As China continues to see more women participating in national policymaking, many are drawing strength from their everyday experiences to drive social progress. Hou Yanmei from southeast China's Fujian Province is one of them. Once a frontline sanitation worker, she's now working to safeguard the rights of millions of grassroots laborers, from cleaners to couriers, whose efforts keep cities running. CGTN's Huang Yue has more. 

"In a bustling metropolis with millions of residents, who are the first to greet the dawn every day?"

When millions of families are still in deep sleep, National People's Congress deputy Hou Yanmei and her colleagues are already working in the streets, keeping the city clean and beautiful.

Having worked in sanitation for over a decade, Hou deeply empathizes with the hardships and challenges faced by sanitation workers and understands their needs and aspirations. 

GUO JIAN'AN Sanitation Worker "Hou always checks in on us, caring a lot about our work and lives."

After being elected an NPC deputy, Hou submitted suggestions relating to improve treatment of sanitation workers, which gained prompt responses from the local government of Fujian Province.

Soon after, Fujian introduced policies to further protect the legal rights of sanitation workers.

Now, Hou's focus goes beyond sanitation.

She proposed suggestions to protect the rights of workers in new business forms, while fostering business growth. 

HOU YANMEI Deputy, 13th and 14th National People's Congress "I realized that a city's development does not only rely on high-end talent, but it also needs the dedication of grassroots workers. Recently, we've seen a surge in delivery riders, couriers, and ride-hailing drivers who urgently need better protection of their rights."

Her suggestions have been designated as a key item for follow-up supervision, receiving serious attention from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. 

HOU YANMEI Deputy, 13th and 14th National People's Congress "Seeing my suggestions acknowledged and acted upon is great. I am honored to contribute to safeguarding grassroots workers' rights. I will continue to speak up. I believe that persistence leads to change."

From a frontline sanitation worker to a deputy to the National People's Congress, Hou Yanmei has never stopped moving forward.

Through hard work and dedication, she has turned her ordinary post into an extraordinary journey, embodying the growth and transformation of a grassroots NPC deputy, one step at a time.

Huang Yue, CGTN, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.