Sawt Falasteen - Work, housing, marriage: issues at China's annual political meetings

The ruling Communist Party will use the conclave known as the "Two Sessions" to rubber-stamp a raft of pre-approved legislation, with little expectation of any meaningful opposition as voting is tightly controlled.

But the 5,000 national delegates can also take advantage of the occasion in the capital to garner support for pet projects that may make it into law in the future.

Here are some of this year's proposals:

- Changing workforce -

China is grappling with a slowing economy and a rapidly changing labour force, as young people struggle to find jobs while a vast cohort of older workers approaches retirement.

Gan Huatian, a representative of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from southwestern Sichuan province, said he would propose a law penalising employers engaging in "academic discrimination" against graduates from lower-ranking universities, according to a local news outlet.

Li Dongsheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), wants to see lower social security contributions for "flexible" workers -- a precarious group that has grown with booming delivery services, China News Service reported.

China last year hiked its retirement age for the first time in decades.

The threshold is due to rise gradually over the next 15 years from 60 to 63 for men, and from 50 to 55 for blue-collar women.

NPC representative Feng Tao, of eastern Shandong province, told the Workers' Daily newspaper that he wanted longer annual leave for those with more than 30 years of experience.

- Housing fix -

China has struggled to escape a years-long slump in its property sector, a once key driver of growth weighed down by huge debts that have led some developers into default.

Beijing has already rolled out a range of measures to help people purchase city homes more easily, to ensure that buyers end up with properties they have purchased in advance.

But at least one delegate is addressing it head-on.

CPPCC member Zhai Meiqing -- an executive at a Hong Kong real-estate conglomerate -- told a national financial news outlet she would push for a "trade-in" system.

That would see local governments pay residents subsidies to swap their old homes for new ones.

- Marriage woes -

China's divorce rate has risen in recent decades, and marriages have been on the decline too -- falling by a fifth in 2024, according to official data.

For the fifth straight year, CPPCC member Jiang Shengnan plans to speak out against China's mandatory "cooling-off period" for divorces.

The rule, which came into effect in 2021, requires couples who file for divorce to wait 30 days before they can confirm their separation.

Jiang, a screenwriter from eastern Zhejiang province, told the Southern Weekly newspaper that the current law especially puts women at greater risk of domestic violence.

Meanwhile, Shi Bingqi, a delegate from northern Hebei province, is eyeing a cap on the amount the groom's family pays brides before the wedding.

Shi told the state-run China National Radio (CNR) that rural areas, where the practice is more common, should not allow "sky-high" prices that can be up to twice what the average local person earns in a year.

The CPCC is also mulling a proposal that would lower the marriage age -- currently 22 for men and 20 for women -- to 18, according to state-run nationalist tabloid the Global Times.

- Harassment, tattoos, larger font -

Other reported proposals run the gamut from the serious to mundane or even bizarre.

NPC delegate Fang Yan of northern Shaanxi province has called for parents, teachers and other adults who harm children to face heavier legal punishments, China News Weekly said.

Li Ziwei, a delegate from the northeastern rust-belt province of Liaoning, told CNR she would push to tighten a crackdown on people who traffic women and children.

She has also suggested imposing heavy penalties on people who force children to get tattoos, saying it might harm their future job prospects in a country where they are traditionally a taboo.

And delegate Dai Yin, of central China's Hunan province, told state broadcaster CCTV she wants leaders to enlarge the font on prescription drug bottles -- and simplify their instructions -- so that elderly patients can read them more easily.

Z.AbuSaud--SF-PST