BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, will open its third annual session in Beijing on May 22.

The decision was adopted Wednesday at the 17th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee held from April 26 to 29.

Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, and through the hard work of the whole country and the people, the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control situation in China is improving steadily and the normal economic and social life is gradually resuming, according to a statement issued by the NPC Standing Committee.

With various factors taken into consideration, the conditions for convening the NPC annual session at an appropriate time are ready, said the statement.

The 15th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in December 2019 made the decision to convene the annual session of the 13th NPC on March 5 and made recommendations for the agenda. The NPC Standing Committee has since made a series of preparations for holding the annual legislative session in accordance with the decision.

In light of the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the 16th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in February 2020 made the decision to postpone the annual session of the 13th NPC in order to implement the major decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee on coordinating the epidemic response with economic and social development, to continue the containment efforts and to protect people's lives, health and safety.