China Postpones Annual National People's Congress Amid Coronavirus Outbreak - Reports

China has officially postponed the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, media reported on Monday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) China has officially postponed the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, media reported on Monday.

China's main political event of the year was initially scheduled to take place on March 5, but according to the state broadcaster CGTN, the NPC's Standing Committee decided to postpone it with a prospective date to be announced later.

The decision was taken by the Standing Committee at a bi-monthly meeting, where top lawmakers also considered strengthening the ban on wildlife trafficking and counteracting the tradition of eating exotic animals, both factors believed to be the causes of the outbreak, according to CGTN.

Coronavirus containment measures in China have seen plentiful events involving concentrations of people canceled. Expansive quarantines during the peak of the outbreak saw as many as 60 million people living under lockdown.

The NPC convenes annually with about 3,000 representatives from across the country and sets the policy agenda for the coming year.