Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, learns about the work of deputies to people's congresses at a subdistrict office in Jiulongpo district, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Nov 15, 2023. Zhao made an inspection tour in Chongqing from Monday to Thursday. [Xinhua/Li Tao]

CHONGQING -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji has called for steady steps to advance the high-quality development of the work of people's congresses based on their functions.

Zhao, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, made the remarks during an inspection tour in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality from Monday to Thursday.

At villages, communities and enterprises, he talked with deputies to people's congresses and locals, and noted that the deputies come from the people and have their roots among the people, asking them to give full play to the mechanisms and platforms for contacting the people.

The system of people's congresses is an important institutional carrier for whole-process people's democracy, Zhao said, urging people's congresses to continue to follow a people-centered approach, fully draw on the people's opinion and wisdom, and safeguard the people's rights and interests and improve their wellbeing.

At a seminar held during the tour, Zhao called on local deputies to people's congresses to adapt to the times and explore new approaches and measures in the congresses' work, carry out in-depth research and studies, and apply systems thinking considering the wide range of and the number of authorities involved in the congresses' work.

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, talks with locals in a residential community in Pengshui county, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Nov 14, 2023. Zhao made an inspection tour in Chongqing from Monday to Thursday. [Xinhua/Li Tao]

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, talks with locals in a residential community in Pengshui county, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Nov 14, 2023. Zhao made an inspection tour in Chongqing from Monday to Thursday. [Xinhua/Li Tao]

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, learns about the construction progress at the site of Baima project on the Wujiang River in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Nov 15, 2023. Zhao made an inspection tour in Chongqing from Monday to Thursday. [Xinhua/Li Tao]