by Li Hongmei
The news conference on the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 4, 2013.(Xinhua/Wang Peng)
The First Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) holds a press conference Monday morning in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Fu Ying, the spokesperson for the session, introduced the agenda of the session and answered questions from journalists.
Belonging to the Mongolian ethnic group, Fu serves as the vice foreign minister and is the first female spokesperson of NPC.
Fu is responsible for Asia, boundary and ocean affairs, and translation and interpretation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the ministry's website.
Here are the highlights of the press conference:
1, China's defense policy key to Asia's stability
China's defensive military policies have played a core role in maintaining peace and stability in Asia, a spokesperson for the annual session of China's national legislature said Monday.
Fu Ying, spokesperson for the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), speaks at the news conference on the first session of the 12th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 4, 2013. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
"China's peaceful foreign policies and its defensive military policies are conducive to security and peace of Asia," Fu Ying, spokesperson for the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), told a press conference.
Fu made the comments in response to a question about China's defense budget in 2013, but the former vice minister of Foreign Affairs broke with past tradition of revealing the figure at the press conference, which is held one day before NPC's annual session.
2, China's national legislature gives 31 seats to migrant workers
The 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, has given 31 seats to migrant workers, a drastic rise from three in the 11th NPC, a spokeswoman said Monday.
Compared with the 11th NPC, deputies from the groups of industrial workers and farmers have risen to 155, about 5 percentage points higher, Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the first session of the 12th NPC, said at a news conference in Beijing.
She said 225 deputies are from the country's non-public economic sector.
Among 2,987 NPC deputies in total, the number of woman deputies rises to 699, 62 more or 2 percentage points up from the 11th NPC, Fu said.
China amended its Electoral Law in 2010, adopting the principle that each deputy represents the same number of urban or rural residents.
3, Frugality Highlights 2013 NPC Session
A frugal and environment-friendly session is a key feature at China's 12th National People's Congress, which is scheduled to open on Tuesday.
In press briefing on Monday, NPC spokesperson Fu Ying hailed this year's session as a less extravagant one.
"We have strictly controlled the expenditure on this year's session. We have also decorated the conference venues in a simple and environment-friendly way instead of using extravagant decoration materials. We also urged NPC deputies to make to-the-point speeches," said Fu.
Meanwhile, the daily meals for the deputies are under strict budget plan. Traffic control will be reduced and deputies are advocated to take public vehicles than private cars."
This year's NPC session is set to use more electronic documents to reduce paper waste and keep down costs.
Deputies to the session have elected the presidium for the legislative session.
It is the first time NPC deputies have gathered in the Great Hall of the People for the annual session of the national legislature.
Deputies are also expected to elect a new president and prime minister for the country.
The NPC session will finish on March 17th.
