The First Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) started in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday afternoon.

A total of 2,195 CPPCC National Committee members coming throughout the country attended the opening meeting. They will underline major concerns of the nation's development during the annual session scheduled to conclude on March 14.

CPPCC National Committee Chairman Jia Qinglin began to deliver a keynote report after the session started on 3 p.m.

Top Communist Party of China (CPC) and state leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were present at the meeting.

Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite members of the Chinese society who are willing to serve the think tank for the government and for the country's legislative and judicial organs.

As an open forum where the ruling CPC, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China's socialist democracy.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2008)