◎ On March 4, state media announced that the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress would be held from March 5 to March 20, or a period of 15 and a half days.
On March 4, state media announced that the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress would be held from March 5 to March 20, or a period of 15 and a half days. This means that 13th NPC’s first session is three days longer than the 12th NPC’s first session.
Our take:
The official timetable for the first session of the 13th NPC confirms the intel we obtained from Chinese Communist Party insiders. The insiders also note that “exploratory discussions” (“yun niang”) about personnel issues are on the agenda at the NPC session.
In our earlier analysis brief, we wrote that the NPC session was likely extended because members of the Chinese legislature need time to deliberate personnel arrangements for new state institutions.
We also wrote that it is likely that State Council institutions won’t be immediate restructured after the Two Sessions, but preliminary discussions about personnel appointments could still take place at the NPC session.