The National People's Congress (usually abbreviated NPC) is the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,980 members in 2018, it is the largest parliamentary body in the world.The National People's Congress meets in full session for roughly two weeks each year and votes on important pieces of legislation, and members are considered to be part-time legislators and are not paid to serve in the NPC. Much of the legislative power of the NPC is exercised by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress which consists about 170 legislators and meets in continuous session. Members of the National People's Congress are allowed to simultaneously hold seats in other bodies of government and the party, and the NPC typically includes all of the senior officials in Chinese politics. By contrast, members of the NPCSC are not allowed to simulatenously hold positions in executive or judicial posts, and overlapping membership in the Politburo is typically limited to the chairman of the NPCSC.
Under China's Constitution, the NPC is structured as a unicameral legislature, with the de jure power to legislate, oversee the operations of the government, and elect the major officers of state. Western media sources commonly describe the NPC as a de facto rubber stamping body while some academic sources have asserted that the NPC has recently emerged as an independent and influential force in Chinese politics. The NPC had never rejected a government bill until 1986, during the Bankruptcy Law proceedings, wherein a revised bill was passed in the same session. An outright rejection without a revised version being passed occurred in 2000 when a Highway Law was rejected, the first occurrence in sixty years of history. Moreover in 2015, the NPC refused to pass a package of bills proposed by the State Council, insisting that each bill require a separate vote and revision process. In recent years, the NPC has made significant changes to draft legislation proposed by the government, and it is possible for legislation to be stalled by interest groups of political controversy.
The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The NPC's sessions are usually timed to occur with the meetings of the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a consultative body whose members represent various social groups. As the NPC and the CPPCC are the main deliberative bodies of China, they are often referred to as the Lianghui (Two Sessions). According to the NPC, its annual meetings provide an opportunity for the officers of state to review past policies and to present future plans to the nation.
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