Presidium of the National People's Congress

Composition

It is composed of 178 senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the state, non-Communist parties and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, those without party affiliation, heads of central government agencies and people's organizations, leading members of all the 35 delegations to the National People's Congress (NPC) session including those from Hong Kong, Macao, and the People's Liberation Army. The presidium is elected during a meeting preceding the sitting of a new session of the NPC, which is presided over by the outgoing Standing Committee of the NPC. In practice, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress drafts a list of candidates, then presides over a preparatory meeting of the NPC that revises and approves the list. After the Presidium has been elected, it presides over the rest of the NPC session. Officers of the presidium include a number of standing chairmen elected at the first meeting of the presidium. Its functions are defined in the Organic Law of the NPC, but not how it is composed.