Pragmatic and amiable, Wu Bangguo has kept a low profile, though he and the National People's Congress (NPC) he leads has frequently come to the spotlight for their outstanding legislation and supervision efforts.

"The NPC exercises the power collectively in accordance with the law. The chairman (of the NPC Standing Committee) enjoys the same power as the other deputies." These are the words Wu often says, largely to play down his role in the country's top legislature.

Nevertheless, he impressed the nearly 3,000 NPC deputies more than that, and was reelected chairman of the NPC Standing Committee on Saturday at the NPC's annual full session.


Wu Bangguo is reelected chairman of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee during the fifth plenary meeting of the NPC session in Beijing, capital of China, March 15, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)
In March 2003, also on a Saturday, Wu was elected as China's top legislator to succeed Li Peng.

The NPC is sovereign in China as it is authorized by the Constitution to elect the country's top leadership, enact laws and supervise the cabinet, the supreme court and the supreme procuratorate. The NPC Standing Committee serves as its executive body when the NPC is out of its annual full session.

"The legislature exercises power on behalf of the entire people. To improve the NPC's work, we must adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), bear in mind that the people act as master of the country and stick to rule of law," Wu said, talking about his work as NPC Standing Committee chairman in the last five years.

The NPC maintains its authority because it does everything according to law, he stressed.

QUIET WORKHORSE

Like other fellow lawmakers, Wu, known for his practical and low-key style, has worked hard quietly over the past five years.

However, the building of China's legal system was not that quiet and each step of progress had a bearing with the life of ordinary Chinese.

A total of 100 new or revised laws were adopted in China over the past five years, Wu said in a report to the NPC annual session.

The clauses that "the State respects and preserves human rights" and "the State, in accordance with the law, protects the rights of citizens to private property and to its inheritance" are for the first time enshrined in the amended Constitution, setting a milestone in China's constitutional history.

The landmark Anti-Secession Law, promulgated in 2005, provides a legal basis for the mainland's persistent stance to strive for peaceful reunification of the country and resolutely oppose and contain secessionist activities.

All this, together with the enacting of the Law on Property Rights and the Law on Oversight, gives a manifestation of the performance of the NPC with Wu as wheelman.

Observers see the Law on Property Rights, designed to put private property and state-owned property under indiscriminate protection, as the most brilliant progress achieved in Wu's tenure as the top lawmaker.

The British magazine Economist ran a cover story about the law, describing it as "a great symbolic victory for economic reform and rule of law" in China, and some overseas scholars deemed it a legislative endorsement of the CPC's reform and opening-up policy.

However, few knows how much Wu had contributed to the enacting of the law, which aroused heated debate since it was initiated in 1993.

He had called countless meetings, chaired by himself or his colleagues, to solicit opinions from NPC deputies, scholars and officials, while publicizing the draft for public review.

"The people's congress is a democratic platform where everyone has the right to voice his own views, including unfavorable ideas and opinions," Wu stressed times and again in front of his fellow lawmakers.

INDUSTRY EXPERT

China's booming market economy has benefited from a number of laws including the Law on Property Rights, Law on Corporate Income Tax, Antitrust Law and Banking Oversight and Management Law and Securities Law.

Analysts attribute it to Wu's efforts, believing his rich experience in economic work and industrial development is very helpful to his insight about a legal frame for the socialist market economy.

Wu, a native of Feidong, east Anhui Province, came up through the ranks in Shanghai, where he became a Standing Committee member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPC in 1983 and Party chief in 1991. Through his reform measures, Shanghai was pushed to the frontline of China's reform and opening-up drive and cemented its status as the country's largest industrial city and economic hub.

Wu was elected member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in 1992 and moved to work in Beijing two years later. He became vice premier in 1995.

During the following eight years as vice premier, Wu mainly took charge of economic work and trade, transportation and communications, energy, information industry and social security. He always upheld the "three nevers" principle -- never abuse power for personal gains, never be lazy and never evade responsibilities.

Years of work as engineer and manager made Wu a well-known "industry expert" who knew quite well how to run an enterprise, and his rich experience helped a large number of poorly managed state-owned factories out of plight.

As the top legislator, he lost no time to promote the enactment of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law.

Wu also placed great importance on legislation to address social problems.

