THE National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, will open its annual session at 3 p.m. Friday in Beijing, a spokesperson told a press conference Thursday.

    Over 2,000 members of the CPPCC National Committee from different sectors across the country will discuss major political, economic and social issues concerning the country’s development during this year’s session, which is scheduled to conclude March 13, said Wang Guoqing, spokesperson for the fifth session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee.

    Political advisers will hear and deliberate a report about the work of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and a report on how the Standing Committee has handled proposals from CPPCC National Committee members since the previous session, according to Wang.

    Political advisers submitted 5,769 proposals in the past year, focusing on poverty alleviation, industrial transformation and reform of the medical and health-care system, Wang said.

    A political resolution is also expected to be adopted at the meeting, he said.

    The political advisers will be present at the fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress as nonvoting participants, hearing and discussing a report on the work of the government and discussing a draft of the general provisions of civil law, Wang added.

    They will also hear and discuss work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, he added.

    The CPPCC National Committee fulfilled its duties by carrying out inspection and research, political consultation, and democratic supervision over the past year, supporting the country’s development, he told reporters.

    The CPPCC is an important organ for multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is an important means of promoting socialist democracy.

    Meanwhile, deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) are heading to Beijing for the top legislature’s annual session, which will open Sunday.

    Deputies from Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province were the first to arrive Thursday morning.

    The fifth session of the 12th NPC is the first since President Xi Jinping was endorsed as the core of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at a key CPC meeting last October.

    NPC deputies are elected by people’s congresses of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The armed forces elect their own. Deputies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan follow separate election rules decided by the NPC.

    The NPC session this year will debate on the government work report, the budget of the Central Government and the draft General Provisions of Civil Law, among other matters.(Xinhua)

Caption：

Journalists attend a news conference ahead of the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. More than 3,000 journalists, including 1,250 foreigners, will cover this year’s “two sessions.” The number is 200 more than last year, according to the Media Center Hotel, the press center for the meetings.Xinhua