BEIJING – China's ceremonial legislature has increasingly become known as a rich man's club but now it plans to give more seats to women, farmers, workers and professionals.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday that changes to the makeup of the National People's Congress would also reduce the proportion of delegates representing the Communist Party and government, who now constitute about one-third of the roughly 3,000 members.
Xinhua gave no details on what the new quotas would be. When the current legislature was seated in 2013, 23 percent of its members were women. No figures were immediately available on workers and others.
Over recent years, the NPC and its advisory body have become known as the wealthiest assemblies in the world, with scores of overwhelmingly male dollar billionaires among their ranks.
