THE Communist Party of China (CPC) agreed yesterday to deepen reform of Party and government departments to improve their function and to push for high- quality development.

A communique following the three-day third plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee that ended in Beijing yesterday said that transforming government functions and optimizing the setup of government bodies and the deployment of their functions is an important mission for deepening Party and national department reform.

The statement also said that China will strengthen market supervision and management of natural resources and environmental protection.

The Party also agreed that local governments would be given more power to make decisions for themselves, as long as they are in line with the Central Government.

The primary task of deepening reform is to ensure the Party’s leadership is all encompassing and becomes ever stronger.

Two lists of proposed candidates for State leadership positions and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, respectively, were deliberated at the plenary session.

The list of proposed candidates for State leadership positions will be recommended to the presidium of the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the proposed candidate list for the leadership of the CPPCC National Committee will be recommended to the presidium of the first session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

The three-day meeting, convened from Monday, was held days before the country’s “two sessions.”

The first annual sessions of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the 13th National People’s Congress will open March 3 and 5, respectively.

As this year marks the first year to implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up, the sessions have drawn worldwide attention.

More than 3,000 reporters have registered to cover the events, including more than 1,000 from overseas.

Reporters will also be given more opportunities to interview NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Besides the routine arrangements such as deliberating the government work report and examining budgets, this year the NPC deputies will also deliberate a draft revision to the Constitution.

The CPPCC session is expected to deliberate a draft amendment to its charter.

(SD-Xinhua)