China's parliament to meet 1st time after Xi made core leader

Beijing: China's annual political season will begin tomorrow, the first since President Xi Jinping was elevated as the "core leader" of the ruling Communist party.

The fortnight-long annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) with 2,987 members and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body comprising 2,229 nominated members, meets once a year with its full membership.

China's legislature, often referred to by the foreign media as a "rubber stamp Parliament" for its routine endorsement of the ruling Communist Party of China's (CPC) proposals, transacts the legislative business with the rest of the year with a select group of legislators.

The CPPCC, a political advisory body comprising nominated members from different sectors including film personalities like Jackie Chan and Beijing-backed Tibetan Buddhist leader Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, will also open its annual session. It will be followed by the NPC session with the presentation of the work report of the government by Premier Li Keqiang.

This year's sessions are being regarded important as they are held on the fifth year of Xi's Presidency. Under China's political system, Chinese leadership has a 10-year tenure.

Speculation is rife about who is going to be picked by Xi to be the part of the powerful seven-member Standing Committee of CPC in the key Party Congress to be held later this year.

It is expected that only Xi and Premier Li will continue while other five would retire.

The Parliament session was expected to throw light on personalities and policies in the run up to the CPC Congress.

State-run Xinhua news agency said the first among the key words and phrases that will be important during the two sessions will be "the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core leader".

Xi, 63, regarded as the most powerful Chinese leader in recent years, heads the CPC and military since 2013 besides being the President. He was declared as the "core leader" at a key party meet last October.

The term "core leader" was synonymous with highest ranking leaders of the party.

Only party founder Mao Zedong, reformist leader Deng Xiaoping and his successor Jiang Zemin were regarded "core leaders" of their generations.

Though Jiang "retired" after a 10-year tenure, he continued to head the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the high command of the Chinese military for two more years, undermining the powers of his successor Hu Jintao.

On the contrary, when Hu retired at the end of 2012, Xi was made the head of all the three power centres.

With first five-year term of his office set to end this

year, Xi was conferred the "core leader" status by party, which was expected to reinforce his power base further in his second term.

The other important key words to be followed about the two sessions, according to Xinhua, is the implementation of the 13th five-year plan which was set in motion last year with a series of reforms to address the slowdown of the world's second largest economy.

China has drawn five-year plans since 1953 to map strategies for overall economic and social development, setting growth targets and defining development policies.

China's economy last year grew by 6.7 per cent, the lowest in 26 years. The target for GDP this year was expected to be announced by Premier Li in his work report. The Chinese government will also announce the defence budget for this year.