From June 18 to 27, the National People's Congress (NPC) held the first exchange program for parliamentarians from Central American nations. Twenty-three parliamentarians and senior parliamentary officials from seven countries—Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama—visited China, traveling to Hunan and Fujian provinces to learn about the country's agricultural development, technological manufacturing and cultural heritage preservation. They also held discussions on such topics as Chinese modernization, whole-process people's democracy and the building of China-Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) community with a shared future. Themed on "enhancing mutual understanding and working together for common development," the program took the parliamentarians on an unforgettable journey in China.

Zhang Qingwei, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said at the opening ceremony that China's NPC attaches great importance to developing friendly and cooperative relations with the parliaments of LAC countries, including Central American countries. He said he hoped that by strengthening exchanges and cooperation between legislative bodies, they could enhance mutual understanding between the peoples and mutual learning of cultures, and inject strong impetus into building a China-LAC community with a shared future.

The parliamentarians attend a special seminar in Beijing. [Photo provided to npc.gov.cn]

The source of modernization

Hunan is a pioneering province in agriculture with the largest rice cultivation area and rice production in China. It is said that one in every nine bowls of rice consumed nationwide comes from Hunan. In this crucial "granary" of China, parliamentarians were impressed by its agricultural modernization, which is an important component of Chinese path to modernization.

They also learned about the development of hybrid rice in China. Yuan Longping, the late academician known as the "father of hybrid rice," spent a long time conducting research in different localities in Hunan, as well as other places in the country. Yuan and his research team successfully cultivated the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973.

More than 17 million hectares of hybrid rice are planted in China each year, helping boost rice output by about 2.5 million tons and feed 80 million more people annually, official data in late 2023 showed.

Chinese hybrid rice has also been introduced in other regions of Asia, Africa, the Americas and the South Pacific since 1979. This has led to increased local rice yields and helped solve food shortage problems.

"Eradicating hunger should be a common cause for all humanity," the visiting parliamentarians remarked after learning China's achievements. "With only about 9 percent of the world's arable land, China feeds around 20 percent of the global population—this is a miracle," they said.

To further explore Chinese modernization, the international guests also visited Xiamen in Fujian, where a batch of mega projects in the new energy and new materials industries with total investment exceeding 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion) have settled. They visited the Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory, also known as the Fujian Science and Technology Innovation Laboratory for Energy Materials of China, a pioneering provincial-level innovation laboratory jointly established by the Xiamen Municipal People's Government and Xiamen University.

Accommodating the national energy strategy and future industrial development needs, the laboratory has laid out over 80 technology industrialization research and development projects in such areas as hydrogen energy, semiconductors, future display and instrumentation equipment. It has already incubated more than 20 high-tech enterprises.

At the core area of the laboratory—Asia's first noise-free laboratory, the delegation learned about its latest research outcomes and applications of cutting-edge technologies.

"We have seen the source of China's rapid technological development," the parliamentarians exclaimed. "From the national level to universities and individuals, China has nurtured technological progress and economic development through a comprehensive transformation system," they noted.

Democracy for the people

In a lecture themed on the practice and effectiveness of China's whole-process people's democracy, Zhai Wei, deputy director of the Research Office of the NPC Standing Committee's General Office, explained to guests what whole-process people's democracy is, and how Chinese democracy and governance work.

The concept of whole-process people's democracy is a result of the creative evolution and development of the wisdom of political philosophy in fine traditional Chinese culture. In contrast to the Western model, where democracy and elections are frequently equated, whole-process people's democracy truly integrates law-based democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight through a series of laws and institutional arrangements.

The essence of whole-process people's democracy is that people get to discuss their own affairs to reach the greatest common ground based on the wishes and needs of the whole of society.

Take the legislative outreach offices as an example. These local offices serve as a direct conduit and bridge between the people and deputies to the people's congresses. The public can use these offices to actively participate in the legislative process, such as providing input and feedback during the revision of laws. The concerns and opinions of the people are directly channeled and communicated through various means in these offices, including meetings and discussions. Social media and other online platforms are also utilized for collecting opinions.

In 2015, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee established its first batch of local legislative outreach offices, starting in provincial-level regions of Shanghai, Hubei, Jiangxi and Gansu, with the number currently sitting at 45. As of April, primary-level legislative outreach offices set up by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee have gathered nearly 27,900 public opinions on draft laws, according to the commission.

Over the past nine years, this initiative has expanded significantly, with some 6,500 local outreach offices established at the provincial, city and district levels across China.

"I believe this is an extremely efficient way that can quickly, directly and comprehensively reflect the sentiments and opinions of the people," a Salvadoran parliamentarian said after visiting a primary-level legislative outreach office in Changsha.

"We understand that China's democratic system enables the people to participate extensively in politics, which is an experience we need to learn from. China's democratic system is proof—that everyone can participate in the governance of the country," a Panamanian parliamentarian echoed.

A shared community

On July 17, 2014, President Xi Jinping attended the China-LAC Countries Leaders' Meeting in Brasilia, capital of Brazil, and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Build a Community of Shared Destiny for Common Progress." In the speech, President Xi for the first time made the proposition of building a China-LAC community with a shared future, which charted the course for the development of China-LAC relations in the new era.

Over the past decade, thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, continuous progress has been made in building a China-LAC community with a shared future and the China-LAC relations have ushered in a new era characterized by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and more benefits for the people.

Through the program, the parliamentarians see more fields for further communication and cooperation. “We have seen how China has achieved such tremendous modernization and development, and witnessed China's outstanding achievements in economic development, improving people's livelihoods and promoting harmonious coexistence between man and nature," a Guatemalan parliamentarian said. "I came to understand that China's economic miracle cannot be separated from the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”

China has achieved outstanding results in infrastructure development and modernization, and China and LAC countries can strengthen cooperation in many fields, where they can develop together and achieve mutually beneficial results, a Nicaraguan parliamentarian said.

A Panamanian parliamentarian said that through the program, they have gained a fundamental understanding of the history of and reasons behind China's development, and have particularly seen the uniqueness of China's development path from its history and culture.

"We did not come in vain and were greatly inspired. The speed of China's modernization development is truly astonishing," a Costa Rican parliamentarian remarked, adding that they will bring the experiences learned here back home and promote economic development in their countries.