The First Session of the Fourth National People’s Congress

It was held in Beijing from January 13 to January 17, 1975. The term of office of the four NPCs lasted from 1975 to 1979, during which only one Congress, the First Session of the Fourth NPC, was held. The main agenda of this Session was to amend the Constitution, hear the report on the work of the government, and elect and appoint national leaders. A total of 2,864 delegates attended this Session, and the Congress elected a Bureau consisting of 218 delegates. At the meeting, the Premier Zhou Enlai made a report on the work of the government and Zhang Chunqiao made a report on the amendment of the Constitution. All delegates unanimously adopted the revised "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" and the resolution on the report on the work of the government. The Congress also elected Zhu De as the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fourth National People's Congress and 143 members of the Standing Committee. In addition, it was decided to appoint Zhou Enlai as the Premier of the State Council.

The Session approved the "Report on the Work of the Government" presented by the Premier Zhou Enlai to the Congress. The report reiterated the "two-step vision" proposed in the report on the work of the government of the three NPCs: the first step was to build an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system in 15 years, that is, by 1980; the second step was to fully realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense and science and technology (the Four Modernizations) in the 20th century, so that China's national economy would be at the forefront of the world.

The Session determined the leadership of the State Council with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping as the core, and Deng Xiaoping was appointed as the First Vice Premier of the State Council at the Fourth National People's Congress.