For the first time in three decades, the Chinese premier will not host a press conference at the end of the annual parliamentary sessions, which began in Beijing on Monday, reports the South China Morning Post. It will also be scrapped for future years of the current National People’s Congress’ term barring exceptional circumstances, said Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the NPC, China’s top legislative body.
The press conference—first held in 1988 and established as a customary practice in 1993—is one of the most anticipated events of the annual “two sessions,” when the top political advisory body and legislature meet.
It is one of the rare occasions when a top Chinese leader takes questions from local and international media. Those questions are often tightly scripted and chosen in advance, but it offers the outside world a chance to hear directly from a high-ranking official on policy directions. In particular, it has been seen as a platform for China to indicate its diplomatic priorities, not only in terms of the questions selected but also which country’s media they come from.