An online news center has been opened for the first time for the
annual sessions of China's legislature and national advisory body
at the website of the National People's Congress (NPC).
The Fourth Session of the Tenth Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened on Friday afternoon, while
the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC begins on March 5.
TV media will be allowed to do more live broadcasts on the
plenary sessions of the NPC this year. More press conferences will
be arranged and more meetings of the NPC delegations will be opened
to journalists.
"It's obvious that we have more channels to get information
about the sessions this year, especially from the online news
center," said a reporter with Bloomberg News Bureau.
"We can get lots of important information from the online news
center, which is every convenient to us," he said.
"More live TV broadcasts of the plenary sessions of the NPC and
more meetings of the NPC delegations being opened to media will
give us more chances to see the real situation of Chinese lawmakers
participating in the deliberation and administration of state
affairs," said a reporter with the Singapore's Straits Times
newspaper.
Seven press conferences will be held during this year's NPC
session. Besides the news conferences for the session spokesman,
China's foreign minister and premier, there will also be press
conferences for the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC),
the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of
Agriculture.
In addition, there will be a joint press conference for the
SDRC, the Ministry of Land Resources and the State Environmental
Protection Administration, according to an official from the
general office of the NPC Standing Committee.
In previous years, the information on the proposals of the NPC
delegates would not be released until the deadline of submission.
However, the number and focuses of the proposals will be made
public almost immediately this year, said the official.
Fu Yonglin, an NPC deputy and professor at the Southwest College
of Foreign Languages, said the NPC and CPPCC sessions have become
more transparent and open to the public, a sign of progress in
Chinese legislation.
Public opinion was solicited regarding the draft of the property
law in 2005. More than 11,500 pieces of advice on the law have been
received by the NPC Standing Committee, which has held discussions
on it four times.
Because of the hot debate, the draft of the property law was not
passed by the NPC Standing Committee in 2005 as scheduled, and more
discussions on it will continue this year.
"Property law is of great importance to China's market economy
and legal system. The debates on it will help perfect the law. It
is the certain trend of the progress of democracy," said Fu.
Public opinion and debate also affected the Chinese
legislature's decision to raise the cutoff point of the monthly
personal income tax from the 800 yuan to 1,600 yuan (US$99-198) in
2005.
"The information transparency on NPC sessions will help improve
public participation in legislation. We have more expectations of
the annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC and the development of
democracy," Fu added.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2006)