The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the
People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China. The
NPC gathers each year along with the People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) whose members are from a broader
background. NPC and CPPCC together are often called the Lianghui
(Two Meetings), making important national level political
decisions. The ruling Communist Party of China maintains
effective control over the composition of people's congresses at
various levels, especially the National People's Congress,
through this system. At the local level, there is a considerable
amount of decentralisation in the candidate preselection
process, with room for local in-party politics and for
participation by a limited proportion of non-Communist Party
candidates. However, the structure of the tiered electoral
system makes it impossible for a candidate to become a member of
the higher level people's congresses without Party approval. One
such mechanism is the limit on the number of