Mao’s grandson, Yao Ming get lots of attention as political session begins

The plenary sessions of China’s Legislative and Consultative powers, the country’s biggest annual political gathering until midMarch, began on Thursday with the inauguration of the People’s Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, with celebrated personalities like Mao Zedong’s grandson and former sportsman Yao Ming getting a lot of media attention.

Mao Xinyu, who is also a major general in the Chinese army, and Yao, a former professional basketball player from the Houston Rockets, were greeted by a sea of Chinese journalists at the gates of the Great Hall of the People.

Reporters also tried to get a hold of other celebrities who are part of the CPPCC, the advisory body of the government, including writer and Nobel laureate Mo Yan, and tech magnate Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, the “Chinese Google.”

Mao Xinyu, known for his obesity and relentlessly pursued by the press for being one of the few relations of Mao Zedong with a public profile, said on Thursday he would present proposals to scale up the fight against Beijing pollution and push educational reforms to nurture talent.

Yao, in turn, attempted to slip by unnoticed but the 7.5foot exNBA player was difficult to miss, and constantly surrounded by scribes and photographers.

In previous sessions, Yao, a wellknown environmental activist who has tried his hand at an ambitious business career since retiring from professional sport, proposed improvements in physical education for Chinese children.

These celebrities are members of the CPPCC, the governmental advisory body without real powers, but which has over 2,000 members, including those nominated for eminence in their respective fields.

The session is set to witness the presentation of thousands of initiatives for consideration by the National People’s Congress, or NPC, in the following days.

NPC, the Chinese legislature, will also open its annual session on Saturday March 5, with Premier Li Keqiang underlining the government’s work during the last year and its objectives for 2016.

The sessions of both the CPPCC and the NPC are expected to be very much in the media eye until midMarch, one of the rare opportunities in the year when the country’s press gets a chance to approach highranking communist office bearers and get a finger on the pulse of Chinese national politics.