Pony Ma, a delegate to the National People's Congress of China and Chairman of the Board and CEO of Tencent, will be absent from this year's "two sessions" for medical reasons, according to the Southern Metropolis News.
The 2020 national "two sessions", China's most important annual political event, will start on 21 May.
Pony Ma plans to submit seven written proposals to the "two sessions" this year, covering issues such as industrial Internet, rural revitalization, financial technology, access to medical services and doctors, development of small and medium-sized enterprises, regional development, ecology and environmental protection.
As a delegate to the 12th and 13th National People's Congresses, Pony Ma has submitted more than 40 written recommendations to the national "two sessions" for eight consecutive years, averaging more than 5 per year.
Pony Ma was also absent during the "two sessions" in March 2014 due to a recurrence of old lumbar spine problems, and submitted a proposal after the session.
Former Tencent employees had mentioned in a media interview that Pony Ma had undergone two lumbar spine surgeries during the financing process in his early years, and after the second surgery, he could only lie flat on his bed and hold his laptop for work.
