China’s leaders ‘confident’ economy will get better
BEIJING: China’s leadership is confident the country’s economy would IMPROVE, AN OFFICIAL SAID on Monday, ahead of a key political meeting in which Beijing is expected to unveil one of its most pessimistic growth targets in years.
Armed police and public security workers are ubiquitous on Beijing’s streets as thousands of delegates descend on the Chinese capital for the annual political gathering known as the “Two Sessions.”
Front and center at the meetings will be China’s economy, which last year posted some of its lowest growth in decades and is battling a prolonged property sector crisis and soaring youth unemployment.
Tuesday’s opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC) is expected to see Premier Li Qiang announce that growth in 2024 will stay largely flat, at about 5 percent.
But at a Monday news conference, NPC spokesman Lou Qinjian struck a bullish tone.
China’s leaders, Lou said, had “ample confidence” that the economy would rebound, adding that the East Asian country had “more favorable conditions than challenges in its economic development.”
“The underlying trend of a rebound in the economy and longterm growth remains unchanged,” he added.
But in a break with decades-long tradition, he said Li would not be holding a news conference at the end of the NPC meeting next Monday.
Long a rare opportunity for international media to question China’s top leaders directly — with usually pre-approved questions — Li used last year’s briefing to warn that Beijing’s modest growth goals would be “no easy task.”
And in 2020, his late predecessor Li Keqiang admitted that 600 million people in China were still living on just 1,000 yuan ($139) a month — a break from China’s official claims to have defeated poverty.
There was also no mention of a news conference with the country’s top diplomat — currently Wang Yi — which normally takes place a few days into the NPC meeting.
Lou also addressed China’s hope for this year’s presidential election in the United States, with which it has clashed in recent years on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to human rights.
Americans will go to the polls in November, in an election likely to pit Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
“No matter who becomes the president, we hope that the United States can work in the same direction with China and work for a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship,” Lou said.
Focus on economy
The Two Sessions officially kicked off at 3 p.m. on Monday with the opening ceremony of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) — attended by President Xi Jinping and other party top brass — which will last until Sunday, March 10.
Monday’s CPPCC is relatively low-stakes compared with the nearsimultaneous gathering of the NPC.
At a news conference on Sunday, CPPCC spokesman Liu Jieyi said “economic topics” would be “of great concern” to the body’s over two thousand members.
This week’s meetings are not expected to see the unveiling of big-ticket bailouts that experts say are needed to stimulate China’s economy.
Beijing is also set to double down on national security, with analysts expecting it to increase its military budget, second only to the US.
China revised a law dramatically expanding its definition of espionage last year and conducted raids on a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms.
The legislature’s top body also approved a broad and vaguely worded revision to the country’s state secrets law in the run-up to the NPC meeting.
Lynette Ong, a professor at the University of Toronto, told AFP there would “be continued emphasis on security.”
“I don’t expect any major policy change, such as important structural reforms, that will change the course of economic trajectory,” she added.