Taking a seat on the nation's top political advisory body might sound like a ticket to success and a proof of one's social status, but it seems not everyone is interested in privilege and prestige.
A Beijing maths professor who says he first learned he was a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delegate from TV reports has called for candidates to be notified and to allow them a chance to refuse.
'I found out only when the list was broadcast on television. No one has ever asked me if I consented to being [a delegate],' Ding Weiyue told the China Youth Daily.
Ding, 65, is a professor of mathematics at Peking University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
He has been appointed as a delegate to the CPPCC every year since 2001 as a representative of the China National Democratic Construction Association.
However, he told the paper the association had never asked him whether he wanted his name put forward. This, he said, demonstrated 'loopholes' in the selection process.
Ding submitted a proposal for a new regulation stipulating that potential delegates be informed before they were nominated.