President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, takes part in a deliberation with deputies from the delegation of Jiangsu province at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on Sunday.

Jiangsu delegation members outline suggestions on how to accelerate country's growth

National People's Congress deputies from the Jiangsu province delegation said on Sunday they have been greatly encouraged by President Xi Jinping's responses to their suggestions on China's development.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, participated in a deliberation on Sunday afternoon with his fellow deputies from the delegation at the first session of the 14th NPC, China's national legislature.

At the deliberation, Wei Qiao, an NPC deputy who quit her job at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing in 2017 and returned to Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, to start a cooperative for agricultural machinery and a rice farm, explained why she made the decision and the reasons why China's agricultural industry is booming.

"When I told him that I have 1,333 hectares of rice fields, President Xi asked me how much I can make a year, which shows that he really cares about the people," Wei said.

She then made suggestions about how to better provide assistance to people who want to go to rural areas and become involved in the agricultural sector.

"When Xi talks about China's grain production, he said it's quite a good thing to grow rice like me. It's so encouraging," she said.

Zhang Dadong, an NPC deputy and headmaster of Xin'an Primary School in Jiangsu's Huai'an city, said that Xi has sent his regards to the children at his school.

On May 30, 2021, Xi replied to a letter sent by a group of students who expressed their pride in the school's revolutionary history and what they had learned from the history of the Party.

"Xi expressed the need to be confident in different fields, including technological innovation and education. I'm confident that we can educate our children well," said Zhang, adding that he cannot wait to tell the children that Xi has sent his regards to them.

Liu Qing, a deputy and president of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute, said he briefed Xi about the changes that have taken place since the president visited the institute on Dec 13, 2014.

The institute has been focusing on putting scientific research achievements into use to gain industrial advantages, as instructed by Xi.

"At the deliberation, Xi asked Jiangsu province to take the lead in technological innovation and use technologies to further support the development of the real economy," Liu said.

"I am confident that by mobilizing different resources to tackle the key technologies in strategic industrial chains that still rely on imports from overseas, we can eliminate the risks in our industrial chains."

Deputies to the National People's Congress attend the first session of the 14th NPC on Sunday. The session runs from Sunday to Mar 13.