China's top advisory body to start annual session, with focus on global financial crisis

The Second Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will open on Tuesday afternoon and last nine days, said spokesman for the session Zhao Qizheng at a press conference on Monday.

The session's secretariat said political advisors have submitted 296 proposals as of 5:00 PM on Monday, with economy, employment and infrastructure being the main concerns as the global financial crisis unfolded.

Members of the CPPCC National Committee have shown great concerns about the economy. Some of them are optimistic about the goal of an 8-percent economic growth this year while others think it is difficult to realize, Zhao said.

China can achieve the goal through its efforts, said Zhao. China must try all means to ensure stable and rapid economic development and strive for the target in order to ride through the crisis, as the country's political advisors all agree.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the 11th CPPCC National Committee, will deliver a report on the work of the CPPCC National Committee's Standing Committee over the past year, while Zhang Rongming, vice-chairwoman of the 11th CPPCC National Committee, will report how the suggestions and proposals from CPPCC members were handled since the last session, Zhao said.

CPPCC National Committee members, coming throughout the country, are expected to discuss the report on government work by Premier Wen Jiabao, reports on the work of the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, he said.

During the session, the political advisory body will hold two press conferences on the proposals on how to achieve steady and relatively fast economic growth and the World Expo in Shanghai next year.

A total of 2,235 political advisors are expected to attend the session.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2009)