Nomination starts in China's HKSAR for election of national legislature deputies

HONG KONG -- Nomination for 36 deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) started on Friday in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

During the nomination period, from Nov. 24 to Dec. 4, eligible candidates who have gathered enough nominations from members of the Conference for Electing Deputies of the HKSAR to the 13th NPC can get registered for the election.

According to a presidium bulletin released on Wednesday after the electoral conference's first plenary session, Hong Kong residents of Chinese citizenship aged 18 or above are eligible to contest for the candidacy of the NPC deputies. They need to obtain at least 10 nominations from the electoral conference members for their registrations to be effective.

A 19-member presidium, elected by Wednesday's plenary session to preside over the NPC deputy election, will submit a final list of candidates to the electoral conference members for voting. The voting will be held at the electoral conference's second plenary session on Dec. 19.

According to NPC deputy election methods, candidates shall declare in their registration forms that they uphold China's constitution, the HKSAR Basic Law and the "one country, two systems" principle, bear allegiance to China and the HKSAR, and have not received directly or indirectly any form of funds in relation to the election from any foreign institution, organization or individual.