The National People's Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, has for years been an arena for a very Chinese brand of 'media transparency'.

It is where Beijing-friendly reporters ask softball, fawning questions that have been agreed in advance by authorities.

The facade gives officials a platform to burnish the credentials of the ruling Communist Party, and hands complicit journalists their moment of fame as they hold the microphone.

But on Tuesday an exasperated journalist unmasked the deception with an eye-roll that was shared by millions in China, before Beijing's huge army of censors swung into action.

Liang Xiangyi a reporter for Yicai Media, was captured in the clip giving a devastating glance towards another female reporter as she asked a long-winded question on China's Belt and Road infrastructure project.

The reporter with the microphone, was identified as Zhang Huijun, a reporter for American Multimedia Television (AMTV), which has strong links to China's state broadcaster, CCTV.