When the annual gatherings of China's top legislature and its top body of political advisers, known as the Two Sessions (Lianghui), are held, everyone knows the leaders have to burn the midnight oil to meet public expectations and deliver the goods. However, there's another tribe that too faces immense pressure—the reporters covering the Two Sessions who have to attend various media events, interview people, and be on call 24x7 till the sessions close. Besides the work itself, there is also stiff competition with around 3,000 other journalists covering the events as well.

I have covered the annual political season and still remember the bustling scenes inside the Great Hall of the People as hundreds of journalists ran after senior officials or celebrities with their cameras. Some female reporters lost their high-heeled shoes during the race, some quarreled over camera positions, and most jostled trying to get close to the interviewees.

When I entered the Great Hall of the People on the first day the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature and the highest organ of state power, opened its session in 2018, I was in awe at the thought that it was the most powerful place in the country where so many vital decisions have been made and so many votes cast.

I was also excited to have the opportunity to hear Premier Li Keqiang deliver the government work report on behalf of the State Council. In measured tones the premier spoke on what the government had done in the past year and would do that year. Along with the announced GDP growth target of 6.5 percent, the report included continued commitment to high-quality growth, ending extreme poverty and reducing pollution.

While listening to the report, from my seat in the gallery I looked over the first floor, where the NPC deputies sat. I saw representatives from different areas, sectors and professions. They came from diverse backgrounds. Farmers and workers enjoyed the same status as high-ranking government officials. They were all deputies, and each had one vote. I saw members from the ethnic groups and people who had traveled hundreds of miles to attend the sessions. Most of the delegates were in formal business suit, but some caught the eye with their colorful traditional attire. I could say that I saw all of China in that one enormous room.

A special interview zone, the ministers passage, had been set up in the Great Hall to give reporters a chance to interview some ministers and officials before the meeting. The group interviews took place in a passageway leading to the main hall and were broadcast live.

Although the interviews were to start at 8:45 a.m., I arrived early in the morning, more than three hours before the official opening, to snag a good spot. But still I was not the first one. Dozens of fellow reporters had already lined up at the security post before me. It was not too bad, I thought. Once I passed the security check I would make a dash for it and get a good spot. Then I saw two more security posts with another two lines of reporters waiting, ready to run like me. It was like a mix of the marathon and the 100-meter sprint.

Finally, I entered the hall and managed to get a front-row seat. I also got a chance to ask a question to Shen Changyu, Director of the State Intellectual Property Office. That interview session was broadcast live on CCTV. My friends and colleagues were watching the news and some called me to say they saw me on TV, sending me photos of my appearance on TV!

This new style of interviewing has become very popular. "Passage interviews," featuring a wide range of NPC deputies and political advisers, give reporters a good opportunity to ask questions. With China becoming more open and responsive to public concerns, reporters at the Two Sessions are gaining greater access to legislators and political advisers.

China and India, from where I am, are similar in that both have huge populations and have experienced extraordinary economic growth over the past decades. But the political systems are different. China's legislative body consists of deputies who are elected for five years and meet once a year. On the other hand, the Indian Parliament has two houses and its members, roughly one-fourth the number of NPC deputies, meet thrice a year. This year, after the Lianghui ended, preparations began in India for general elections.

Akhil Parashar is an Indian living in Beijing

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

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