Two sessions pave China’s path forward
National advisers and lawmakers to discuss key development agendas
Starting with a plenary session of China’s political advisory body in Beijing, the country enters a week of primary importance with the “two sessions” — more than two months after they were postponed due to COVID-19.
The world will be watching how China charts the course for a crucial year to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieve its development goals after warding off coronavirus risks.
Experts said the nation’s biggest annual political event will indicate the direction of its socioeconomic development amid the COVID-19 pandemic and will inject confidence into the gloomy world economy.
The opening of the annual meetings of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top political advisory body, on May 21 and the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislature, on May 22, was postponed from the usual date in early March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Premier Li Keqiang is delivering a tone-setting Government Work Report on May 22 to the NPC for deliberation and approval.
The report will normally set goals for key economic indicators for the year, including range of growth rate, inflation and fiscal deficit, and employment. Convening the two sessions this week shows that China has made major strategic achievements in fighting the contagion, and its efforts to coordinate epidemic control and socioeconomic development have taken effect, said Xu Xiujun, a leading researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics.
It also sends a message to the international community that China has strong resolve and confidence in prevailing over the epidemic and reviving its economy, Xu said.
Around 3,000 legislators will gather in Beijing to discuss major laws and regulations as well as discuss and approve several key documents, including the Government Work Report and the national budget, along with more than 2,000 political advisers from the CPPCC.
China uses the annual political event to reveal its growth target and key economic agendas, which set domestic and international expectations. It usually also sets out major policy shifts and adjustments.
This year’s landmark political event is unusual because it takes place while the pandemic is raging globally. China also faces the risk of the epidemic resurging as it embarks on economic recovery.
China is in the final push to achieve the target of poverty eradication as the nation is entering the home stretch in realizing its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2020.
There were still 5.51 million impoverished people by the end of last year. Special attention should be paid to ensuring the remaining poor, most of whom are elderly, minors and those grappling with serious illnesses or disabilities, have access to social assistance, said Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs Tang Chengpei.
Xu said that given the situation, he could not rule out the possibility that some countries would take a more confrontational stance against China, adding that this could increase the risks for China’s development.
Despite the challenges, Xu suggested that China should continue to prioritize high-quality development by coordinating efforts in stabilizing growth, promoting reforms, readjusting its economic structure, improving livelihoods, preventing risks and maintaining stability.
China’s economy shrank 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter as the outbreak dealt a huge blow to economic activity. While the epidemic has been basically brought under control domestically, economic activities remain on the road to recovery.
Value-added industrial output increased 3.9 percent year-on-year in April, rebounding from the 1.1-percent drop in March and the 13.5-percent slump in the first two months of the year, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. However, the statistics authority warned that the recovery still faces uncertainties and challenges from the global spread of the novel coronavirus.
Zhou Fangyin, a senior researcher at the Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, said that convening the two sessions is a signal that business is largely back to normal in the world’s second-largest economy.
Zhou said that since major uncertainties remain, China’s two sessions will provide a degree of certainty for the world economy and help the international community to overcome the panic the pandemic has brought about.
China will continue to uphold allaround opening-up and strengthen international cooperation in trade, investment and financing, he added.
During the two sessions, Zhou said China could also underscore the need to improve its manufacturing capability and strengthen its industrial chains, step up the development of the digital economy, and advance the construction of digital infrastructure.
By doing so, China will become more competitive in some areas of manufacturing while upgrading and transforming its economic structure, Zhou said.