Over the past year, National People's Congress deputies and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference members in Shandong province have conducted in-depth research, refined proposals and endeavored to bring the most resonant voices of Shandong to the national two sessions this year.

New quality productive forces

Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and an important focus for boosting high-quality development, which cannot be achieved without innovation.

"I am more concerned about how to promote high-quality and sustainable development through technological innovation," said Zhai Yanping, an NPC deputy and vice-dean of the Rare Earth Catalysis Innovation Research Institute (Dongying) Co Ltd.

For many years, Zhai has led a team dedicated to solving the application of rare earth catalytic materials in the automotive industry. In recent years, she has focused on the application of rare earth materials in the field of clean energy.

She suggests encouraging the development of other secondary clean energy sources, such as hydrogen energy, ammonia energy and ammonia-hydrogen mixed fuel, for comprehensive utilization in various fields.

Also concerned about industrial innovation and high-quality development is Zheng Yueming, an NPC deputy and chairman of Levima Advanced Materials. Since becoming a deputy in 2018, Zhen has made more than 10 suggestions related to industries and fields such as renewable energy, degradable materials, new energy materials and green consumption.

Integration of culture and tourism

Kong Weike, a CPPCC member and dean of the Shandong Painting Academy, believes that the booming development of new performance spaces has ushered in a promising situation for the in-depth integration of the cultural and tourism industries.

Kong suggests cultivating a batch of new performance spaces which are consumer-driven, highly-influential and feature industrial agglomeration.

How to deeply integrate culture and tourism into rural areas has been a topic of concern for Zhou Ying, an NPC deputy and professor at the Taishan Research Institute of Taishan University. Zhou has visited various villages in Tai'an, exploring cultural highlights by inspecting temples, stone tablets and consulting genealogies.

Exquisite handcrafted cultural items displayed at the market in Mingshui Ancient Town, Shandong province's Jinan. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_122bd1ab7fae]

Rural vitalization

Sun Dongwei, an NPC deputy and Party secretary of Shandong Luhua Group, urged tapping into the growth potential of domestic oil seeds and reducing reliance on soybean imports from abroad.

Wang Chuanxi, a CPPCC member and Party secretary of Daicun village in Lanling county, suggests bolstering urban-rural integrated development and expanding new types of rural collective economy.