China’s annual political conclave begins in Beijing
China’sleadershipisconfident the economy will improve, an official said on Monday, ahead of a key political meeting in which Beijing is expected to unveil one of itsmostpessimisticgrowthtargets in years.
Armed police and public securityworkersareubiquitousonBeijing streets as thousands of delegatesdescendonthecapitalforthe annualpoliticalconclaveknownas the “Two Sessions”.
Front and centre 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 sectorcrisisandsoaringyouthunemployment.
Tuesday’s opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC) isexpectedtoseePremierLiQiang announcethatgrowthin2024will stay largely flat, at around five percent.
But at a Monday press conference, NPC spokesperson Lou Qinjian struck a bullish tone.
China’s leaders, he said, had “ample confidence” that the economy would rebound, adding the countryhas“morefavourableconditions than challenges in its economic development”.
“The underlying trend of a reboundintheeconomyandlongtermgrowthremainsunchanged.”
But in a break with decadeslong tradition, he said Premier Li would not be holding a press conferenceattheendoftheNPCmeeting next Monday.
There was also no mention of a press conference with the foreign minister — currently Wang Yi — which normally takes place a few days into the NPC meeting.
Lou on Monday also addressed China’s hope for this year’s presidential election in the United States, withwhichithasclashedin recent years on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to human rights.
Americans go to the polls this November in an election that will likely pit former leader Donald Trump against President Joe Biden.
“No matter who becomes the president, wehopethattheUnited States can work in the same directionwithChinaandworkforasta
ble, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship,” he said.
China’s“TwoSessions” officially kicked off on Monday at 3pm (local time) with the opening ceremonyoftheChinesePeople’sPolitical 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 near-simultaneous gathering of the NPC. At a press conference on Sunday, CPPCC spokesperson Liu Jieyi said that “economic topics” would be “of great concern” to the body’s more than two thousand members.
Beijing is also set to double down on national security, with analysts expecting it to increase its militarybudget, secondonlytothe United States.
China revised a law dramatically expanding its definition of espionagelastyearandconducted raids on a string of big-name consulting, researchandduediligence 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.
On paper, the NPC wields little actual power.
All major decisions will have beenmadeweeksbeforeincloseddoor meetings of the Communist Party, far from the international media’s cameras.