"The State should distribute coupons worth 100 billion yuan to boost domestic consumption."

Zong Qinghou, a NPC deputy and chairman of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, suggested the government gives low-income citizens 100 billion yuan worth of coupons and asks them to use the coupons within a year. Every coupon worth 30 yuan can be used together with 70 yuan in cash, he said.

"Urbanization is the greatest driving force of China's development in the next three to five decades."

Zhang Xiaoji, a CPPCC member and researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said many migrant workers will change their lifestyles when they start living in cities and hence create huge demand for goods and services. China has to depend on the process for its future development, he said.

"We must stop the commercialization of ethnic arts while reconstructing earthquake-hit areas."

Nima Tsering, a CPPCC member and deputy director of the Sichuan Research Institute of Culture and History, warned that many ethnic arts are being developed into mere tourist products during the reconstruction work in Sichuan. Commercialization is dangerous for ethnic art, he added.

"Detention centers should no longer remain under police control."

Li Yuefeng, a CPPCC member and procurator in Chongqing, proposed an amendment to the 1990 regulation about detention centers. Procurators, instead of the police, should manage detention centers, he suggested. Loopholes in management have led to a number of custody deaths that have not been well explained, he said.

"I wonder if the average lifespan of the Chinese can reach 75 by the year 2015."

Chen Zhu, a CPPCC member and minister of health, told reporters, who ambushed him before the opening ceremony of the session, that he is trying to ensure more than 90 percent of the Chinese have health insurance in the near future. The current average lifespan of the Chinese is 73 years.

"Drunken drivers should be booked under the crime of dangerous driving."

Shi Jie, a CPPCC member and lawyer in Sichuan province, said there is no proper law to follow in cases where lives are lost due to drunk driving. Shi was the lawyer for Sun Weiming, a Chengdu resident, who crushed four people to death and injured one while driving under the influence. Sun was first given a death sentence, which was later reduced to life in prison.

(China Daily 03/05/2010 page8)