29/04/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – China announced on Wednesday that its parliament will open a key annual session on May 22, signalling that Beijing sees the country returning to normal after being reduced to a near-standstill for months by the COVID-19 epidemic.
During the gathering of the National People’s Congress in the capital, delegates will ratify major legislation, and the government will unveil economic targets, set defence spending projections and make personnel changes. The ruling Communist Party also typically announces signature policy initiatives.
The session was initially scheduled to start on March 5 but was postponed due to COVID-19, which has infected nearly 83,000 people and killed more than 4,600 on the mainland after emerging late last year in the central city of Wuhan.
As the epidemic has subsided, economic and social life gradually returned to normal, making it possible for the congress to convene, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the standing committee of the NPC, the legislature’s top decision-making body, as saying.
The committee also appointed Huang Runqiu as the new minister for ecology and environment, a post vacated when predecessor Li Ganjie became deputy Communist Party chief for Shandong province earlier this month, Xinhua reported.
Tang Yijun was also named as the new justice minister to replace Fu Zhenghua, who has reached the retirement age of 65 for ministers.
The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body to parliament, has proposed starting its annual session a day before the parliamentary session opens.
Analysts expect China to roll out additional fiscal stimulus in order to cushion the blow from COVID-19, which has developed in to a worldwide pandemic that some fear will trigger a severe global recession.
China’s economy contracted for the first time on record during the January-March period, when the government imposed severe travel and transport restriction to curb the spread of the epidemic.
Parliament is also expected to discuss the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, amid growing speculation that Beijing take steps to strengthen its grip on the city.
It is unclear how long parliament and its advisory body will meet for this time, and people familiar with the matter have told Reuters that this year’s annual sessions could be the shortest in decades due to COVID-19 concerns. Usually more than 5,000 delegates descend on Beijing from all over China for at least 10 days.
Beijing city plans to ease quarantine rules as early as Thursday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters, ahead of the key political meetings.
People arriving in the capital from other parts of China will no long have to be quarantined for two weeks unless they come from high-risk areas such as Heilongjiang in the north and some parts of Guangdong in the southeast, the sources said.
Source: Reuters
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16/03/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – China tentatively plans to hold its delayed annual gathering of parliament in late April or early May, two people involved in preparations told Reuters, as new coronavirus cases in the country drop sharply even as they surge elsewhere.
The annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), known as the “two sessions”, were scheduled for early March but were delayed due to the virus outbreak, with no new date announced.
Holding the events, which typically draw a combined 5,000 delegates to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, would be a major indication that the Chinese leadership sees things as returning to normal.
The State Council Information Office and the media department of the Standing Committee of the NPC did not immediately respond to faxed requests for comment on Monday.
The outbreak that originated in the central city of Wuhan has infected more than 80,000 people in the country, killed 3,200 and wreaked economic havoc, causing factory output to plunge at the sharpest pace in three decades.
The NPC’s timing is not finalised, and one of the people said the number of attendees may be reduced, with those visiting from outside Beijing needing to undergo quarantine.
People now arriving in the capital from elsewhere in China must spend two weeks in quarantine.
“We still have to play it by ear, as the coronavirus rapidly spreads across the world,” said the person, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
The NPC, China’s parliament, usually sits for at least 10 days. The CPPCC, a largely ceremonial advisory body, runs in parallel.
During parliament, legislators pass laws and unveil economic targets, defence spending projections and other important policy decisions. It is also an occasion for China’s ruling Communist Party to announce major policy and personnel changes.
This year, the NPC is expected to discuss the recent months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, with China’s economy also expected to be a key item on the agenda.
Source: Reuters
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17/02/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s parliament and its top political consultative body are both considering delaying annual meetings set for March, state media said on Monday, as the country battles a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 1,700 people.
The meetings of the parliament, or National People’s Congress (NPC), and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were both due to begin early next month.
The gatherings see more than 5,000 delegates descend on Beijing, the capital, from all over China, for at least 10 days, to pass legislation and unveil the year’s key economic targets.
A postponement would be the first since China adopted the current March schedule in 1995 for the meeting of parliament.
The standing committee of the NPC will meet on Feb. 24 in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said.
“The upcoming session is … expected to deliberate a draft decision on postponing the third annual session of the 13th NPC,” it said. The session was due to have begun on March 5.
The proposal was made in the belief it was important to focus on reining in the epidemic, Xinhua said. China has imposed transport curbs to halt the spread of the virus, which has killed 1,770 and infected nearly 71,000 in mainland China.
The CPPCC is also studying whether to postpone its annual meeting, state-run CCTV said, due to have begun two days earlier, on March 3.
Five people familiar with the matter told Reuters this month that China was considering delaying the meetings as Beijing grapples with the epidemic.
The parliamentary committee will also consider a proposed law banning wildlife trade and discuss government changes, Xinhua said, without elaborating.
Source: Reuters
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03/03/2019
- Capital issues orange alert as delegates arrive for one of the year’s biggest gatherings
- All construction must stop, and elderly and children advised to stay indoors
An orange pollution alert will stay in place in Beijing throughout Sunday and Monday. Photo: AFP
Heavy smog blanketed Beijing on Sunday as thousands of delegates started arriving in the Chinese capital for one of the annual highlights on the country’s political calendar.
The pollution descended on Friday night, prompting authorities on Saturday to issue an orange alert, the second-highest smog warning in the four-tier system.
The alert – which advises elderly people and children to stay indoors – will remain in place throughout Sunday, the first day of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Monday.
Conditions are expected to improve by Tuesday, when the National People’s Congress starts.
“Due to bad weather, there will be heavy regional pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region that will persist and affect a large area,” the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said.
Under the orange alert, all construction work in the city must stop, some factories have to halt production, and all fireworks and outdoor barbecues are banned.
A Chinese paramilitary police officer patrols in front of the Great Hall of the People on Saturday on the eve of the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. Photo: AFP
Source: SCMP
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