This year's "two sessions" in China are clear reflections of the country's more open and transparent political life, Chinese Canadian community leaders said on Thursday.

The Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) is scheduled to end on Friday while the Second Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) just closed on Thursday.

"What impressed me most is that all the comments coming out of the two sessions, whether positive or negative, were given full media exposure," said Wang Daiyu, who chairs the Ottawa-based Chinese Canadian Heritage Foundation.

Both Chinese leaders and deputies "readily recognized problems and challenges on the country's road of development" and worked hard to seek solutions "through earnest and effective discussions" at the conferences.

"They showed their strong determination and confidence in tackling issues affecting people's well-being," Daiyu said. "That gives people hope in this difficult time of economic crisis."

In his draft budget for 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has given particular attention to such fields as agriculture, education, health care and welfare that people care most.

Wang Yanyun, president of the Chinese Canadian Community Development Research Center in Toronto, said that Chinese leaders themselves are taking the lead in promoting open politics through the state-of-the-art means.

Days before Premier Wen delivered a report on the work of the government at the NPC session, he had a two-hour online chat with nearly 300,000 netizens at www.xinhuanet.com and www.gov.cn and mobile phone users on issues ranging from unemployment, wealth gap, social justice to democracy.

President Hu Jintao also had a brief Q & A with netizens last June at the website of the People's Daily, China's leading newspaper.

"The number of overseas Chinese representatives the CPPCC invited as observers has been on the rise," Yanyun said. "This is another window through which I see the extent of openness of Chinese politics."

More than 200 overseas Chinese representatives have been invited to attend the annual CPPCC session since 2001. A record of33 overseas Chinese from 18 countries attended this year's CPPCC session.

A large number of Chinese newspapers and websites across Canada have given prominent coverage to the "two sessions".

Chinese Canadians also followed the "two sessions" very closely as "the Chinese factor becomes ever more important for the world economy," Li Mu, a Chinese Canadian columnist in Vancouver, wrote in a recent article.

"As the 'two sessions' were under way, the Chinese Canadians also started their Internet based life of attending the event -- electronically." he said.

Source: Xinhua