2006 National People's Congress
The 4th Plenary Session of the 10th National People's Congress was held in Beijing, China, in conjunction with the 2006 CPPCC. Many items were listed on the agenda for the two-week-long session of the National People's Congress. 2,937 delegates from every province, municipality, and Special Administrative Region were in attendance. The 2006 Session was chaired by Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo.
The National People's Congress is the People's Republic of China's highest legislative body. The congress is composed of members from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a coalition of nine parties. In practice, it is rare, but not completely unheard of, for the final vote on legislation to be less than near unanimous, and legislative practice has been to achieve consensus before the final vote including the approval of senior officials of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of the People's Republic of China.
Because of this practice, controversial items can be removed from the NPC agenda if there is serious disagreement over the contents of the legislation. This occurred this session with the Property Law of the People's Republic of China which was originally scheduled for approval this year but was dropped after objections from the Leftist party members who argued that the draft did not sufficiently protect state assets.
Formal issues listed for discussion include the "Three Rural Issues" from agricultural reform, cracking down on corruption, and studying the Three Represents as the guide for Chinese policy in the days ahead. Formally, Premier Wen Jiabao made the annual government report to the Congress outlining government policy and its progress from 2005. The Eleventh Five-Year Plan will undergo review. A Budget will be drafted for the following fiscal year. NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo will review the work of the NPC Standing Committee from last year. The Judiciary system will also make its respective reports.
In official Chinese news, the phrase "core of leadership" has been omitted when describing Hu Jintao. This came in stark contrast to the repetitive "unify under the core of leadership under Jiang Zemin" slogan used frequently in China during his years in power. Vice-Premier Huang Ju was absent because of health problems.
Read more about 2006 National People's Congress: Wen Jiabao's Government Report, Issues Discussed
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