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2008 National People's Congress

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  • 2008 National People's Congress
  • 第十一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议
  • Dì-shíyī Jiè Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì Dì-yīcì Huìyì
  • 1st Plenary Session of the
  • 11th National People's Congress

  • 5 March – 18 March

President Premier Congress Chairman
Hu Jintao Wen Jiabao Wu Bangguo
since
15 March 2003
since
16 March 2003
since
15 March 2003

President-elect Premier-elect Congress Chairman-elect
Hu Jintao Wen Jiabao Wu Bangguo

Website
2008 NPC official website

The 1st Session of the 11th National People's Congress held its annual meeting from March 5 to March 18, 2008 in 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 and structural changes following the 17th Party Congress. Zeng Qinghong's Vice-Presidency came to an end and the position was taken by Xi Jinping. Three new Vice-Premiers were confirmed and took office, with rising star Li Keqiang ranking first in this group.

The session

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Government Report

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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.[1]
  • Regulation of excessive investments in fixed assets.[1]
  • Education reforms which include free nine years of education and education initiatives to assist with the rural regions.[2]
  • Increase resources towards energy conservation, more efficient technologies and reduction of emissions.[1]

State Council reform

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A massive reform took place in China's cabinet, the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Several ministries were consolidated to form super ministries. The several "superministries"[3]

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 also created the National Energy Commission which oversaw national energy strategy, security and development. While the National Development and Reform Commission continued to control the administration and regulation of the energy sector.[3] The State Food and Drug Administration was incorporated and came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the Health ministry took over the responsibility for food and drug safety.[3][4] The People's Bank of China increased its coordination role between all the financial executive agencies, namely the National Development and Reform Commission and the Finance ministry.[3]

Premier's Press Conference

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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.

Voting results

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State positions

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NPCSC Chairman Election NPCSC Secretary-general Election
Candidates For Against Abstain Candidates For Against Abstain
Wu Bangguo 2,948 9 9 Li Jianguo 2,932 25 8
Presidential Election Vice-Presidential Election
Candidates For Against Abstain Candidates For Against Abstain
Hu Jintao 2,956 3 5 Xi Jinping 2,919 28 17
CMC Chairmanship Election Premiership Nomination
Candidates For Against Abstain Candidates For Against Abstain
Hu Jintao 2,959 4 4 Wen Jiabao 2,926 21 12
Supreme Court President Election Procurator-general Election
Candidates For Against Abstain Candidates For Against Abstain
Wang Shengjun 2,885 36 44 Cao Jianming 2,933 16 17
  • No other candidates formally stood for these positions, although votes were cast for other write-in candidates.[5]

Resolutions

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Topic For Against Abstain Rate
Premier Wen Jiabao's Government Work Report 2,885 32 12 98.50%
State Council Institutional Reform Plan 2,744 117 99 92.70%
Report on the Implementation of the 2007 National Economic and Social Development Plan and the 2008 Draft Plan 2,747 125 55 93.85%
Report on the Execution of the Central and Local Budgets for 2007 and on the Draft Central and Local Budgets for 2008 2,462 362 102 84.14%
Chairman Wu Bangguo's NPCSC Work Report 2,846 57 23 97.27%
Chief Justice Wang Shengjun's Supreme People's Court Work Report 2,287 521 120 78.11%
Procurator-General Jia Chunwang's Supreme People's Procuratorate Work Report 2,270 514 142 77.58%

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d China's Cabinet sets tasks for new term_English_Xinhua
  2. ^ Beijing Unveils Plans for Telecom Super-Ministry
  3. ^ a b c d "Beijing opens green super-ministry | The Australian". Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  4. ^ https://news.yahoo.com.au/080311/15/1641k.html [dead link]
  5. ^ "Hu Jintao Re-Elected As China President", Associated Press, March 15, 2008. Archived March 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
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Preceded by Annual National People's Congress Sessions of the
People's Republic of China

March 5—18, 2008
Succeeded by