Beijing gets ready for CPPCC

China on high alert for political gathering

BEIJING: Beijing is on high alert for its biggest annual political gathering where more than 5,000 of its top lawmakers, business leaders and celebrities meet to take stock of the past year and make plans for the year ahead.

In a year peppered with significant and sensitive anniversaries, security around the meeting venue, hotels and historic sites in the capital city is expected to be heightened.

The 2,000-member Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, will kick off its series of meetings this Sunday, while the 3,000-strong national parliament, the National People’s Congress, convenes next Tuesday.

Together, they are known as the “two sessions” or lianghui, and typically last about 10 days. While this year’s key policy changes are not likely to top last year’s dramatic scrapping of presidential term limits, they could reflect attitudinal changes brought on by the trade dispute with the United States, with a slew of measures aimed at tackling a slowing economy.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is expected to announce a growth target of between 6% and 6.5% for this year as the country grapples with its weakest growth since 1990.

Legislators are likely to also push through a foreign investment law that bans forced technology transfers by foreign companies in China and offers greater intellectual property protection – the main bugbears of US trade negotiators locked in trade talks with China.

Already, some in the foreign business com- munity has raised their concerns.

“We are concerned that the drafting of the Foreign Investment Law is being squeezed between the normal legislative process and the negotiation table with the US, in part to address the trade conflict,” said Mats Harborn, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

“This law will have major ramifications for all foreign companies in China for the foreseeable future, so the drafting process must be given the time and attention due to such an important piece of legislation, and proper consultation periods should be respected.”

On the domestic front, tax cuts including reducing social security premiums – a significant burden on companies – are also likely to be announced, after party leaders and policymakers made the proposal at last December’s national agenda-setting Central Economic Work Conference. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network