Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, February 18th Title: National People's Congress representative Zhang Yimin: Use "earthy flavor" suggestions to help people livelihood and happiness

Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Jingdan

In the corner of Zhang Yimin's office, there are two pairs of gray flat shoes with dry mud ideas on it. "Run out every day, and when it's windy and rainy, it's dirty." Zhang Yimin said with a smile.

As a representative of the National People's Congress, Zhang Yimin, secretary of the Party Branch of Lusheng Village, Pujin Street, Minhang District, Shanghai, has never stayed away from "silt". Rooted in the countryside in the city, Zhang Yimin's performance of duties and thinking also has a unique "earthy flavor": his footsteps are spread throughout the village and every household, and the suggestions come from the daily expectations of the people.

Zhang Yimin put his changed shoes in his office. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Jingdan

This is the case with the "suggestions on standardizing food labeling and unified labeling methods" he proposed last year. "Calling with the elderly in the village, they said that when they go to the supermarket to buy things, the food production date is always not found on the packaging." Zhang Yimin became concerned and asked many villagers again, and went to see them one by one.

"There are many kinds of labels, and the locations of production dates are different, and the content is not clear enough. For example, some are only marked with a string of numbers, which does not indicate their significance; some are a shallow steel stamp label." Zhang Yimin formed a suggestion to bring it to the 2024 National People's Congress. The core idea is: further standardize food labels and unify the labeling method so that consumers, especially more elderly people, can find and see clearly.

Before the conference was closed, the feedback call from the State Administration for Market Regulation came, and the staff exchanged the details of the suggestions with Zhang Yimin. On March 26 of that year, the "Announcement of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Encouraging Food Enterprises to Optimize the Label Labels for Pre-packaged Foods" issued: "If the production date and shelf life are marked in the form of 'See a certain position of the packaging', the position should be clear, obvious, accurately described and easy to find." "Use text, numbers, and symbols with a minimum height of no less than 3 mm and a ratio of no more than 3:1 to mark the production date and shelf life"...

High-quality suggestions have been responded efficiently, and Zhang Yimin has his own experience in performing his duties. "There is nothing 'high-end'. In fact, just like being a village party secretary, you just go and watch more and listen to what the villagers are thinking." Zhang Yimin felt that all state departments attach great importance to suggestions that concern people's livelihood, which requires NPC deputies to conduct good research and accurately reflect the people's thoughts and expectations.

Zhang Yimin (third from left) investigated at the villagers' homes. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

As we chatted and learned a lot, what the villagers’ uncles and aunts care about became what Zhang Yimin “subconsciously” thought about. Last year, he also submitted "Suggestions on Building Elderly Friendly Highway Service Areas and Scenic Areas", calling for attention to issues such as parking spots being too far from the entrance to the scenic spots and inadequate accessibility tourism facilities, so as to strive for a more comfortable experience and service for the elderly.

In response to this, the Ministry of Commerce, Housing, Urban-Rural Development, and Ministry of Culture and Tourism responded in writing to Zhang Yimin, and will continue to promote related work to better meet the leisure and tourism needs of the elderly.

This year, Zhang Yimin's research is still busy, and the suggestions he is preparing to submit at the National People's Congress still have a strong "earthy smell".

"The integrated development of rural industries cannot be separated from the efficient allocation and standardized management of land resources. I am preparing to recommend the issuance of implementation rules for ensuring and standardizing the integrated development of rural primary, secondary and tertiary industries as soon as possible." Rural revitalization and people's income increase have always been the focus of Zhang Yimin's thinking. He is also preparing to recommend strengthening the legislation of the Rural Industry Promotion Law to better ensure that rural areas in various places take a path of revitalization that suits them.

[Reporter's Notes]

Looking through the suggestions submitted by Zhang Yimin, it is not long and often uses five or six hundred words to explain a "small matter" in people's livelihood. But "small things" can always be paid attention to by relevant departments, and the "secrets" behind them may be answered from those two pairs of plain shoes covered with mud.

Zhang Yimin, a post-70s generation, works with the villagers, and specializes in choosing "Ga Sanhu" (chat) when there are many people, in order to truly understand what they think in their hearts in the environment and situations that the villagers are familiar with. He said that as a member of the NPC, one cannot do without actions and thinking that take root in the soil.

In the village, Zhang Yimin's confidence is to be able to enter every household's door and drink tea. What he values ​​is of course not the cup of tea itself, but the trust that the people are willing to open their hearts. It is this "two-way rushing" that makes Zhang Yimin's representative's path to performing his duties more solid.