March 2, 2009
China’s annual “Two Meetings” in which the NPC and CPPCC meet to review draft laws and discuss proposals for the coming year happens just after Spring Festival every year, causing disturbances to Beijing’s traffic and many boring articles in the media.
This year’s sessions begin tomorrow, and the media coverage has started.
The big photo on today’s Beijing News shows ethnic minority representatives, in Beijing to attend the meetings. They are dressed up in their traditional costumes.
Given the current economic climate, cost cutting is a big theme: this year’s session will last for only nine days, making it the shortest one in recent years; Mainland NPC representatives will be barred from staying in five star hotels and their food budget will be limited to 100 yuan per head per day (Hong Kong and Macao representatives will not be subject to such restrictions).
There is another measure to battle wastefulness, and perhaps egg on a national flag-bearer company: each NPC representative will be issued a Lenovo laptop in order to cut back on paper use. A technician will be assigned to assist representatives who do not know how to use computers. The laptops will be collected when the session ends.
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Representatives have arrived in Beijing for impending “Two Meetings”
- Shanghai Securities News via Hexun.com (Chinese): A “green” Two Meetings
- New Express (Chinese): “Two Meetings” shrunk to nine days for economical reasons