong, member of the CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee, said that agricultural upgrading should be driven by seed engineering, green practices, digitalization, advanced equipment and sci-tech talents.

Last but not least, pragmatism in this year’s provincial Two Sessions is displayed in dealing with the deadly landslide that occurred in northeast Yunnan’s Zhenxiong county on January 22. Several hours after the totally-unexpected disaster, governor Wang Yubo personally reached the snowy landslide site hundreds of miles away to guide the rescue efforts. When the Two Sessions opened on January 23, all rose and observed a silent tribute for those dead in the landslide, giving off a thick air of humanitarian concern. In the government work report delivered to the provincial people's congress on Jan. 24 morning, it was noted that the province will spare no effort in resettling those affected in the landslide, helping them rebuild their homes. At the closing meeting of the Two Sessions, Wang Ning, chairman of the Standing Committee of Yunnan Provincial People’s Congress, told officials and deputies at all levels to always work hard for benefits of the people, trading their hardship index for the public’s happiness index.

Opening of the 2nd session of the 13th CPPCC Yunnan Provincial Committee on January 23

Writing by Wang Shixue; Proofreading by Zu Hongbing and Wang Huan; Photos source: Yunnan Daily