Chinese Government 101: China’s National People’s Congress and Standing Committee

With March 5th marking the last meeting of the National People's Congress ("NPC") before the decade transition in Presidential leadership, it's a timely topic to start off the Chinese Government 101 series.  

Here are the basics on the NPC: 

• The first session of the NPC began in 1954, five years after the founding of the People's Republic of China.  
• Sessions last five years each, though during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution a session lasted 11 years (and only held one meeting the entire time!) 
• As I mentioned in this prior post, the only direct elections in China are at the most local level, the village councils and the local People’s Congress. All other officials, including the nearly 3,000 NPC delegates, are elected by a vote of representatives at the level below it.
• When they meet in plenary, the NPC delegates gathers at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing {pictue below from my Pinterest}.  

• The NPC is responsible for electing the Premier (currently Hu Jintao, soon to be Xi Jinping) and making various appointments, including the Premier. It is also empowered to interpret the Constitution and pass legislation.  Rather than rely on internal committees to draft the legislation, often experts from the field are given the task and the public is requested to comment on various drafts that are released.  
• The Standing Committee of the NPC (NPCSC) is a 150 member subsection of the NPC that convenes between meetings of the full NPC (i.e., it's where the work really gets done). The Standing Committee has many of the same powers as the NPC, including passing laws and amending legislation. It is also responsible for providing interpretations of the laws passed by itself and the NPC as guidance for the People's Courts.

Originally symbolic in nature, I would argue the NPC has evolved into a legitimate body in the PRC political system. By legitimate, I don't mean that it has equal or balanced power to the Presidency, nor even to the Chinese Communist Party. These two forces are much more powerful than the NPC and shape the direction, policy and daily decisions of the PRC. Rather, I mean legitimate in that it has an actual function - it is needed to pass legislation at its plenary meetings, and it serves the purpose of uniting various viewpoints throughout China in one forum. China is a Communist country - but there are other political parties, as well. In fact, about 1/3 of the seats in the NPC are reserved for non-members of the Chinese Communist Party. With a country as large and diverse economically, geographically and ethnically as China, there is value merely in hosting discussions between the regional delegates to inform the organ and the leadership at large of the challenges faced by the people.  

In case you are interested in detailed information on the work of the NPC, the Wall Street Journal blogged real-time the plenary of the 10th Session this week.  And if fashion is more your niche, TIME tells you everything you'd want to know about those large spectacles the delegates prefer.