2008 National People's Congress

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.

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 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

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.
• Control of inflation and maintain price stability for basic necessities, food and essential commodities.
• Regulation of excessive investments in fixed assets.
• Education reforms which include free nine years of education and education initiatives to assist with the rural regions.
• Increase resources towards energy conservation, more efficient technologies and reduction of emissions.

State Council reform

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"

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. 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. 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.

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.

Voting results

For a more comprehensive list, see List of voting results of the National People's Congress.

State positions

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.

Resolutions

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%

External links

• NPC Official Website
• News Centre of the 2008 National People's Congress