China's National People's Congress: What You Need to Know
- Largely ceremonial body provides rare access to top leaders
- Top legislature to reveal key details of economic blueprint
The sun rises behind a paramilitary police officer standing guard outside Tiananmen Square ahead of the closing session of the third session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, on Sunday, March 15, 2015.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergEach year, some 3,000 of China’s most powerful officials descend on Beijing for about 10 days of parliamentary pageantry known as the National People’s Congress.
While the country’s top legislature is constitutionally charged with vast powers, the mechanics of one-party rule ensure most important decisions are hashed out in closed-door Communist Party meetings long before reaching the floor. That said, the public proceedings at the Great Hall of the People represent the one time each year that many of the people who run the world’s second-largest economy face the press, providing rare insight into their thinking and policy plans.