China May Hold Virtual Meeting for National People's Congress at End of This Month

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] The Standing Committee meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC), scheduled to be held in Beijing from the 26th to the 29th, is increasingly likely to be conducted in a video conference format.

On the 23rd, China's Xinhua News Agency reported that the 17th NPC Standing Committee meeting is scheduled to take place in Beijing from the 26th to the 29th, and various draft laws for deliberation will soon be submitted at the meeting.

Considering the special circumstances of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), there is a possibility that the meeting will utilize a hybrid format combining on-site and video conferencing. NPC Standing Committee spokesperson Yue Zhongming explained that they have prior experience successfully holding video conferences, suggesting this possibility.

He said, "The 16th NPC Standing Committee meeting held in Beijing on February 24th had participants from within Beijing attending on-site, while members outside Beijing joined via video connection. It was the first time in the history of NPC meetings that a hybrid video conference format was used."

Regarding this, an internal source also said, "The 17th Standing Committee meeting will be conducted in a manner similar to the 16th meeting," adding, "China's internet technology can ensure smooth proceedings and security even with thousands of participants."

Since the NPC Standing Committee meeting is a preliminary meeting held before the two major political events in China, the Lianghui (the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), the schedule for the Lianghui, which was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19, is expected to be finalized soon. Some speculate that the Lianghui may also utilize a video conference format.

Recently, Hong Kong media Ming Pao, citing sources in Beijing, reported that while the first option remains for representatives from local governments across the country and CPPCC members to come to Beijing to attend the Lianghui as usual, the possibility of holding the meeting via video conference is not being ruled out.

Meanwhile, as video conferences and online classes have become widespread in China due to the spread of COVID-19, investments in the cloud sector by companies are also rapidly increasing. Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, announced plans to invest an additional 200 billion yuan (approximately 34.57 trillion won) in cloud infrastructure over the next three years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.