At 3:00pm on March 17th, 2008 (Monday), the 7th Plenary Session of the 1st Session of the 11th NPC will be convened at the Great Hall of the People. During the session, the deputies will decide on the choice of the Vice Premier of the State Council, State Councilors, Ministers, Chairmen of Committees, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Auditor General, Secretary General and vote on the draft name list of Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and Members of the NPC Ethnic Affairs Committee, NPC Law Committee, NPC Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs, NPC Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Health, NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, NPC Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, NPC Environmental and Resources Protection Committee and NPC Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

Journalists may enter the Great Hall of the People by passing the security check at the south passage of its East Gate with NPC press cards 80 minutes in advance. Those who hold G2 and G3 Press Cards should be seated in Area No. 3, 5 and 7 in the front of the Second floor.

During the session, please be aware of the following requirements:

1. When the Chair of the session announces, “Now the deputies start to fill out the tickets. We kindly ask our friends of the media to temporarily leave the venue.”, please follow the instructions of the staff and take a break at the designated area at your earliest convenience. Those with G0 Press Cards may rest at the Sichuan Hall; those with G1 Press Cards, the public corridor in the back of the venue on the 1st Floor. Those with G2 Press Cards, may rest at the public corridor on the 2nd Floor or at the Liaoning Hall via Gate 1, 3 or 5.

2. During the break, the journalists may leave the camcorders and cameras in the venue, all of which must remain turned off. Voice recording equipments are not allowed to be left unattended in the venue when the journalists leave.

3. When the filling out ends and ballot casting begins, please follow the instructions of the staff and return to the original designated areas to continue with your coverage.

4. Please turn off your cell phones in the venue. Please do not frequently stand up for photo taking, or walk back and forth down the aisle, or talk in a loud voice. Please conclude your reporting activities 5 minutes prior to the session.

Before and after the session, journalists may conduct interviews in the area below the steps out of the East Entrance, or the area outside of the Grand Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People. Journalists may also conduct interviews with the Ministers sitting in on the session in the designated area east of the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. All interviews should be concluded 10 minutes before the session begins. Please do not conduct interviews on the street west of the Tiananmen Square that might lead to congestion.

For the journalists driving over to cover the session, please drive through the East Entrance of the Tiananmen Square and park your vehicles in the designated parking area.

(Press Center of the 1st Session of the 11th NPC, March 17, 2008)