The first session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) was introduced today by the spokesperson of the CPPCC. (The CPPCC is a consultative body, while it is the National People’s Congress that actually passes legislation.) The “two sessions” are held at the same time, with the CPPCC beginning a day before the NPC.

Some of the topics that will be high on the agenda include:

• deliberation on the next Five-Year Plan

• continued poverty alleviation under the rubric of rural revitalization,

• fighting the epidemic and getting people vaccinated, and

• a discussion on the demographic issue with China’s aging population and changes in the family planning laws.