The opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress, the highlight of China’s two sessions (National Political Consultative Conference and National People’s Congress), was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on the morning of the 5th.
Traffic will be restricted near the Great Hall of the People, located in Tiananmen Square, where China’s largest political event is held. Because of this, in order to get here, you have to take a shuttle bus provided by the government or get off at a point about 1km away from the Great Hall of the People and walk. You can enter the Great Hall of the People only after verifying your identity by presenting your press card at each passage.
On this day, it felt like the weather was especially cloudy, with sleet that could not be distinguished as rain or snow. In the past, China has produced ‘Yanghoe Blue’, where blue skies appear whenever large-scale events such as the Two Years are held. Even on the opening day of the CPPCC, which announced the start of the two sessions, there was no blue sky.
On the day of the National People’s Congress opening ceremony, reporters are allowed to enter from 7:30, 90 minutes before the start. According to the Yanghoe Media Center, about 3,000 reporters applied to report this year. As if reflecting this, despite the early hour, the ‘open run’ procession of reporters continued.
As soon as I entered the first floor lobby of the Great Hall of the People, the thing that caught my eye the most was the ‘red carpet’. During the two sessions, China conducts doorstepping such as ‘representative passage’ and ‘deputy leader passage’, where interviewees face reporters in front of the red carpet and receive on-site questions.
Prior to the opening ceremony, a ‘representative passage’ is held where people’s representatives attend, and immediately after the opening ceremony, a ‘ministerial passage’ is held where ministerial-level officials answer questions. During the coronavirus period, the event was held virtually, but face-to-face ‘doorstepping’ resumed last year with the declaration of ‘With Corona’. Last year, the National People’s Congress opening ceremony was only revealed to a select group of reporters, so this year’s coverage was hotter than ever.
A journalist who met at the scene said, “You can’t know which National People’s Congress representative will be standing in front of reporters until the representative passage begins,” and “It’s the same for the deputy director passage.” The National People’s Congress mentioned in a press conference the previous day that it would abolish the closing ceremony Prime Minister’s press conference, but increase the number of representative and deputy representative channels and the number of participants.
The first floor lobby of the Great Hall of the People, where the National People’s Congress is held. A large number of reporters are gathered ahead of the ‘Representative Passage’. ⓒ News1The opening ceremony ‘main passage’ lasted for over 30 minutes starting at 8 a.m. on this day, with six people in attendance, including Intongwe, Chairman and President of Chery Motors, CEO Gaojifan Tianhe Guangneng, Captain Liu Chuanjian of the Civil Aviation Academy of China, and Director of Hangkan Yungang Research Institute. did.
At the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress held at 9 o’clock after all pre-events were completed, 2,872 of the 2,956 National People’s Representatives arrived. Through his work report, Premier Li Qiang presented China’s economic growth target of around 5% this year.
In his work report, Prime Minister Lee said, “Considering the past year, the achievements we achieved were not easy as many difficulties and challenges overlapped,” and added, “We have accumulated valuable experience to develop economic projects in a new era and overcome difficulties.” .
Prime Minister Li said, “Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Chinese people have fully demonstrated that they have courage and wisdom and are capable of overcoming any difficulties and dangers. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
After Premier Li’s remarks, the National People’s Representatives who filled the Great Hall of the People responded with loud applause.
When Prime Minister Li introduced last year’s diplomatic achievements and said, “China has played a constructive role in resolving major international and regional problems,” and “China has contributed to world peace and development,” there was yet another round of applause. It exploded.
(Beijing = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.