NPC session to start from May 22
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday announced the new opening dates for its key annual political gatherings, which was delayed because of the coronavirus, sending a strong signal that the country is recovering from the epidemic.
The National People’s Congress, the top legislature, announced that it will hold the annual session starting on May 22.
The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will start a day earlier on May 21.
Known as the “two sessions,” the annual sessions of the country’s national legislature and political advisory body are usually convened in early March to decide on important state affairs.
But this year, the gatherings of about 5,000 people in Beijing were postponed due to the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak.
The dates were set at a time when the domestic transmission of COVID-19 has been basically curbed. According to the health authorities, there were only 647 patients still being treated on the mainland while 77,578 people had recovered by Tuesday. A total of 22 new cases were reported yesterday.
China’s number of infections has dwindled dramatically over the last month, with no new deaths reported for two weeks straight.
“The COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control situation in China is improving steadily and the normal economic and social life is gradually resuming,” said a statement issued by the NPC Standing Committee after it decided on the annual legislative session’s opening date.
“With various factors taken into consideration, the conditions for convening the NPC annual session at an appropriate time are ready,” it added.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the sessions will go on and whether the delegates would come to Beijing, or if it would be held virtually through videoconference.
“I’m not aware of the specifics, but I believe because of the epidemic, the two sessions this year will be somewhat different from other years,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said when asked if there would be any changes.
Health on agenda
A number of local governments have held their regional political meetings online.
Usually more than 5,000 delegates descend on Beijing from all over China for at least 10 days.
This year, health is expected to be heatedly discussed by lawmakers when they meet.
The NPC Standing Committee yesterday heard a report on strengthening public health legislation, including a specific legislative plan that involves 17 health-related laws to be formulated or revised in 2020 and 2021.
The top legislature is working on a biosecurity law and a revision to the law on animal epidemic prevention.
Scientists believe the coronavirus likely started in bats and spread to humans, possibly through the wildlife trade.
The new opening dates were set on the same day that authorities said China’s capital would lower its emergency alert from the highest level starting today.
With the downgrade, Beijing will remove 14-day quarantine requirements for people arriving from low-risk parts of the country. People in quarantine at home or at a centralised venue will also be released from their obligation to isolate themselves, Beijing’s vice secretary-general Chen Bei told a news conference.
Arrivals in Beijing from Hubei Province and other high- and medium-risk places as well as travelers coming from abroad are still required to complete a 14-day quarantine.
Additionally, nucleic acid testing results will no longer be needed to book a room at a hotel in Beijing. Couriers, deliverymen, housekeepers and real estate agents will be allowed to enter residential communities if their health codes are green, Chen said.
The decision was made after the city had seen no new confirmed local or imported COVID-19 cases for 13 consecutive days.
The neighboring city of Tianjin and Hebei Province also announced yesterday to degrade their COVID-19 emergency responses from the top level to the second level from today on.
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