Flags are seen at the Tian'anmen Square and atop the Great Hall of the People during the opening meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Yang Zongyou)

Experts said the Chinese national "two sessions," which is a significant event on the political calendar to form guidance strategies for the year, could be postponed to May or even early June, while it is reasonable for local "two sessions" to be held soon as the country has basically brought the COVID-19 epidemic under control.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the commencement of the local "two sessions" has a critical meaning for governments that are making comprehensive strategies for the country amid the great uncertainties brought about by the pandemic, experts said.

Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province announced it would hold its local two sessions - Wenzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the People's Congress of Wenzhou - on April 21 and 22.

Zhou Dewen, director of the Zhejiang Private Investment Enterprise Association, said that Wenzhou, as one of the earliest cities to conduct prevention measures in late January, has done a great job in containing the COVID-19 outbreak and resuming production, which has paved the way for it to hold the meetings and make plans for the year sooner.

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, announced it would hold its local two sessions in late April.

As of the end of Monday, Zhejiang reported a total of 1,267 infections, with 1,242 patients having been discharged and one death, according to the Health Commission of Zhejiang Province.

It would be reasonable for cities to hold their local two sessions if there have been 15 days without new reported infections and all confirmed COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, Luo Yameng, a Beijing-based urban planning and management expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

As the country has achieved a decisive victory in containing the novel coronavirus, local two sessions across the country will commence in the near future, Xu Hongcai, an economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Like the reopening of schools, the commencement of the local two sessions is a manifestation of bringing the epidemic under control, but it is more important as a critical step to review the government's work of the previous year and hear its plans for the current year, especially as the pandemic rips through the world, Zhou said.

It is critical for local governments to launch the meetings soon on the premise of sound prevention measures, since further postponement will make the annual strategies less effective, Zhou stressed. 

In the meantime, although local two sessions are major political events in provinces and municipalities that pave the way for the national two sessions in Beijing, analysts and some NPC deputies and CPPCC members contacted by the Global Times said they have not been notified of a new date for the national two sessions, which are normally held in March. 

"Currently, Beijing faces mounting pressure in preventing imported infections and a possible second wave of infections, and lacks the conditions to hold such an event," Wang Hongwei, a professor at the Renmin University of China's School of Public Administration and Policy, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Luo said the surge in imported case in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province would not affect planning of the national two sessions.

Suifenhe in Heilongjiang is a local situation and will not be a key factor in determining the schedule. Luo said the national "two sessions" could be expected to be held in late May or June.

But with special prevention measures for the two sessions, a date in early May could be expected, according to Zhou.

Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who is also a CPPCC National Committee member, said the national two sessions are expected to be scheduled at the end of April and beginning of May in Beijing. The city's decision to re-open schools starting on April 27 is also a significant point.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, said this year's focus of the national two sessions will be the pandemic's influence on China this year, and in the next five years.