Zhao Leji, the third most senior official in China’s ruling Communist Party and chairman of the National People’s Congress ( NPC ) Standing Committee, was absent from the closing of the country’s top legislature on Tuesday ( Mar 11 ).
Zhao’s last public appearance was at the second appointment of the NPC presidium on Saturday.
It is the first time in decades the NPC final meeting was not attended by all Politburo Standing Committee people.
Deputy NPC key Li Hongzhong presided over the final meeting as “entrusted” by Zhao. Li announced that Zhao had requested left from the conference because of a “respiratory system disease”.
On Monday, Zhao was also absent from the closing of the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference ( CPPCC), which was attended by the other six members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top decision making body, including President Xi Jinping.
It has been a social standard for all the major leaders of the ruling party to go the opening and closing ceremonies of the annual NPC and CPPCC sessions, known as the Two Sessions since the 1980s, as democratic endorsement of the federal parliamentary and political consulting sessions.
The annual function also serves as a system for gathering and government leaders to discover the opinions of Chinese elites outside the group regarding China’s most pressing issues.