National People's Congress (CHINA)

NATIONAL PEOPLES CONGRESS (CHINA)

The National People's Congress (usually abbreviated NPC) is the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,924 members in 2017, it is the largest parliamentary body in the world. Under China's current Constitution, the NPC is structured as a unicameral legislature, with the power to legislate, the power to oversee the operations of the government, and the power to elect the major officers of state. The NPC and the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a consultative body whose members represent various social groups, are the main deliberative bodies of China, and are often referred to as the Lianghui (Two Assemblies).

The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The NPC's sessions are usually timed to occur with the meetings of the CPPCC, and these annual meetings provide an opportunity for the officers of state to review past policies and present future plans to the nation. The fourth session of the 12th NPC was held from March 5 to March 16, 2016.

Powers and Duties

In theory, the NPC is the highest organ of state power in China, and all four PRC constitutions have vested it with great lawmaking powers. However, in practice it usually acts as a rubber stamp for decisions already made by the state's executive organs and the Communist Party of China. One of its members, Hu Xiaoyan, told the BBC in 2009 that she has no power to help her constituents. She was quoted as saying, "As a parliamentary representative, I don't have any real power." In 2014, the CPC pledged to protect the NPC's right to "supervise and monitor the government," provided that the NPC continue to "unswervingly adhere" to the party's leadership Since the 1990s, the NPC has become a forum for mediating policy differences between different parts of the Party, the government, and groups of society.

There are mainly four functions and powers of the NPC:

1. To amend the Constitution and oversee its enforcement

2. To enact and amend basic law governing criminal offences, civil affairs, state organs and other matters

3. To elect and appoint members to the central state organs

4. To determine major state issues

Proceedings

The NPC meets for about two weeks each year at the same time as the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, usually in the Spring. The combined sessions have been known as the two meetings. Between these sessions, power is exercised by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress which contains about 150 members.

The sessions have become media events because it is at the plenary sessions that the Chinese leadership produces work reports. Although the NPC has thus far never failed to approve a work report or candidate nominated by the Party, these votes are no longer unanimous. It is considered extremely embarrassing for the approval vote to fall below 70%, which occurred several times in the mid-1990s. More recently, work reports have been vetted with NPC delegates beforehand to avoid this embarrassment.

Election and Membership

The NPC consists of about 3,000 delegates. Delegates to the National People's Congress are elected for five-year terms via a multi-tiered representative electoral system. Delegates are elected by the provincial people's assemblies, who in turn are elected by lower level assemblies, and so on through a series of tiers to the local people's assemblies which are directly elected by the electorate.

There is a limit on the number of candidates in proportion to the number of seats available. At the national level, for example, a maximum of 110 candidates are allowed per 100 seats; at the provincial level, this ratio is 120 candidates per 100 seats. This ratio increases for each lower level of people's assemblies, until the lowest level, the village level, has no limit on the number of candidates for each seat. However, the Congress website says "In an indirect election, the number of candidates should exceed the number to be elected by 20% to 50%."

Membership of previous National People's Congresses

Congress	Year	Total deputies	Female deputies	Female %	Minority deputies	Minority %
First	1954	1226	147	12	178	14.5
Second	1959	1226	150	12.2	179	14.6
Third	1964	3040	542	17.8	372	12.2
Fourth	1975	2885	653	22.6	270	9.4
Fifth	1978	3497	742	21.2	381	10.9
Sixth	1983	2978	632	21.2	403	13.5
Seventh	1988	2978	634	21.3	445	14.9
Eighth	1993	2978	626	21	439	14.8
Ninth	1998	2979	650	21.8	428	14.4
Tenth	2003	2985	604	20.2	414	13.9
Eleventh	2008	2987	637	21.3	411	13.8
Twelfth	2013	2987	699	23.4	409	13.7

  

Standing Committee

• Chairman
• Vice Chairpersons
• Secretary-General

Structure

Special committees

In addition to the Standing Committee, nine special committees have been established under the NPC to study issues related to specific fields. These committees include:

• Ethnic Affairs Committee
• Law Committee
• Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee
• Financial and Economic Affairs Committee
• Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee
• Foreign Affairs Committee
• Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee
• Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee
• Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Administrative bodies

A number of administrative bodies have also been established to provide support for the work of the NPC. These include:

• General Office
• Legislative Affairs Commission
• Budgetary Affairs Commission
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee
• Macao Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee