Before the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, Guo Chengzhi, an NPC deputy and Party chief of Xingtai county, Hebei province, visited villagers' homes and talked with them to understand their needs and aspirations. Carrying people's appeals and opinions to the national platform and speaking for farmers is what Guo has been doing for 19 years as an NPC delegate, which deserves our highest respect, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

Some of the burning issues today are agriculture, the countryside, farmers, and migrant workers. The life of migrant workers has improved greatly during recent years and more attention is being paid to their rights and needs such as wage arrears and healthcare, and education of their children. These changes are closely related to the joint efforts of NPC delegates, CPPCC National Committee members and all social sectors.

A look at the NPC and CPPCC National Committee reports shows a large representation of such issues in this year's proposals.

Though people's representatives who pay special attention to problems such as development of modern agriculture and children left behind by migrant workers in rural areas are from different fields and professions, their primary concern is farmers and their livelihoods.

The number of people engaged in agriculture in China is declining, but farmers still constitute the largest single group in one profession, which makes agriculture, the countryside and farmers the overall strategic and fundamental issue for the country.

It will require a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of farmers to come up with better and practical proposals, and for that people's representatives have to visit them more frequently.