Statistics show that among the 2,984 deputies elected from various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Chinese People's Liberation Army, more than 2,100 or over 70 percent are new. Among the 26 deputies representing the new municipality of Chongqing under the direct administration of the central government, 48 are new faces.

Also appearing in force in the lineup are private entrepreneurs, lawyers, freelancers and other independent professionals, who were described as "nouveur stratum" in the report to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November last year.

Figures show that there are 55 private entrepreneurs among the deputies to the new NPC session. Prominent among them are Lou Zhongfu, president of the Guangxia Group in Zhejiang, one of the largest construction enterprises in the country, and Guo Xiangdong from Chongqing, who does not only have his own business but also acquired a noted state-owned construction company in Chongqing, a city that has the largest number of state-owned enterprises.

"With economic strength and social status growing, people of the private sector would inevitably seek to have their voices heard," said Lou Zhongfu, whose enterprise raked in US$565 million in sales revenue and paid US$24 million in taxes in 2001.

Also attractive is the appearance of lawyers, new performing artists and other independent professionals. The most representative is Wang Xufeng, vice-chairwoman of the Zhejiang Provincial Writers Association. She has distinguished herself in her works that reflects the life of a tea-growing family, Trilogy of a Tea-Growing Family, which won the highest Mao Dun Literature Award.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2003)