After a busy week of talks, China’s annual parliamentary sitting ended on Monday with a big hole in the schedule.
A press meeting by the prime minister is usually the last thing that happens at the National People’s Congress. But for some reason, the practice was stopped this year and for the rest of the term.
Officials said it wasn’t necessary because reporters could ask questions in other ways. Even though top officials talked about being open, many people saw it as another sign of control and consolidation, which became a theme of the meeting.
For the first time in 30 years, the news conference was cancelled, which makes Premier Li Qiang less well-known. Even though the event was planned ahead of time, it was a unique chance for foreign reporters to ask questions and gave the country’s second-in-command a chance to show what he could do.
It has even led to some surprising moments in the past. Li Keqiang, who was prime at the time, released numbers in 2020 that sparked debate over the government’s claim that it had wiped out poverty.
Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore who studies Chinese governance, said that the fact that the premier isn’t getting as much attention and that this year’s congress was shorter are both signs of ongoing structural change within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He said that President Xi Jinping is gaining power at the expense of other people and institutions.
Monday, house members also passed a law that makes it harder for the party to control the State Council, which is China’s cabinet and is led by Mr. Li.
But to the outside world, the party wants to show a different side as it struggles with a weak economy and a loss of trust from foreign investors.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, told reporters from around the world last week that the country was still a good place to do business and invest.
“China is still a strong growth engine.” He then talked about how “China is opening its door wider” and said, “The ‘next China’ is still China.”
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Mr. Li presented this year’s economic blueprint at the beginning of the session. It included plans to let foreign investors into more areas and ease restrictions on market entry in areas like manufacturing and services.
This comes after new anti-espionage and data security laws, as well as the sudden detention of several well-known Chinese and foreign businessmen, scared away foreign investors. Foreign direct investment in China hit a low point not seen in 30 years not long ago.
“There aren’t as many checks and balances in politics, and things aren’t clear.” For buyers, this is the bigger worry… “Because you can’t tell what will happen, you stay away from risk,” Dr. Wu said.
But Mr. Wang brushed off those worries last week. “Spreading negative ideas about China will hurt you in the end.” “Misjudging China will lead to missed chances,” he said, focusing on the good things about China’s future.
Mr. Wang and Mr. Li both used buzzwords like “new productive forces” and “high quality development” a lot to talk about a new stage in China’s growth, but neither of them really explained what they meant. China wants to grow its GDP by about 5% this year, which is a very high goal.
Neil Thomas, a fellow in Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said, “Beijing is changing how it opens to the world.”
He said that the government is now focusing on getting advanced foreign technology and manufacturing processes to help Chinese companies in industries that will be important in the future.
“Foreign investment and trade are less important for China’s economy than they once were, but Beijing still wants to avoid a rush to the exits that could further shake its growth prospects.”
At the same time, officials wanted to stress the main goal of the government.
“Stability is of overall importance, as it is the basis for everything we do,” stated Mr. Li. In another part of his report, he made it clear that China wants to grow, but it will also put better national security first.
There may be people who wonder how China can have a thriving open economy while also tightening control.
Lead China economist at Merics, Jacob Gunter, said, “From Beijing’s point of view, there is no contradiction between high-quality development, especially with foreign investment, and greater security needs.”
Mr. Gunter said that China would want to make sure that as much of certain technologies as possible are made in China, since Chinese companies haven’t caught up with them yet. This makes it less likely that competitors, like the US and its allies, will steal the information or stop them from selling it to China.
Beijing also made it clear that it would keep cracking down on trouble spots in its economy, like the real estate market that isn’t doing well and local governments that have huge bills.
As part of his plan to crack down on illegal financial activities, Mr. Li said he would take more steps to reduce financial risks and improve oversight.
These issues have been around for a while, but Mr. Gunter said that “the debt levels and size of the property bubble have gotten big enough that they have to solve it now and can’t back off.”
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“Right now the economy is doing really badly. Because they haven’t gone back to kicking this can down the road, it shows that this is a long-term goal that they won’t give up on.
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