Trending Topics at 2018 “Two Sessions”
Edited by Hu Zhoumeng
In March 2018, the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s political advisory body, will hold their first annual sessions (known as the “Two Sessions”) in Beijing. Newly elected NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members will gather to discuss critical issues concerning the country’s development. What topics will inspire the greatest concern nationwide or even worldwide? China Pictorial has a few predictions.
Constitution Amendment: Advancing with the Times
China’s current Constitution was adopted in 1982 and revised in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004, evolving with the development of the reform and opening up and socialist modernization.
At the Two Sessions, a draft amendment to the Constitution will be submitted to the NPC for deliberation. The revision is expected to place more focus on the will of the people, better utilize the strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics and better meet the demand to improve the long-term governance capacity of the Communist Party of China (CPC), to advance law-based governance and to promote modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance.
Anti-graft Networking
Reform of the national supervisory system has rolled out across China. Supervisory committees at provincial, municipal and county levels have gradually come into shape to realize full coverage over all employees with public power. The committees are established to integrate functions such as anti-graft and anti-misconduct in administrative and judiciary systems and to fight corruption effectively and efficiently.
During the Two Sessions, the draft law on national supervision will be submitted to the NPC for deliberation. “The legislation of the national supervision law will help promote reform of the national supervisory system on track with law-based governance,” said Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity Building at Peking University.
New Leadership Election
The 19th CPC Central Committee elected a new central leadership at its first plenary session in October 2017. During the Two Sessions, the NPC, China’s central government, Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate will also elect and decide on new leadership, as will the CPPCC National Committee.
The year 2018 marks the beginning of comprehensive implementation of the policies made at the 19th CPC National Congress, a decisive year for China to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects as well as a crucial year to implement the 13th Five-year Plan. How the new leaders will start their work has inspired considerable speculation.
New Chapter for Reform and Opening Up
This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. China will introduce new and more powerful measures to strengthen the reform and opening up, some of which may exceed international expectations, revealed Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, at the annual World Economic Forum in January. The country’s new plans and strategies for reforms are drawing intense attention.