China Headlines: "Jigsaw puzzle" of dreams inside the Great Hall of the People

When Duan Xiuying was a little girl, her teacher gave the class "dreams" written on pieces of paper.

"To cope with the written test, our teacher wrote several inspirational lines and asked us to memorize them," recalled Duan, 49, who is from the Dulong ethnic group in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Now a National People's Congress (NPC) deputy, she has been given dreams -- the suggestions and requests -- by her fellow citizens. "I am submitting these to the NPC, so that their dreams shall come true," she said.

The NPC is China's legislature and the highest organ of state power. It oversees the operation of the government, and elects major officials. Deputies to the NPC are elected every five years.

Ever since the first plenary session of the first National People's Congress in 1954, the NPC has helped to solve the problems faced by ordinary citizens. It gave birth to China's four constitutions, agreed on the Three Gorges hydropower project, abolished the controversial system of re-education through labor, and relaxed the single-child policy.

HUMBLE DREAMS

Duan hails from Bingzhongluo in Gongshan County. Growing up in a village where the roads were so poor that she only made one trip to the seat of the county in 15 years. A journey took her a day and a half on foot.

Several years ago, Gao Derong, an NPC deputy from Gongshan, raised this issue at the annual political sessions. Soon the roads were improved and a new tunnel was built.

This opened Duan's eyes to the role lawmakers have in China's decision making. In 2013, she became the first female Dulong NPC deputy, and she uses her power to highlight the issues facing her community.

In 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about the Chinese Dream:"Realizing the great rejuvenation of the nation is the biggest dream for the Chinese people in modern history."

But for Yang Fengqi, a farmer in Ansai County of Yan'an, in the northwest province of Shaanxi, when he was a child dreams seemed unattainable. He worked the land from dawn to dusk, and still his family lived hand-to-mouth.

Now an NPC deputy, Yang champions social issues on behalf of the villages that elected him.

In 2010, after speaking with villager Bai Fengqi, who was too old to work and whose son was handicapped, Yang addressed the NPC with the suggestion that there should be a financial support system for rural residents. In 2011, a rural pension scheme was piloted in Yan'an, and Ansai was covered in 2012.

"Bai was happy," he said. "I am so glad that I could help."

Many have seen their dreams come true after their opinions were raised at the annual two sessions.

For two consecutive years, Yu Xiuzhi from the Lisu ethnic group suggested that a new road be constructed in her mountainous hometown. Last year, the project started.

Deng Qiandui from Yunnan, asked for higher pay for rural doctors in 2013. "Now our monthly wages doubled in our county, from 300 yuan to 600 plus [from about 48 U.S. dollars to 96 dollars]," he said.

In 2014, deputies brought 468 motions to be deliberated to the NPC and close to 80 percent of the 8,576 suggestions were resolved or are scheduled to be resolved.

BID DREAMS

While Duan Xiuying, Yang Fengqi, Yu Xiuzhi and Deng Qiandui raised their motions on behalf of the grassroots and helped solve pressing issues in their daily life, Internet giant Tencent's CEO Pony Ma, also a national lawmaker, dreams something big for China's future.

"Mobile Internet is like electricity. When we first had electricity in the past, earthshaking changes took place in many industries," said Ma.

He brought four proposals on the idea of "Internet Plus" for the ongoing parliamentary session, dreaming that mobile Internet would be used to address pressing social issues in China such as medical treatment, allocation of education resources and smog.

An "Internet Plus" action plan was outlined in the government work report delivered to the country's lawmakers by Premier Li Keqiang. It aims to integrate mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things with modern manufacturing.

China boasts the world's most Internet and cell phone users. The country had 649 million Internet users by the end of 2014, and some 557 million used cell phones to get online, official data showed.

Many insiders took the mention of "Internet Plus" in the report as a sign of the government's increasing emphasis on the booming sector.

Robin Li, a national political advisor and chairman of search engine giant Baidu, had another big Internet-related dream for China.

His "China Brain" project aims to help companies build information sharing platforms on areas including human-machine interaction, big data analysis, autopilot, smart-health care, unmanned aircraft, as well as military and civil robotics.

Li said he believes the environment for innovation in China will be greatly improved.

"In a few years, people will see that the Internet not only 'overturns' traditional sectors, but helps them to be more efficient and stimulates them to grow," Li said.

PIECING TOGETHER JIGSAW PUZZLE

The China Dream is a jigsaw puzzle, with each piece being the dreams of society, said Yuan Dayi, director of the political science department at the Beijing Academy of Governance.

"What we do is to involve people from all areas, all ethnic groups and all walks of life in the decision-making process, so that the 'Chinese dream' can be achieved," he said.

-- Zhao Jiping, a renowned composer and chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association, said he wanted to expose the world to traditional Chinese culture.

-- Guo Jincai, bishop of China's Chengde Parish in Hebei, said his dream was "everyone should abide by law".

-- Zhou Houjian, CEO of China's electronic giant Hisense, hopes that the economy could grow.

-- Mei Yonghong, mayor of Jining in east China's Shandong province, hoped that environment and air quality could improve in his city.

-- Lau Pui King, a Hong Kong-based national lawmaker, proposed that the central government and Hong Kong SAR should work together closer to deal with issues arising from the large influx of mainland tourists.

-- Wangdu, senior official in Tibet's Nyingchi Prefecture, urged more efforts to fight the separatist force and safeguard stability in Tibet since Tibet's border areas are complicated and hard to control.

-- Chen Zhou, researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences, hopes that China could successfully build a stronger army and contribute to the world peace.

Among all 2,978 deputies elected in 2013 to the 12th NPC, 401 were workers and farmers, 13.42 percent of the total. In comparison, 1,042, or 34.88 percent, of the 12th NPC deputies are government officials and leading Party cadres, down 6.93 percent from the 11th NPC.

The number of female deputies has risen to 699, accounting for 23.4 percent. The younger generation has also entered the national legislature, with two deputies born after 1990 and 74 born after 1980.

"Together, they help boost development, pushing it toward the realization of the 'Chinese dream'," Yuan Dayi said. "That is Chinese democracy."

For Duan, she wants to "help fellow citizens realize their dreams." Enditem

(Xinhua reporters Wang Haiying, Zhu Qing and Li Kun contributed to the stor