China to adjust annual legislative session arrangements

BEIJING - China's top legislature will adjust its arrangements for the upcoming annual legislative session to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic and safeguard public health, a senior member of the legislature said Friday.

The third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is scheduled to open in Beijing on May 22, said Zhang Yesui, chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NPC, in an interview with Xinhua.

The duration of the session will be appropriately shortened, Zhang said, adding that the agenda and schedule will need to be approved at meetings before the session.

Some of the Chinese and foreign journalists in Beijing will be invited to cover the session but journalists who are overseas will not be invited to come to Beijing for reporting, Zhang added.

News conferences, briefings and other interview activities will be appropriately streamlined and conducted in innovative forms such as by video link, he said.

Zhang said the session's news center has received applications from more than 3,000 Chinese and foreign reporters to cover the event, expressing his gratitude to their attention to China's economic and social development and the legislative session itself.

He also said when the session holds plenary meetings; foreign envoys will be invited to observe the meetings. Some of the Chinese and foreign journalists in Beijing will be invited to cover the meetings in the Great Hall of the People.

No open-day activities or other group interviews will be held by various delegations, Zhang said. But spokespersons will be appointed by delegations, press liaison officers will assist press interviews, and studios will be set up at the hotels the delegations stay to encourage deputies to be interviewed, he added.

Information as well as main documents in Chinese and foreign languages will be posted on the website of the session's press center in a timely manner, Zhang said.

The session is committed to being open and transparent to provide services to Chinese and foreign journalists for news reporting, he said.