Lawmakers and advisers are meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for the annual sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, 2,158 delegates, 40% are Members of the Chinese Communist Party) and the National People’s Congress (NPC, 2,980 delegates, 75% of them attending for the first time). The CPPCC is an advisory body and the NPC the Chinese legislature. This year a new five-year cycle starts and both bodies will get new Chairmen. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang are expected to be confirmed in their functions for another five-year term. This is the first session of the legislature after the Communist Party’s 19th Congress in October last year.

The current session of the National People’s Congress is expected to approve changes to the Chinese Constitution – the first amendments to be voted on in 14 years – to remove the two-term limit for the President and Vice President, which could allow current President Xi Jinping to continue in the job for a third term after 2023. “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” is also to be written into the Constitution.

Some changes to ministries and commissions are also expected to be made. Previously, fighting corruption was the task of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) – a department of the Chinese Communist Party – which after completing an investigation would transfer the case to the judicial organs. A proposal will be voted on by the current NPC session to establish a National Supervision Commission – an organ of the state, not the party – which would have more powers than the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and have jurisdiction over all state employees.

Chairman Yu Zhengsheng delivered his report to the advisers of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on March 3. The advisers formulate proposals which could be taken up by the legislators of the NPC at a later session to be written into law or which could be implemented by the administration.