China’s legislative body the National People’s Congress (NPC) has begun a weeklong meeting in Beijing by setting a target of 5 per cent for economic growth this year, as the country emerges from three years of coronavirus restrictions.
Outgoing premier Li Keqiang announced the target, which is modest by recent Chinese standards, to almost 3,000 delegates in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.
Mr Li is expected to make way as premier during this week’s meeting for Li Qiang, the former Communist Party secretary in Shanghai and a close ally of Xi Jinping. Mr Xi, who was elected to a third term as party leader last October, will be confirmed as China’s president for a further five-year term.
China’s economy grew by just 3 per cent last year but the end of the zero-Covid policy has seen a rebound and Mr Li said the government would prioritise boosting domestic consumption.
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“The incomes of urban and rural residents should be boosted through multiple channels. We should stabilise spending on big-ticket items and promote recovery in consumption of consumer services. We should see that government investment and policy incentives effectively drive investment society-wide,” he said.
Reunification with Taiwan
Defence spending will rise by 7.2 per cent this year, a slightly larger increase than last year, although China’s military budget remains little over a third that of the United States. Mr Li reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to reunification with Taiwan but stressed the promotion of peaceful means to achieve that goal.
“As we Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family bound by blood, we should advance economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait and improve the systems and policies that contribute to the wellbeing of our Taiwan compatriots. We should encourage people on both sides of the Strait to jointly promote Chinese culture and advance China’s rejuvenation,” he said.
This week’s meeting comes amid rising geopolitical tensions between China and the United States following the cancellation of a planned visit to Beijing last month after a Chinese balloon flew over American airspace. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the Biden administration is considering new rules that could ban US investment in certain sectors in China.
The newspaper said that, although the administration is citing national security concerns, it is expected to cover investment in advanced semiconductors, quantum computing and some forms of artificial intelligence. China has accused the US of using economic sanction to hobble its rise as an economic and technological competitor.
At a press conference before the start of this week’s meeting, congress spokesman Wang Chao said China would use new legal measures to counter sanctions imposed by the US and others.
“Some countries have kept abusing the extraterritorial application of their domestic laws in violation of international law, with the aim of taking down foreign entities and individuals and serving their own interests,” he said.
‘Justifiable and necessary’
“For acts that undermine China’s sovereignty, security and development interests and harm the lawful rights and interest of the Chinese nation, the law contains relevant provisions to firmly counter such acts. This is both justifiable and necessary”.
Mr Wang spoke warmly about China’s relationship with Europe and rejected suggestions by some European politicians that Europe and China were systemic rivals.
“There is no fundamental strategic disagreement or conflict but rather broad common interests and cooperation built up over many years,” he said.
“In recent years, we’ve seen some people claiming that China and Europe are systemic rivals and they’ve been playing up the so-called China challenge or China threat. Fundamentally speaking, such rhetoric is driven by the cold war mentality and ideological biases. It is intended to serve their selfish interests”.
