Ying Yong, president of Zhejiang Provincial High Court in east China, has been very busy these days ever since the annual session of China's parliament convened on March 5 here.

Ying, who is attending the session as a non-voting observer, hopes to collect suggestions and even criticism from deputies to the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC), so that the judicial work in his province could be improved step by step to the satisfaction of the broad masses.

All chief judges and prosecutors at the provincial level on Saturday were listening attentively to the work reports delivered by China's top judge Xiao Yang and top prosecutor Jia Chunwang at the NPC annual session. Twenty-five of them, who are concurrently NPC deputies, were sitting here and there in the Great Hall of the People, but the non-deputy ones had to sit on the visitors' seats, bearing the same obligation like Ying's.

It was the first time that a NPC annual session opened to provincial-level chief judges and prosecutors since the NPC was established 52 years ago.

"Although it is not necessary for us to make proposals and submit bills to the session as other deputies do, it is still a tough job for us," Ying said.

Ying told Xinhua that he was always ready to be subject to NPC deputies' supervision. "I am willing to answer all the questions raised by NPC deputies, discuss with them and report some difficult problems to the Supreme Court."

Media reports show that Chinese people are not very satisfied with the country's judicial work, and the lower votes on approving the work reports of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in the past few years indicate that there are much to be improved in the judicial work.

In February 2001, the Shengyang People's Congress in Northeast China's Liaoning Province rejected the work report of the city's intermediate court. The event was like an "earthquake" for the judicial community.

It was the first case in the country that the work report of a judicial organ was vetoed by the people's congress.

Other cases in the judicial sector also stirred people's anger: Tian Fengqi, former president of the Liaoning Provincial High Court, received life sentence for his taking millions of yuan bribery and improperly steering business to his son's company; Mai Chongkai, former president of the Supreme People's Court in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 1.06 million yuan (128,100 dollars); Wu Zhenhan, the former chief judge in central China's Hunan Province has been arrested on charges of lawbreaking; Ding Xinfa, a former prosecutor in east China's Jiangxi Province has been sentenced to 17 years for bribery and embezzlement.

Leaders in charge of the country's judicial work were "shocked" by the cases and they were determined to make a fundamental change in the judicial work by introducing all-round supervision from the people's congresses. Chinese top judge and prosecutors then decided to ask their subordinates to have face-to-face interaction with NPC deputies, answering their questions, ironing differences and winning their support over their work.

"The voices of NPC deputies will definitely give these chief judges and procurators quite a shake-up," said NPC deputy Chen Pengfei.

Over the past nine years, Chen has submitted nearly 20 motions or proposals to the National People's Congress with reference to judicial corruption.

"The Chinese people are fairly concerned about the judicial work, so we should put ourselves under the supervision of the people's congress, give an attentive ear to their suggestions in order to improve the judicial work," said Chen Yunlong, chief procurator of east China's Zhejiang Province.

"Face-to-face interaction between NPC deputies and the judicial staff is necessary for improving the judicial work and promoting judicial reforms," said He Bing, a professor with China University of Political Science and Law.

"It's a good start for a more transparent and opened people's congress system in China," he said.