China prepares for frugal, efficient parliamentary session

China is gearing up for the opening of the annual session of its top legislature, with the meeting aiming to be frugal and efficient.  [Special coverage]

Preparations for the second session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), scheduled to open on March 5, have been fulfilled, confirmed the session's press center on Monday.

The last delegations to the session arrived in Beijing on Sunday evening.

Interpreters have been rallied to provide simultaneous interpretation for deputies from ethnic groups, which usually use their own languages during the session.

Documents for the meeting have been translated into languages used by the ethnic groups, including Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Kazak and Korean.

Documents in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, German and Arabic languages will also be available for foreign media and diplomats, the press center said.

This year's NPC session has continued the same frugal style as last year while the whole country has been immersed in a campaign to curb extravagance since December 2012.

In addition to there being no welcoming ceremonies and red carpets at railway stations and the airport, the session organizer has tried to be more eco-friendly.

NPC deputies arriving at the Beijing Capital International Airport have found the bottle of drinking water given to them has a blank name tag on it.

Lawmakers can mark the bottled water as their own, with the scheme designed to encourage them to take their own bottle if they don't finish it at the site.

Also, the organizer has replaced the usual disposable toiletries at their hotel rooms with reusable versions.

Like last year, deputies eat at buffets without expensive food, alcohol or cigarettes, said a member of hotel staff hosting the delegation of north China's Hebei Province.

"The hotel prepares some fruits for us but in much smaller quantities and more basic than in previous years," said Wang Chang, an NPC deputy from Hebei. "I think all of us have got used to it. No one I've met has complained."

Echoing the central leadership's requirement on leading officials not to smoke in public places, "No Smoking" signs can be spotted at hotels for NPC deputies and political advisors.

According to the organizer, discipline agencies will send inspectors to check whether the organization work meets frugality requirements.