Journalists from both China and abroad are gearing up to cover the coming sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, which are to open respectively on the third and fifth this month.

The news center for the two sessions is now open, with more than 2,200 journalists from China and foreign countries having registered to cover the event.

"This year foreign journalists are paying great attention to the two sessions. Many more have registered to report the event. And nearly 100 press officers from foreign embassies in China have signed up to attend the sessions." said Sun Weide, an official with the center.

For foreign journalists, the coming sessions of the NPC and CPPCC are a good opportunity to learn about China.

"Well our newspaper is a financial newspaper so we are mainly interested in the progress of China's economy."

"So I think it's a good opportunity for people in Brazil to understand how the political system and the powers work together here in China, and how the system works."

Officials at the news center say registration of foreign journalists is still going on.

(CRI March 2, 2005)