Page 9 - REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S POLITICAL CONSULTATIVE CONFERENCE

complaints they had.
We created new ways for National Committee members from ethnic minorities
and religious groups to engage in study sessions, inspection tours and group
consultations, and held forums to hear reports from them on social conditions and
public sentiment. Members also discussed a range of issues, made suggestions, and
built consensus on these issues. The issues they considered included how to
promote exchanges and interactions among different ethnic groups, extend the use
of mandarin and Chinese characters, improve the working and living environment
for people in border areas, develop primary and secondary boarding schools in
areas with large ethnic minority populations, uphold the principle that religions in
China must be Chinese in orientation, and provide training for Tibetan Buddhist
believers.
Visits were made to five cities and provinces to give talks on the guidelines
from General Secretary Xi Jinping’s remarks during his meeting with Hong Kong
and Macao delegations on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform
and opening up. We arranged for National Committee members representing
Hong Kong and Macao to conduct inspection tours on the mainland and engaged
them in consultations on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao
Greater Bay area. In addition, we organized exchange programs for Hong Kong
and Macao youth delegations to come and gain first-hand experience of the
mainland. We encouraged National Committee members from Hong Kong and
Macao to support their governments and chief executives in exercising law-based
governance. We unequivocally opposed “Hong Kong independence.”
We co-hosted the first Straits forum on community-level governance and
carried out studies and discussions on implementing the Measures to Promote
Cross-Straits Economic and Cultural Exchanges and Cooperation and on
developing business startup bases for young people from both sides of the Straits.
We strengthened ties with relevant political parties, groups and public figures in
Taiwan. We were resolute in opposing “Taiwan independence.”
We invited representatives of Chinese nationals overseas to attend the plenary
session of the National Committee in a nonvoting capacity, and to conduct surveys
and offer their suggestions on how to give full play to the role of the Chinese
nationals overseas in protecting China’s interests overseas.
6. Actively developing friendly ties with other countries and working hard to create a
favorable external environment
In accordance with China’s overall diplomatic agenda, we engaged ourselves
in pragmatic high-level exchanges, and enhanced ties with foreign institutions,
political organizations, media, think tanks, and influential figures from all social
sectors. We diversified international interactions in terms of both content and form.
We told China’s stories in an engaging way, stories about CPC governance of

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