The Fifth Session of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will last two days longer this year, said Wu Zhanshan, director of the news group of the session.

The Fifth Session is scheduled to open at 3 p.m. on March 3 and end at 9 a.m. on March 15, lasting a total of 12 days.

The Fifth Session of the 10th National Committee of the CPPCC is going to be held against the following four backdrops, said Wu. The first is the convention of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) this autumn; the second is that the CPPCC has made great contributions to the building of the harmonious society echoing the call of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee; the third is that the CPPCC has accomplished great improvements in its work since one year ago when the No.5 Document (Opinions on Strengthening the Work of the CPPCC) was released by the CPC Central Committee; and the fourth is that efforts of the CPPCC in performing its functions have been fruitful during the past year.

Issues such as social management, social justice and public welfare will be the focus of CPPCC members this year, Wu said. Hence, the Fifth Session of the 10th National Committee of the CPPCC will hold special news conferences with the themes of new countryside construction, the aging population problem, and application for a world heritage status of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, Wu added.

The duration of CPPCC sessions will be fixed at 12 days from this year on as a move to encourage better participation of the CPPCC in deliberating and administrating state affairs, said Zhang Jingan, deputy director of the news group of the session.