In 2007 alone, a batch of laws, including the Labor Contract Law, Employment Promotion Law and Law on the Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes, were enacted along with the revision of the Law on Compulsory Education and Law on the Protection of Minors, all catering to public concerns.

MASS LINE

Wu often reminded his fellow lawmakers that China is in a transitional period of economic and social development, and attention should be paid to the complicated relations among different interest groups.

It is necessary to take into consideration people's fundamental interests, their current concerns and the special interests of different groups, Wu said.

Having deep insight into the changing society and interest groups, he advocated the top legislature should "open its door" to common people to solicit opinions for legislation.

According to him, draft laws concerning the people's immediate interests shall "be publicized in full text" and public hearings shall be held to address problems that demand professional knowledge or arouse disputes.

Intensive media reports revealed the public is more zealous to participate in legislation and many of their constructive suggestions have been accepted.

In September 2005, some 40 people from all walks of life across the country, including company employees, teachers and lawyers, were invited to the first-ever NPC hearing to give their ideas about the reset of the cutoff point of the personal income tax.

Migrant workers also had their voices heard by lawmakers when the draft Labor Contract Law was publicized, and more than 190,000 proposals on modification were pooled.

These cases are described by the media as examples of "democratic legislation" and "scientific legislation", which Wu, in his plain words, interpreted as "following the mass line".

Wu's "mass line" could be traced back to the days he worked in Shanghai. As Party chief of the metropolis, Wu often went to bazaars and stores, picking up vegetables and rice and chatting with farmers, peddlers, customers and shopkeepers on the street.

The reason is simple. "To see more and hear more, I can have m ymind enriched and broadened," he told his friends.

WRITTEN INSTRUCTION

Wu always seeks "substantial achievements" in supervision work, another duty as important as legislation the NPC shoulders, from the very beginning when he became chairman of the NPC Standing Committee in 2003.

In 2005, a week before the Spring Festival, China's Lunar New Year, Wu received a report of complaints from migrant workers about their defaulted payment.

After learning that the migrant workers could not make ends meet and their children were forced to drop out from school due to wage arrear, Wu wrote an instruction on the report, urging immediate payment to them.

"Migrant workers have plodded throughout the year, but can not get their pay. It's unacceptable," Wu wrote.

The NPC Standing Committee reacted quickly at Wu's instruction, and the migrant workers finally retrieved their arreared wages.

The NPC also strengthened supervision over an array of issues ranging from water deterioration and coal mine safety to the correction of problems found by auditors in the past five years.

All the supervision work never stopped half-way.

Meanwhile, the NPC, the supreme power of the state, has become more transparent, with more panel discussions during its annul sessions open to the press. As reporters from outside China are free to interview deputies face to face, more than 870 foreign journalists have registered to cover this year's annual session of the NPC.

Wu has also brought China's top legislature into a new phase of foreign exchanges. So far, the NPC has established regular exchange mechanisms with the European Parliament as well as congresses and parliaments of 14 countries, including the United States, Russia, Japan and India.

AMIABLE STYLE

Despite his high ranking, Wu never puts on official airs.

He often jokes with the staff working for him, impressing them with no political jargons but "plain words" and "practical acts". His amiable and simple talks, however, are often sparkled with philosophical thinking, as reflected in his discussions with his work staff about a wide range of easy topics in spare time.

When meeting foreign guests in frigid winter, Wu often reminds them to put on more clothes for fear of catching cold.

Sources close to him believe that his hard struggle and life experiences in early years have enabled him to nurture profound affections toward the people at the grassroots and foster a down-to-earth style of work.

Wu, born in 1941, went to study in the Radio and Electronics Department of the prestigious Qinghua University in 1960. After graduation in 1967, he was assigned to work in the Shanghai No. 3 Electronic Tube Factory as operator, porter and furnaceman. When he assumed his post as a standing committee member of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, his five-member, three-generation family were still living in an 11-square meter room, using a coalball-fueled stove and wooden closes tool like other common families.

The top lawmaker bears in mind the well-being of the masses. While joining group discussions with deputies from various regions of the country during the NPC's annual full sessions, he often asks such questions as whether the existing laws and regulations have addressed public concerns, whether the common people can afford a lawsuit and whether the poor have moved out of the shantytown.

Wu likes to read or play tennis in spare time. Though busy with work, he still manages to spare some time watching TV plays with his wife, Zhang Ruizhen.

Source:Xinhua