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The People's Republic ofChina(PRC) practices the system of people's congress.China's Constitution stipulates that all powers in the PRC belong to the people, and the organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People's Congress (NPC) and the local people's congresses at different levels.

The National People's Congress of the PRC is the highest organ of state power.

 The Establishment and Development of the NPC

In the early years of the PRC, the Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as provisional constitution, stipulated that the organ with the highest state power was the NPC. The conditions at that time were not yet ripe to establish a national people's congress through general election, hence the Common Program stipulated that the plenary meeting of the CPPCC exercised the functions and powers of the NPC before its convening. The 20^thmeeting of the Central People's Government Council adopted the Resolution on Convening the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at Different Levels in January 1953. In the years of 1953-1954, the whole state started its first general election and local people's congresses at different levels were convened. OnSeptember 15, 1954, the First Session of the First NPC was held inBeijing. It adopted the Constitution of the People's Republic ofChina, and the Organic Law of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic ofChinaand the Organic Law of the State Council. After the First Session of the Third NPC onJanuary 4 1965, due to the Cultural Revolution, the Constitution and other laws were severely undermined and the NPC did not hold any meetings for long time until January 1975 when the First Session of the Fourth NPC was convened. After the Cultural Revolution was over, the system of people's congress was gradually back to normal.

 The Composition of the NPC

In accordance with the Constitution of 1982, the NPC is composed of deputies elected from the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and deputies elected by the armed forces. Deputies to the NPC are organized into delegations according to the units they are elected from. Each delegation is headed by a chairman and vice chairmen. The number of deputies to the NPC shall be decided in accordance with the proportion of the population in each province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government. All the ethnic minorities are entitled to appropriate representation. The number of deputies to the first and second NPC is 1,226 respectively, while deputy number of the third, fourth and fifth NPC reaches 3,040, 2,885 and 3,497 respectively, and the number of deputies to the sixth and seventh NPC remains 2,987. The number of deputies from ethnic minorities to the seventh NPC is 445, accounting for 15% of the total. The Electoral Law on the National People's Congress of the People's Republic ofChinaand People's Congresses at Various Levels, revised in 1986, stipulates that the total number of the NPC should not exceed 3,000.

 The Term of Office of the NPC

The Constitution of 1954 stipulates that the NPC is elected for a term of four years, while the Constitution of 1975 changes it into five years. The Constitution of 1982 stipulates that the Standing Committee of the NPC must ensure the completion of election of deputies to the succeeding NPC two months prior to the expiration of the term of office of the current NPC. Should extraordinary circumstances prevent such an election, it may be postponed and the term of office of the current NPC extended by the decision of a vote of more than two-thirds of all those on the Standing Committee of the current NPC. The election of deputies to the succeeding NPC must be completed within one year after the termination of such extraordinary circumstances.