BEIJING - Journalists from China and abroad are being invited to cover the two major annual events on the country's political calendar next month.

The Fifth Session of the National Committee of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the national advisory body, will open on March 3.

The Fifth Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature, will open on March 5.

The general offices of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee announced Wednesday that a media center for the two meetings would open on Feb 26 at the Media Center Hotel.

Chinese mainland and resident foreign journalists should submit applications for reporting passes to the media center before February 28, while foreign reporters temporarily in China for the "two sessions" should apply at Chinese embassies or visa organizations authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Hong Kong and Macao offices of the China Travel Services are authorized to handle applications from Taiwan reporters.

Reporters from Hong Kong and Macao should apply at the central government's liaison offices in the two special administrative regions.

Two websites were opened Wednesday to help domestic and overseas journalists cover the sessions.

The websites - www.npc.gov.cn/pc/11_5 for the NPC session and www.cppcc.people.com.cn for the CPPCC session - will post information related to news coverage of the events, the offices said.