After a team of non-Party members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) visited Hunan and Hubei provinces to review the integrated development of the cluster of cities along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, a meeting was held on Sept 28 in Beijing to summarize their inspection tour and also advance the city cluster development initiative, which is listed as a key proposal. 

Shao Hong, vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, said such inspections focus on the weak points and difficulties of specific initiatives and are a beneficial two-way endeavor for non-Party members, as they can explore solutions and suggestions while learning about the actual situation and enhance consensus. 

Shao, who is also executive vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiu San Society, pointed out that the combination of a wrap-up session and a consultative meeting over the handling of the proposal is a novel practice. 

Since the city cluster in the region forms a key part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and is playing an increasingly important role in the country's overall economy, it is urgent to promote its high-quality development, Shao said. 

Efforts are needed to develop an in-depth understanding of key issues in the cluster, adopt a step-by-step development approach in line with reality, take innovative measures under the guidance of the country's new development concept, and achieve steady progress in shifting to high-quality, integrated economic growth, according to Shao. 

He also called on local CPPCC committees in the cluster to improve research, cooperation and exchanges in order to contribute more to the initiative. 

During this year's "two sessions", the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the CPPCC National Committee, the Jiu San Society proposed the integrated development of Hubei and Hunan provinces, two main regions in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. CPPCC members including Yang Song, Li Weiwei and Yao Zengke submitted another proposal on accelerating the integrated development of the city cluster in the middle reaches, which was later chosen as a key proposal.