CPPCC opens in Beijing, marking start of China’s “Two Sessions”

World Today

NPC CPPCC

China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, opens on Sunday. But first, the country’s top political advisory body is holding its annual meeting.

CGTN’s Tang Bo reports on the first of the “Two Sessions.”

CPPCC opens in Beijing, marking start of China's "Two Sessions"

China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, opens on Sunday. But first, the country’s top political advisory body is holding its annual meeting.

The CPPCC, short for Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is neither a body of state power nor a policy-making organ.

Rather, it serves as an advisory committee for the National People’s Congress, and is made up of people from all aspects of Chinese society.

They are in Beijing to contribute their ideas and suggestions for improving China.

The CPPCC also supervises the implementation of the Constitution, the country’s various rules and regulations, and the work of government agencies and their functionaries.

It was the CPPCC that gave birth to the People’s Republic of China in 1949 through the drafting of its original constitution, known as the Common Program.

During its first plenary session that year, the CPPCC made Beijing the capital city, approved the five-star national flag, and adopted the national anthem, “March of the Volunteers.” It also adopted the common era calendar for China.

The CPPCC was the central decision-making body for the new Chinese state until 1954, when the first National People’s Congress convened.