Top political advisory body's annual session to open Saturday

BEIJING - The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, will open its annual session Saturday afternoon in Beijing, a spokesperson said Friday.

The session is set to conclude on the morning of March 15, Wang Guoqing, spokesperson for the first session of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC, told a press conference.

An amendment to the CPPCC charter will be put under deliberation and adopted at the session, Wang said.

Part of the charter will be revised to incorporate important new thought, ideas, judgement and measures put forward by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October, he added.

The CPPCC charter has undergone three amendments since its general framework and main content were nailed down in 1982.

"The revision would embody important remarks made by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, on CPPCC work, as well as major spirit and deployment introduced by the CPC Central Committee in this regard since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012," Wang said.

He noted that many good practices and experiences formulated by the CPPCC at various levels over the past five years also needed to be institutionalized through the amendment.

Election of new leadership for the top advisory body is also on the agenda of the upcoming session, Wang noted.

During the session, political advisors will hear and deliberate a report about the work of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and a report on how the proposals from political advisors had been handled since the previous session, according to Wang.

The political advisors will be present at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress as non-voting participants, hearing and discussing reports including a government work report, Wang added.

They will also discuss a draft revision to China's Constitution and a draft law on supervision.

The CPPCC is an important organ for multiparty cooperation and political consultation led by the CPC. It is an important means of promoting socialist democracy.

The political advisors have played an irreplaceable role in advancing reform and opening up in the past 40 years by providing expertise through research, political consultation and democratic supervision, Wang said.

In the next five years, the CPPCC will make it a top priority to study and implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, he said.