On the afternoon of August 31, Municipal Party Secretary Zhu Jian chaired a symposium with representatives from democratic parties, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, non-party personages, and youth representatives to solicit opinions and suggestions on the report for the 13th Municipal Party Congress. Municipal Deputy Secretary and Mayor Liu Zhongjie attended the meeting.

                                                                             ▲ The meeting in session.

At the meeting, 11 representatives – Jin Shanshan, Tang Siping, Zhou Haisheng, Liang Wei, Yin Jun, Kuang Wenheng, Deng Ziyun, Wang Qin, Hu Gengcan, Peng Yaxi, and Chen Yifei – put forward active suggestions in areas including the real economy, healthcare, consumption and higher education, and youth development.

Focusing on the real economy, particularly embodied intelligence and nuclear technology applications, they suggested leveraging the Runze Embodied Intelligence Industrial Park as a platform and collaborating with the Hengyang Branch of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Hunan Advanced Research Institute to tackle key technological challenges; concentrating on specialty sectors such as nuclear medicine, nuclear environmental protection, and nuclear materials to build a production base for medical isotopes in South-Central China and a national-level nuclear medicine hub; vigorously supporting the private economy by establishing a cultivation pool for non-public enterprises along key industrial chains and enabling them to form innovation consortia; and better utilizing non-local chambers of commerce to attract more Hengyang-born entrepreneurs to return and start businesses.

On accelerating the development of a regional medical center, attendees suggested strengthening the key specialty departments of municipal leading hospitals, improving the specialty capabilities of county-level hospitals, consolidating the standardization of primary healthcare institutions, and advancing the integration of artificial intelligence into healthcare.

Regarding the regional consumption center, they called for cultivating popular cultural tourism products such as urban micro-vacations, suburban and peri-urban getaways, and summer weekend wellness retreats, as well as further bolstering the catering industry and actively applying for the title of “City of Gastronomy” (or “Creative City of Gastronomy”).

In terms of higher education and youth development, university teachers and student representatives recommended fully supporting the University of South China in its bid to become a “Double First-Class” university, supporting Hengyang Normal University’s renaming to a university, and supporting Hunan Institute of Technology’s application for master’s degree authorization. They also proposed a “Double Entry and Double Transfer” university-local cooperation program to facilitate the commercialization of more scientific and technological achievements, and the implementation of an “Early Talent Retention Project” that would provide one-stop services for graduates staying in Hengyang for employment or entrepreneurship, making the city more youth-friendly and attracting more university students to work and start businesses locally.

Zhu Jian listened carefully to the representatives’ remarks and engaged in in-depth discussion on several specific issues. He noted that the suggestions put forward were valuable, constructive, and actionable, and should be carefully reviewed, fully absorbed, and incorporated into both the Party Congress report and the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government’s priority work, ensuring that every suggestion receives a response and feedback.

Zhu Jian emphasized that consultative democracy is an important component of whole-process people’s democracy, and this symposium was a vivid example of it. He stressed the need to pool the wisdom and strength of all parties, make decision-making more scientific and democratic, and imbue urban development with greater warmth and vitality. Hengyang is actively building a youth-friendly city. By listening to young voices and caring for their development, the city should enable young people to feel pride and a sense of accomplishment when reading the report, a sense of responsibility and mission to serve society, and a stronger sense of belonging and happiness in Hengyang.

Liu Zhangyu, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Director of the Municipal Organization Department, and Director of the Municipal United Front Work Department, also attended the meeting.