Wu Zhengde, vice chairman of the China Democratic League Central Committee, urged the country's courts to trim the scale of their judge contingent while raising the standard of professionalism.

Meanwhile, courts should increase salary and improve welfare for high-calibre judges who have been frequently reported to resign and turn to be lawyers, amid efforts to ensure the quality of the contingent, Wu added.

Sun Shuyi, chairman of the CPPCC Shandong provincial committee, called for more support to a culture symbolic project in the ancestral hometowns of Confucius and Mencius, which is designed to showcase the country's tradition and soft power.

Li Junru, vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said the Western academia has been studying theories of "deliberative democracy" in recent years, mainly because the conventional, voting-centered system has fallen behind the people's increasing demand for democracy.

"The 'deliberative democracy' is similar to the Chinese political consultation system in many ways, but our system has been in practice for more than 50 years," he said.

"As far as democracy is concerned, we should learn from the West but must not underestimate ourselves."

Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite members of the Chinese society who are willing to serve the think tank for the government and for the country's legislative and judicial organs.

As an open forum where the ruling CPC, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China's socialist democracy.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2008)