Nov. 23, 2017 -- Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Wang Chen presides over the first plenary session of the Conference for Electing Deputies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the 13th NPC in Hong Kong, south China, Nov. 22, 2017. The plenary session, attended by 1,462 members of the electoral conference, elected a 19-member presidium, which will preside over the future meetings of the electoral conference. (Xinhua/Wang Xi)

HONG KONG, Nov. 23, 2017 -- The Conference for Electing Deputies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) convened its first plenary session on Wednesday in preparation for electing 36 deputies to China's top legislature.

The plenary session, attended by 1,462 members of the electoral conference, elected a 19-member presidium, which will preside over the future meetings of the electoral conference.

The 19 presidium members, including HKSAR Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, as well as two former chief executives, Tung Chee-Hwa and Leung Chun-ying, then held their first meeting and elected Lam as the executive chairwoman of the presidium.

According to a bulletin released by the presidium, the nomination for deputies to the 13th NPC will start on Nov. 24 and end on Dec. 4. Election for the deputies representing HKSAR to the 13th NPC will be held at the electoral conference's second plenary session on Dec. 19.

The presidium bulletin also made clear that 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.

According to the bulletin, the maximum number of the nominees by each electoral conference member will be 36.