Wang Yang becomes member of China's top political advisory body

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Wang Yang, Chinese vice premier and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has been selected as a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), according to a full list of members of the committee approved at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, which concluded Wednesday.

The CPPCC is China's top political advisory body. Its National Committee is reshuffled every five years. The first session of the new (13th) CPPCC National Committee will convene in Beijing in March, when a new chairperson will be elected.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presides over the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, January 24, 2018. /Xinhua Photo

By convention, the chairperson of the national committee of the CPPCC – China's top political advisor – is usually a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Wang, elected to the Standing Committee at the first plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee last October, is the only CPC Standing Committee member in the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

Non-CPC members account for 60%

Among the 2,158 members of the new CPPCC National Committee, 859 are from the ruling CPC, accounting for 39.8 percent of the total, while non-CPC members account for 60.2 percent.

The list features members from all 56 ethnic groups of China.

The average age of members is 55.9, and 1,971 of them hold college degrees or above, with 105 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Yao Ming, former NBA star and a member of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, walks to the podium to deliver a speech during the fifth session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 10, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Celebrity members include Xu Jiayin, chairman of real estate firm Evergrande Group; Robin Li, CEO of China's online search Baidu; Wang Liqin, former table tennis world champion; Yao Ming, eight-time NBA All-Star player and president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA); film director Feng Xiaogang and movie star Jackie Chan.

CPPCC members are selected through consultation and recommendation.

The CPPCC is an organization in the patriotic united front of the Chinese people, an important organ for multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, according to Yu Zhengsheng, the current chairman of the CPPCC National Committee.

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