2008 National People's Congress

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The 1st Plenary Session of the 11th National People's Congress (traditional Chinese: 第十一屆全國人民代表大會一次全體會議; simplified Chinese: 第十一届全国人民代表大会一次全体会议) held its annual meeting from March 5 to March 18, 2008 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, in conjunction with the 2008 CPPCC. The 10-day plenum elected China's new government leaders. Up for confirmation for a second term were President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The State Council went through important personnel changes following the 17th Party Congress. Zeng Qinghong's Vice-Presidency came to an end and the position was taken by Xi Jinping.

Contents

[edit] Government Report

Premier Wen Jiabao delivered the government report on March 5, 2008, reviewing the work from the past five years. The main points that come out of the report were

  • Rebuilding of snowstorm hit areas in Southern China. Rebuild power, communications and water infrastructure in Hunan, Anhui, Guangdong, Sichuan and Hebei. [1]
  • Control of inflation and maintain price stability for basic necessities, food and essential commodities. [2]
  • Regulation of excessive investments in fixed assets. [3]
  • Education reforms which include free nine years of education and education initiatives to assist with the rural regions. [4]
  • Increase resources towards energy conservation, more efficient technologies and reduction of emissions.[5]

[edit] State Council Reform

A massive reform took place in China's cabinet, the State Council. Several ministries were consolidated to form super ministries. The several super ministries [6]

New Ministry Legacy depts Areas of Responsibility New sub agencies reporting
Ministry of Industry and Information National Development and Research Commission (NDRC)
the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense
Ministry of Information Industry
State Council Information Office
State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau
Internet
Mobile Telecom
Landline Telecom
Postal Services
Internet Security
State Postal Bureau
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Ministry of Personnel
Ministry of Labour and Social Security
Employment
Social Services
State Bureau of Civil Servants
Ministry of Environmental Protection State Environmental Protection Administration Environmental Protection
Enforcement
n/a
Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Ministry of Construction Housing
Rural
Urban
n/a
Ministry of Transport Ministry of Communications
Civil Aviation Administration of China
Road Transport
Air Transport
Water safety and Shipping
State Civil Aviation Bureau

The state council will also create the National Energy Commission which will oversee national energy strategy, security and development. While the National Development and Reform Commission will continue to control the administration and regulation of the energy sector.[7]

The State Food and Drug Administration will be incorporated and come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. Therefore the Health ministry will take over the responsibility for food and drug safety. [8][9]

The People's Bank of China will increase its coordination role between all the financial executive agencies, namely the National Development and Reform Commission and the Finance ministry. [10]

[edit] Election Results

See also: People's Republic of China presidential election, 2008
  • Hu Jintao (for President): 2,956 for, 3 against, 5 abstentions
  • Hu Jintao (for CMC Chairman): 2,959 for, 4 against, 4 abstentions
  • Xi Jinping (for Vice-President): 2,919 for, 28 against, 7 abstentions[11]
  • Wen Jiabao (for Premier): 2,926 for, 21 against, 12 abstentions

[edit] Premier's Press Conference

Premier Wen Jiabao held a press conference on March 18, 2008. He introduced the new Vice-Premiers, Li Keqiang, Hui Liangyu, Zhang Dejiang and Wang Qishan. Wen addressed the direction of the government in the next five years. He also addressed the ongoing Tibetan protests. Wen asserted that the Dalai Lama was "masterminding" the protests in Tibet. Wen said that 2008 could be a very difficult year for the Chinese economy because of both international and domestic reasons.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Preceded by
2007 NPC
Annual National People's Congress Sessions of the
People's Republic of China

March 5—18, 2008
Succeeded by
2009 NPC