China's parliament will hold its annual session next month after being delayed due to the coronavirus, state media said Wednesday, signalling the communist leadership's growing confidence in taming the epidemic.

Beijing announced in February that it would put off the annual National People's Congress (NPC) for the first time since the Cultural Revolution as the country battled the coronavirus outbreak, which has since become a pandemic.

The rescheduled session on May 22 will highlight confidence by the leadership that China has largely brought its outbreak under control.

Top Communist Party leaders including President Xi Jinping attend each year's gathering with thousands of delegates from across the country, to rubber-stamp bills, budgets and personnel moves already decided by the party.

According to a statement cited by official news agency Xinhua from the NPC Standing Committee -- the body that oversees the legislative session -- the epidemic in China is "improving steadily" and "normal economic and social life is gradually resuming".

This means the "conditions for convening the NPC annual session... are ready," the statement said.

The annual gathering was originally due to start on March 5.

While most of the lockdown restrictions imposed on the epicentre of Hubei province have now been lifted, there are still strict quarantine measures on those arriving in Beijing from other parts of China.

It was not clear how that would affect the gathering of nearly 3,000 delegates.

A number of local governments have held their regional political meetings online -- fuelling speculation at least part of the NPC might consist of virtual sessions.

But Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told AFP that given how symbolic the national legislature meeting is, delegates are more likely to attend in person.

"I believe that the delegates, many of whom are middle-aged, would not be able to accept virtual meetings as much as face-to-face meetings -- they see it as a great privilege to go to Beijing for these meetings and would hope to physically attend," he said.

The NPC is usually a 10-day gathering, but state-run tabloid Global Times quoted one delegate saying the length of the meeting is likely to be reduced this year.

Xinhua said earlier this week that there was a plan to create or revise 17 health-related laws this year and next, including a biosecurity law and a revised law on "animal epidemic prevention".

Chinese scientists have said the virus emerged from a food market which reportedly sold exotic wild animals for human consumption.

- 'Show of strength' -

"This is a show of strength," said Hong Kong-based political analyst Willy Lam.

"It's a sign that China is back on its feet, and the economic machinery keeps humming, and a big reassurance to the people that the epidemic is over."

Lam said the announcement was also aimed at the domestic audience, to reassure Chinese citizens after a sharp 6.8 percent contraction in the first quarter's economic growth.

China's official number of infections has dwindled dramatically over the last month, with no new deaths reported for two weeks straight.

The NPC's Standing Committee said at the time the gathering was postponed that the top officials who normally attend the meeting should prioritise tackling the virus in their home regions.

The NPC is used to portray the government as answerable to the people's representatives, but its deliberations are pre-determined well in advance and the whole event is tightly choreographed by the Communist Party.

Nevertheless, it generates global interest as a glimpse into China's political and economic policy priorities for the coming year.

It has been held every year since 1978, and on March 5 specifically for the past two decades.

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