China's national lawmakers gathered?in Beijing on?Sunday to elect a presidium and set the agenda for the legislature's annual session to open on Monday.

The agenda for the session, adopted at the preparatory meeting, is as follows:

-- hearing and deliberating a government work report;

-- examining a report on the implementation of the 2011 plan for national economic and social development and another report on the draft 2012 plan for national economic and social development; and voting on the plan of national economic and social development for 2012;

-- examining a report on the implementation of the central and local budgets for 2011 and a draft report on the central and local budgets for 2012; and voting on the 2012 central budget;

-- deliberating a draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law;

-- deliberating a draft decision on deputy election for the 12th NPC and draft methods for the election of deputies to the 12th NPC from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macao SAR, respectively.

-- hearing and deliberating a work report of the NPC Standing Committee;

-- hearing and deliberating a work report of the Supreme People's Court;

-- hearing and deliberating a work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate;

A 170-member presidium was elected at the preparatory meeting. Wang Zhaoguo was elected secretary-general of the session.

The presidium held its first meeting on Sunday.

The fifth session of the 11th NPC lasts from March 5 to 14.

The deadline for deputies to submit their bills is set at 12:00 p.m., March 9.

Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the annual session, told a press conference Sunday that the upcoming legislative session is the most important meeting prior to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), slated for later this year.