12 local deputies elected to NPC

More women, farmers and workers – but fewer officials – will sit on China’s top legislature, as election results for the new National People’s Congress (NPC) were approved Saturday.

The qualifications of 2,980 deputies elected to the 13th NPC were endorsed by the 12th NPC Standing Committee at its bimonthly session.

The new lineup has 742 women, accounting for 24.9 percent of the total, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous NPC. 36 deputies have been elected from Hong Kong and 12 from Macau.

468 of the deputies are workers and farmers. Their share has grown by 2.28 percentage points to 15.7 percent.

At 1,011 deputies, party and government cadres still form the bulk of the NPC composition, but their share has dropped to 33.93 percent. Working professionals number 613, accounting for 20.57 percent.

About a quarter of the new NPC members are re-elected deputies, with the overall turnover rate of the national legislature remaining high.

There are 438 ethnic minority deputies, representing all 55 of China’s ethnic minority groups.

Thirteen Taiwanese individuals elected in the mainland will serve as Taiwan deputies on the top legislature.

Xin Chunying, deputy secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee, said that the deputies all maintain good ties with the people, hold high moral standards, display leadership in their jobs, and possess the will and ability to carry out their duties as NPC deputies.

The 13th NPC will convene its first session in early March. MDT/Xinhua