A dream of equality

For Li Liancheng, a national legislator and also a village official from Puyang city in Central China's Henan province, the China dream is the farmers' dream. Despite accounting for more than 50 percent of the Chinese population, farmers have seen the wealth gap with their urban counterparts growing in recent years.

"If the farmers nationally could lead a wealthier life, the China dream would be realized," said Li.

The central government should attach more importance to farmers' living standards in the process of urbanization, he said, adding that in his dream education, health insurance and pensions for farmers should be equal to those enjoyed by urban residents.

Zhu Liangyu, a migrant worker in Beijing who is employed as a security guard, has a similar, but more detailed, dream of seeking equality with his urban counterparts.

His greatest desire is to see changes to the hukou, China's system of household registration, that would enable migrants from rural areas to enjoy equal rights to public services in the cities and become better integrated so they will no longer be classified as wanderers.

China has more than 230 million migrant workers, roughly 20 percent of the population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. They are absent from their rural hometowns for the greater part of the year as they attempt to make their living in the cities, working in labor-intensive industries for low wages. Their diligence and cheap labor have been the engines behind the country's rapid economic growth and urbanization during recent decades, leading many economists to refer to migrant workers as the primary drivers of the Chinese economy.

"I hope that in the future the migrant population will enjoy greater stability of life in the cities. Hopefully that would lead to a reduction of 'leftover' elderly people and youngsters, because we will be able to afford to bring our parents and children to stay with us in the cities," said Zhu.

Liu Yonghao. Photos Provided to China Daily

A dream of quality and branding

For Liu Yonghao, president of New Hope Group, China's leading producer of animal feed, a powerful China will come from being the home of leading, world-class businesses, making innovative and advanced products that will gain recognition and respect throughout the world.

Yang Gang. Photos Provided to China Daily

"I cherish a dream that China can foster a large number of competitive, leading domestic companies, and New Hope Group is one of them. I also dream of resolving the issue of food security through combined efforts with farmers," said Liu.

"There is still a long way to go before China can produce a lot of world-class enterprises because the competition is fierce, but we are sure that there will be many in the future," said Liu, who has been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for many years and was elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress for the first time this year.

Yang Gang, vice-minister of the top watchdog, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and also a member of the CPPCC, shares Liu's dream of quality and world-famous brands. He said a strong country is one that produces high-quality products, because the strongest countries are always those that cherish these ideals. Without them, no country can be truly strong, he said.

Contact the writer at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn