The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's parliamentary body, formally decided Monday to postpone the annual meeting of the country's national parliament — its most important annual political assembly — scheduled for early March, as the country grapples with the outbreak of a new pneumonia-causing coronavirus.
Every year, the National People's Congress takes place for around 10 days from March 5 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with around 3,000 delegates gathering from across the nation to discuss and endorse key policies for the coming year.