China’s postponed iconic sessions in May

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

This year's two sessions, China's most important annual political event, will be held in late May in Beijing, an official release issued on April 29, declared.

The third plenary session of the 13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, will kick off on May 22, while the third plenary session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top political advisory body, will start on May 21, according to the information in the official handout. 

The term ‘two sessions’ refers to the annual full session of the NPC, which customarily begins on March 5, and the annual plenary session of the CPPCC National Committee, which was originally scheduled to open on March 3. 

Both the sessions this year were postponed in February, as the nation was focusing on fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) at the time. 

Every year during the two sessions, about 3,000 national legislators and 2,150 national political advisers travel to Beijing to review work reports of the central government, top judicial authorities and the annual budget, and to bring voices from the grassroots and different social sectors to the central leadership.