China's top legislature is considering amending the election law to give equal representation to rural and urban residents.

The NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS, or NPC, will convene in Beijing for its first session on Wednesday. It meets annually and among the items on the agenda this year are possible reforms to the election law.

Jiang Enzhu is a spokesman for the 11th NPC and addressed a press conference on Tuesday:

"With the progressing economic development and urbanization in China, the proportion of the urban population is constantly increasing. Hence, it is necessary to amend the present election law so that the trend can be accurately reflected."

Under the current law, the number of people a rural NPC deputy represents is four times that of an urban deputy.

When asked about this year's military budget, Jiang Enzhu said China will increase its defense spending by 17.6 percent.

"China's defense budget was raised to further increase benefits for military personnel and to improve education and training in the army. It is also to offset the impact of price hikes, for instance, to allow more input into oil purchases."

The spokesman said the growth of the defense budget is a "compensatory" rise and will help reinforce the originally weak basis of military defense, given the rapid and steady growth rate of China's economy and fiscal revenues.

He noted that China's military spending remains at a low level compared with some other countries, especially the big powers, in both ratios against their GDP and total fiscal expenditure.

Nearly 3,000 deputies will attend the first session of the NPC. They were elected from 35 electoral units across the country.

When asked about the Panchen Lama's qualification as an NPC deputy, Jiang Enzhu said the Panchen Lama was too young. China's regulations stipulate that NPC deputies must be above 18 years of age.

The 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu was born on Feb 13, 1990, not quite 18 years old when the election took place.