‘Balance, reform’ expected at China’s annual parliamentary meetings

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Known as Two Sessions, China's annual parliamentary meetings are expected to bring in new faces in the country’s administration, experts said and argued that such a change may also lead to "concentration of power."

Delegates representing the world’s largest populated country will converge in the Chinese capital Beijing for the legislative meetings beginning with the annual meeting of China’s 14th People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Saturday.

The 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) – China’s top lawmaking body – will begin proceedings a day later and “reform” of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and state institutions is on the agenda.

After being elected for an unprecedented third term last October as chief of the CPC, Xi Jinping is set to retain his position as the country’s president at the end of the legislative huddle.

The big huddle of thousands of Chinese delegates also came days after the US House Select Committee on CCP warned of an “existential struggle.”

“This is not a polite tennis match. This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century — and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake,” Mike Gallagher, the committee’s Republican chairman, said at the opening of the hearing.

Guo Weimin, the spokesman for the first session of the CPPCC, told a news conference in Beijing on Friday that the meeting of the CPPCC – China's top political advisory body – will open at 3:00 p.m. local time (0700GMT) on Saturday and end on March 11.

China’s newly elected delegates will mark their first attendance at the NPC as part of their five-year term where they are also required to confirm the new faces which make China’s State Council, chaired by the premier.

Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang has already served two terms.

The NPC delegates will also vote for new leaders of several other organizations.

While observers believe Xi will bring in faces, expectedly younger and loyal ones, Guo said: “China will promote a stable and healthy development of the real estate industry and promote the transformation of the industry to a new development model.”

“China's confidence and determination for opening up and reform is unshakable and will take active measures to promote opening-up and drive the global economy,” he added.

- ‘Balance of economic and social reforms’

At Two Sessions, Einar Tangen, an expert on China, told Anadolu: “China will take a measured tone and approach stressing a balance of economic and social reforms.”

He said markets and investors will closely watch for the GDP target set for the world's second-largest economy at the legislative meetings “which should be above 5%.”

According to Tangen, tech, real estate, agriculture, green investment and measures aimed at making Chinese manufacturing more efficient and market-driven are expected to remain in focus at the NPC.

“Li Qiang is expected to be named Premier,” said Tangen, a senior fellow at the Beijing-based Taihe Institute.

While nominations to the State Council and other organizations will be closely watched, Tangen said: “A younger group of leaders who have worked with Xi and believe in his agenda” are expected to be among the new faces of administrators.

He said while the new administrators “will be responsible” for China “going forward” which is “positive,” but “that's also negative.”

“With his (Xi Jinping) team in place,” Tangen said, “it puts tremendous pressure on them to deliver, difficult in a world where there are major issues beyond China’s domestic control, conflict in Ukraine, Washington’s 360-degree daily political, economic and military pressure.”

“Some structural reforms in the area of financial planning and control (are expected), but not major changes to the system,” he added.

- ‘2 focuses’

Taiwan-based academic Chienyu Shih told Anadolu that the Two Sessions will have “two focuses.”

“People may speculate the coming Two Sessions would mainly target on government change, economic recovery and reconfirmation of China’s foreign policy lines but Xi is restructuring the government to match the CCP’s absolute concentration of power where Xi is one at the peak,” said Shih, a research fellow at Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

He said Beijing will “continue to promote the ‘reunification’ process and Taiwan certainly will encounter heavy pressure.”

China considers Taiwan a “breakaway province” while Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949, enjoying diplomatic relations with at least 14 nations.

Political theorist and CCP leader Wang Huning, Shih predicted, “would take over as the chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC and will be the deputy head of the Taiwan Work Leading Group of the CCP Central Committee.”

“Wang is good at strategic deployment,” he said.

According to the Taiwanese academic, Wang shall “devote to construct a new set of narratives that would be in line with ‘the party's overall strategy for solving the Taiwan issue in the new era’, which would also include the option of use of force to Taiwan in the future.”