two sessions

The Two Sessions (Lianghui, 两会) denote the back-to-back annual plenary meetings of two national bodies: the National People's Congress (NPC, 全国人民代表大会), China's constitutionally supreme organ of state power under Article 57 of the 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, 中国人民政治协商会议), a united-front advisory body whose origins lie in the 1949 plenary that founded the PRC and adopted the Common Programme. Though distinct in legal status — the NPC legislates and elects, the CPPCC merely consults — their sessions are convened in overlapping fashion in Beijing every March, giving rise to the collective shorthand. The NPC has roughly 2,977 deputies; the CPPCC National Committee numbers around 2,100 members drawn from the eight legally recognised democratic parties, mass organisations and notable figures.

In its annual session the NPC, under Articles 62 and 63, exercises its enumerated powers: enacting and amending basic laws, examining and approving the State Council's Government Work Report, approving the national economic and social development plan and the central budget, and — in years of leadership transition such as the 2023 session of the 14th NPC — electing the President, Premier, Chairman of the Central Military Commission and other senior officials. The Premier delivers the Government Work Report, which sets the year's GDP growth target, fiscal deficit ratio and defence budget. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority under Article 64; the March 2018 session thus removed presidential term limits from Article 79. The CPPCC, sitting in parallel, tables proposals (提案) and offers "democratic supervision," but holds no binding authority.

The Two Sessions function as the apex of China's annual political calendar and the principal stage on which the Communist Party of China translates Party plenum decisions into formal state policy and law — the NPC operationalising the leadership line set earlier by the CPC Central Committee. Landmark outputs have included the 2015 National Security Law, the 2020 Hong Kong national-security legislation framework authorised by the 13th NPC, the 2021 amendments to electoral arrangements for Hong Kong, and successive Five-Year Plan ratifications (the 14th Five-Year Plan was approved in March 2021). As of 2026 the sitting body is the 14th NPC, elected in 2023 for a five-year term, with Li Qiang serving as Premier and delivering the Government Work Report. The sessions are closely watched abroad as the definitive signal of macroeconomic targets and strategic priorities.

For the exam, the Two Sessions appear in the China political system segment of the General Studies and international-affairs papers (UPSC GS-II comparative governance, FSOT world-affairs, and CSS/BCS current-affairs sections). Typical question angles ask candidates to distinguish the NPC from the CPPCC, identify the constitutional source of NPC supremacy (Article 57), explain why China is described as a "unitary, single-party socialist state" with a unicameral legislature, and assess whether the NPC is a genuine legislature or a "rubber-stamp" body ratifying predetermined Party decisions. Expect prompts linking the 2018 term-limit removal to debates on the institutionalisation versus personalisation of power under Xi Jinping.