国内英语新闻:Lawmakers gather in Beijing for China's annual parliament session

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers from across the country have gathered in Beijing for the upcoming Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC).

NPC deputies from central China's Henan Province arrived in Beijing by train at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, becoming the last group to reach the country's capital city for the annual parliament session, which is scheduled to begin Friday.

Aside from reviewing the government's work report for last year, voting on the central and local governments' draft budgets for 2010, discussing an amendment to the Electoral Law and mapping out this year's development blueprint, the lawmakers will also take part in three rounds of online dialogues with the public.

The three online dialogues would be held on March 5, March 11, and March 12, respectively.

The lawmakers would be joined by officials from the Ministry of Health, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate during the online dialogues.

The NPC session's press center has begun soliciting questions for the three dialogues on the NPC's website, as well as from a dozen of popular news portals, including Xinhuanet, on Tuesday.