China’s top political advisory body begins huge annual display

NPC-CPPCC

The annual conferences of China’s top political body, the NPC and CPPCC have begun in Beijing. It marks the start of the most important two weeks on the country’s political calendar.
The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, has over 2,000 members.
Han Bin has the story from Beijing.

The topics discussed are wide-ranging, the ideas are diverse. The 2000-plus CPPCC members bring their influence to policies. It’s also their duty to supervise the government’s work. The key part of their job is the proposals through which they offer their expertise.

Not everyone is satisfied as many members say the departments involved should take many proposals more seriously. At the Proposal Division, it’s the busiest time of the year. The number of proposals has grown over the past year. A sign that more problems are being exposed.

Some will find their way onto the Internet and feedback from the government will be published for public scrutiny this year.

The CPPCC is regarded as one of the pillars of China’s political system, but it does not exercise any State power. Nor does it have the power to vote during the annual meetings. Many people are calling to give the CPPCC more teeth for its supervisory role and the general public is expecting the advisers’ proposals to get to the heart of what matters to people most.


Victor Gao of the China Energy Institute explains massive CPPCC influence

For more perspective on this opening day, CCTV America interviewed Victor Gao. He’s a current affairs commentator and chairman of the China Energy Security Institute.