Shanghai officials offer more at this year's National People's Congress

Legislators from Shanghai have made more motions and suggestions during this year's National People's Congress in Beijing as compared to last year, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Liu Shijun, spokesperson of the Shanghai delegation, said that 33 motions - 27 percent higher than last year's - and 123 suggestions were made by Shanghai deputies this year.

These motions and suggestions were provided by 40 deputies, with the suggestion of using separate serving chopsticks during communal dining being the most popular – it was seconded by 36 deputies. This topic was previously broached by Shanghai health authorities who were looking to minimize chances to diseases being spread through communal dining.

Liu said Shanghai deputies had performed many on-site surveys and widely discussed societal issues with the public before finalizing the motions and suggestions that were presented.

Fourteen motions were about making new laws and 18 were proposals to revise current laws.

The proposals include lowering the threshold for the withdrawal of public housing provident funds and using block-chain technology to help with migrant worker employment and social security.

Many of the motions were focused on public health and revisions to the current wildlife protection law and the law of contagious disease prevention and control.

The suggestions, on the other hand, covered a wide range of topics ranging from economy to social and cultural development to environmental protection.

The major national tasks involving Shanghai, such as the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, the improvement of the Sci-Tech Innovation Board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the promotion of the China International Import Expo were also covered in the suggestions.