The origin of the "two sessions"

As we all know, in recent years, before the NPC and the China People's Political Consultative Conference hold their "two sessions" every year, the spokespersons of the two sessions will hold press conferences respectively to release the news about NPC and CPPCC meetings and answer questions raised by Chinese and foreign journalists. Today, it has become one of the remarkable signs of the opening up of the "two sessions". However, when did the press conference of the "two sessions" originate? Why did you hold a press conference? Who has served as a spokesman for the "two sessions" in history? I'm afraid not everyone knows these things.

According to the author's recollection, the first press conference of the "two sessions" began with the First Session of the Sixth National People's Congress and the First Session of the Sixth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in June 1983. From the first session of the Fifth National People's Congress, the first session of the Fifth China People's Political Consultative Conference to the first session of the Sixth Session, our country has achieved a historic and great transformation, and the focus of the work of the whole party and the whole country has shifted to socialist modernization. The political situation is stable and United, production and construction have developed steadily, people's lives have been improved, and the whole country and Qi Xin have made concerted efforts to create a new situation in socialist modernization. In this context, the meetings held by the National People's Congress and the China People's Political Consultative Conference naturally attracted extensive attention from many domestic and foreign media, including many news media from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, hoping to come to Beijing to report on the "two sessions".

In order to make many media and the international community better understand China, the process of China's reform, opening up and socialist modernization, and the important role of China NPC and CPPCC in the construction of socialist democratic politics, the secretariat of the "two sessions" and relevant parties decided to expand the opening scope of the "two sessions" after careful consideration, and held press conferences before the first session of the Sixth National People's Congress and the sixth session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference respectively, inviting and welcoming journalists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and foreign news organizations to attend. As soon as this news was released, it was widely praised by overseas news organizations and was regarded as a powerful measure for China to implement the policy of opening to the outside world. 1983 On the morning of June 4th, Ceng Tao, deputy secretary-general of the First Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, and Sun Qimeng, deputy secretary-general of the First Session of the Sixth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as the first spokespersons of the "two sessions", respectively, were entrusted by their respective conference secretariats to release news about the convening of the "two sessions" to Chinese and foreign journalists. Since then, the press conference system established by the "two sessions" has continued to this day.

Five people have served as NPC spokespersons, namely: Ceng Tao (from the first session of the Sixth National People's Congress to the first session of the Seventh National People's Congress), Yao Guang (from the second session to the fifth session of the Seventh National People's Congress), Zhou Jue (from the first session to the fifth session of the Eighth National People's Congress), Jianhui Zeng (from the first session of the Ninth National People's Congress to the fifth session) and Jiang Enzhu (from the first session of the Tenth National People's Congress to the first session of the Eleventh National People's Congress) Among them, Ceng Tao, Yao Guang and Zhou Jue are vice-chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress and have served as China's ambassadors abroad. Ceng Tao and Zhou Jue are also in charge of news propaganda. They served as the President of Xinhua News Agency and the Deputy Director of the State Council Press Office respectively. Jianhui Zeng is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress. He used to be director of the State Council Press Office, vice minister Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and vice president of Xinhua News Agency. Jiang Enzhu is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress. He used to be the director of Xinhua News Agency Hong Kong Branch and the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

There are 1 1 people who have served as spokespersons of the CPPCC General Assembly. They are: Sun Qimeng (First Session of the Sixth CPPCC), Lu Ping (Second Session to Third Session of the Sixth CPPCC), Sun Yiqing (Fourth Session of the Sixth CPPCC), Lu Zhichao (Second Session of the Seventh CPPCC to First Session of the Eighth CPPCC), Li Luye (Second Session of the Eighth CPPCC), Qian Liren (Third Session of the Eighth CPPCC), Liang Jinquan (Member Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) and Tian. Han Xu was originally the spokesperson for the second session of the Eighth National Committee, but Li Luye took over because Han was hospitalized. China People's Political Consultative Conference spokesperson 1 1 person, including Sun Qimeng, Lu Ping, Sun Yiqing, Lu Zhichao, Liang Jinquan and Zhang Guoxiang, then directors of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPPCC, and then vice directors of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Li Luye, Qi Huaiyuan and Wu Jianmin.

