This year's annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC see new changes, says an article in Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

With the curtain going up on the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), we can see at least four new changes.

The first is the optimized structure of deputies to the NPC. Deputies from provincial-level officials have dropped by one-third from last year; deputies who are workers have been doubled; farmer deputies have soared by 70 percent and three migrant worker deputies will make their debut at the NPC.

The second, people in the CPPCC line-up. Half of the members are new; non-Communist Party members account for over 60 percent; the average age of members has been lowered by two years, and woman members have been increased by 1 percentage point.

The third, environmental and other issues. This year is the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, the Olympic year and the transitional year for the implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). The NPC and CPPCC sessions follow the Party's 17th National Congress, the severe snow disasters in the central and southern parts of the country, and the soaring CPI.

The fourth, the range of topics. At this year's sessions, major topics such as the reshuffling of the State Council and election of China's new government leaders, and smaller ones like the South China Tiger picture will be discussed by deputies and members. In addition, they will also touch upon anti-corruption, social security, education, housing and income distribution.

The two meetings have attracted not only the attention of Chinese citizens, but also the world. As of Sunday, 843 overseas journalists representing 225 media outlets had arrived to cover the meetings, a 20 percent rise over last year.

We hope that these 5,000 plus deputies and members will speak the truth and work diligently during the meetings to successfully fulfill their roles.

(China Daily March 4, 2008)