Li Hongzhong, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), addressed the opening ceremony of a training session for officials from standing committees of local people’s congresses on thoroughly studying and implementing the important thought of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on upholding and improving the system of people's congresses in Beijing on Oct 15.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged participants to thoroughly study and implement the guiding principles of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the important speech delivered by Xi at a meeting on Sept 14 celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the NPC.

He stressed the need to deeply understand the significance of the concept of whole-process people's democracy and to uphold, improve and run the system of people's congresses to good effect, so as to promote the steady and high-quality development of the work related to people's congresses.

He said that the concept of whole-process people's democracy, an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, reflects the essential requirement for advancing Chinese modernization, demonstrates the confidence and determination in following the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics and contributes Chinese wisdom to global political progress.

He called for deeply understanding the rich connotations of the concept of whole-process people's democracy and adhering to the Party's overall leadership to ensure that the Party's values, principles, goals and tasks on the concept are exercised in every stage of endeavors that empower the people to govern the country as its masters.

It is necessary to build a keen understanding of the role of the people's congress system as an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people's democracy, enhance the institutional development of whole-process people's democracy and actively fulfill the responsibilities of the people's congresses, in a bid to contribute to the development of whole-process people's democracy in a new era, he added.