Sun Qimeng was the official representative of the first plenary session of China People's Political Consultative Conference held in September, 1949, member of the Standing Committee of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth China People's Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the seventh and eighth the NPC Standing Committee, and also served as the chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic National Construction Association. Lu Ping served as Party Secretary and President of Peking University, and later as Vice Minister of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry and Consultant of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry. Sun Yiqing is an old journalist. He used to be deputy editor-in-chief of People's Daily, president of China Youth Daily and editor-in-chief of Beijing Daily. Lu Zhichao used to be the director of the Theory Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department and the director of the Central Literature Research Office. Before Liang Jinquan was transferred to the position of Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, and later transferred to the position of First Vice-Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Party Secretary and Executive Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee. Zhang Guoxiang was the vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and a member of the 8th and 9th the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC). Sun Yiqing, Lu Zhichao, Liang Jinquan and Zhang Guoxiang were all in charge of the news and propaganda work of the CPPCC. Qian Liren used to be Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee and President of People's Daily. Tian Zengpei, Qi Huaiyuan, Li Luye and Wu Jianmin are all diplomats. The first two served as vice ministers of foreign affairs, and Qi Huaiyuan was the first spokesman after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China established a press release system. Li Lvye served as the representative of our delegation to the United Nations for many years. Wu Jianmin used to be director, spokesperson and ambassador to France of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now he is the president of the Foreign Affairs University and the chairman of the International Exhibition Bureau.

It can be seen from the short experience of the spokesmen of the above-mentioned "two sessions" that they are not only familiar with the work of NPC and CPPCC, but also familiar with the news propaganda work. Some of them are leaders and experts who have engaged in foreign propaganda work and have rich experience in news release. Because of my working relationship, I have the honor to participate in the work of serving the spokesman of CPPCC conference for many years, and I have learned a lot from it, some of which are still fresh in my memory.

I remember that in the 1980s, when Sun Yiqing was the spokesman of the General Assembly of CPPCC, he specifically said that it was a good opportunity for CPPCC to hold a press conference to publicize CPPCC at home and abroad, and to take this opportunity to vigorously publicize its nature, status and role. Meanwhile, we should make more efforts in preparing questions and answers. Even if the other party asks some particularly sensitive and even difficult questions, we should answer them reasonably and realistically, and we can't prevaricate with "no comment", which is a sign of lack of self-confidence. Some overseas reporters commented that Sun Yiqing is an old journalist, and he can go straight to the point when answering questions, especially in the so-called "vase" and "decoration", he can put facts and reason, and his answers are both principled and measured. 1995 before the national "two sessions" were held, the chairman of China People's Political Consultative Conference decided that Qian Liren, then director of the foreign affairs committee of CPPCC, would be the press spokesman for the Third Session of the Eighth CPC. After the news was broadcast by the news media, a responsible comrade of People's Daily told me that all the comrades in the newspaper were very happy that the old chairman was the spokesman of the CPPCC conference. At that time, Qian Lao, who was seventy years old, attached great importance to this news release and made very serious preparations. For the materials submitted by the press release team, Qian Lao repeatedly scrutinized and revised word by word, and also discussed with the staff many times to see how to answer the questions better. The serious and responsible spirit left a deep impression on us.

For many years, the CPPCC spokesperson working group has been seconded by the staff of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are familiar with policies, have a broad vision, and have rich experience in asking questions and preparing answers, which played an important role in the press release of the CPPCC conference. I remember that when Qi Huaiyuan was the spokesman of the General Assembly, a young counselor helped him. He came from the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his name was Liao. He edited the press releases and prepared manuscripts in different categories, bound them into volumes, and pasted them with convenient paper, which made Qi Huaiyuan feel particularly convenient to use. We said that if this book is saved as a CPPCC file, it will be of great reference value to future generations. As the spokesman of CPPCC, Qi Huaiyuan was deeply touched. He told me that it is more difficult to be a spokesman for the CPPCC conference than for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mainly answers questions about foreign exchanges, while CPPCC is composed of more than 30 sectors, involving economy, resources, environment, education, science and technology, culture, political parties, nationalities, religions, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and anti-corruption. Therefore, if you don't master all aspects of policies and are not familiar with the work of CPPCC, it will be difficult to adapt to the role of CPPCC spokesperson and do a good job in the press release of CPPCC.

As the spokesman of CPPCC, what inspired us most was "telling stories". In his view, when we hold a CPPCC press conference, we are not only facing journalists from Chinese and foreign media, but also ordinary people. We should make people understand how CPPCC plays an important role in national affairs, not just talking about conceptual things, nor always talking about general principles. Be good at enumerating more concrete and vivid typical examples, that is, tell more stories to others. Only in this way can people understand and remember, and the press conference can receive good results. Since then, compiling important achievements and typical cases of CPPCC and democratic parties' participation in politics has become an important work content of the press release group. Practice shows that these "stories" are very popular with Chinese and foreign journalists, and the media adoption rate is quite high every year.