South China city webcasts legislative meeting

GUANGZHOU - Legislators in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, broadcast their Monday meeting online for the first time in the city's history, local authorities said.

The fourth session of the Standing Committee of the 14th Guangzhou city people's congress was held on Monday.

Chen Jianhua, mayor of Guangzhou, reported on the government's work for the first half of the year and introduced a work plan for the second half during the meeting, which was webcast on the official website of the Guangzhou city people's congress, as well as several other local websites.

Chen said construction on an expansion of the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will begin next month, adding plans will be made to build another airport in southern Guangzhou.

It was revealed at the meeting that construction on a seven-line subway network for the city has been approved by the National Reform and Development Commission.

The broadcast will help citizens better understand the People's Congress system and make the government's work more transparent, said Zhang Guifang, director of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou city people's congress.

Zhang said the Guangzhou city people's congress will webcast 15 such meetings this year.