{"id":16436,"date":"2024-03-05T00:46:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/two-sessions-china-scraps-a-decades-long-political-tradition-as-xi-tightens-control-amid-economic-woes\/"},"modified":"2024-03-05T00:46:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:46:47","slug":"two-sessions-china-scraps-a-decades-long-political-tradition-as-xi-tightens-control-amid-economic-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/two-sessions-china-scraps-a-decades-long-political-tradition-as-xi-tightens-control-amid-economic-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Two sessions\u2019: China scraps a\u00a0decades-long\u00a0political tradition as Xi tightens control\u00a0amid economic woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thousands of delegates from across China are gathering in Beijing this week for the start of the country\u2019s most prominent annual political event, where leaders will signal how they plan to steer the world\u2019s second largest economy in the year ahead \u2014 and try to dispel deepening concern about the challenges it faces. <\/p>\n

Projecting confidence is likely to be high on the agenda for Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his top Communist Party officials during the days-long, highly choreographed event, known as the \u201ctwo sessions,\u201d when China\u2019s rubber stamp legislature and top advisory body\u00a0convene. <\/p>\n

The largely ceremonial gathering is taking on heightened importance this year as China\u2019s economy has been roiled by a property sector crisis, hefty local government debt, deflation, a stock market rout and tech friction with the US \u2014 all fueling questions about whether the country will lose steam before it reaches its goal of becoming a developed global power. <\/p>\n

It also will include a significant break with precedent: the scrapping of a closing press conference with China\u2019s premier, a political tradition that has featured in the gathering for three decades \u2013 at a times providing a rare window into the thinking of China\u2019s number two leader, who is nominally in charge of the economy. <\/p>\n

The press conference would also not take place for the rest of the current five year political cycle \u201cunless there are very special circumstances,\u201d spokesperson Lou Qinjian told reporters in Beijing Monday ahead of the legislative meeting\u2019s opening day, citing other interview opportunities for media throughout the event. This year\u2019s legislative gathering will also last just seven days, a shorter format than was typical prior to the pandemic. <\/p>\n

The changes are likely to add to broader concerns about transparency around China\u2019s policymaking and further dim the premier\u2019s profile, which had already been impacted by Xi\u2019s hardline control over all policy areas, including the economy. Under Xi, the premier and the State Council, which functions as China\u2019s cabinet, have been increasingly sidelined. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy design, they only want one voice \u2014 from the (Communist) Party. They don\u2019t want other voices to dilute the voice of the party, which is controlled by Xi,\u201d said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore\u2019s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. <\/p>\n

That also means Xi is heavily under the spotlight as economic pain has sparked growing frustration within China. The gathering comes one year after\u00a0he began a norm-shattering third term as president, having consolidated power atop the party and stacked its leadership with a raft of officials who appeared to be selected for their loyalty as much as experience. <\/p>\n

A year later \u2014 as an expected post-Covid recovery has yet to fully materialize, young people struggle to find jobs, investors grapple with market losses and small business owners fight to stay afloat \u2014 skepticism has been rising about the direction charted by the leader and his\u00a0new team. Xi has also overseen a political shakeup in his own ranks, further marring the start of the new term. <\/p>\n

Those challenges may not pose a threat to Xi, who is China\u2019s most powerful and authoritative leader in decades. But how his team addresses those concerns will have implications not only for the future of China and its 1.4 billion people, but the global economy at large \u2014 and Xi\u2019s top officials are likely stepping into the meeting feeling that pressure. <\/p>\n

Policymakers, investors and business owners in capitals across the world will also be watching closely, especially in a year when America\u2019s presidential election could further strain the relationship between the world\u2019s two largest economies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe government wants to use this platform to send signals that China\u2019s economy in general is okay and is on the right trajectory,\u201d said Chen Gang, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore\u2019s East Asian Institute. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow there are a lot of doubts and suspicions about the capacity of the new administration \u2026 (so) they want to showcase that this government, the new administration led by (Xi\u2019s number two) Premier Li Qiang, is capable of handling economic issues,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Delegates converge<\/h2>\n

The gathering, which takes place in Beijing\u2019s cavernous Great Hall of the People, is\u00a0the only time each year that the nearly 3,000-person legislature, the National People\u2019s Congress, meets in person. <\/p>\n

The body has little power to chart the course ahead for the country, as major policy direction is set by the party, whose elite members make decisions in closed-door meetings throughout the year. <\/p>\n

But the two sessions provide an important platform for China\u2019s notoriously opaque government to broadcast its strategy for economic, social and foreign policies and announce key indicators including China\u2019s economic growth target, its budget deficit limit and military spending for the coming year. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an opportunity for elite leaders to hear from delegates, who hail from across the country and different social sectors \u2014\u00a0though the space for such exchanges at the gathering and in general has shrunk as Xi has tightened ideological control and overseen a drive to crush views that deviate from the Communist Party line. <\/p>\n

Such controls have\u00a0also appeared in\u00a0recent debate about the economy, with some prominent economic analysts subjected to social media restrictions that seem designed to restrict their ability to speak out. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe regime often utilizes the annual conference to secure support from Chinese society and bolster confidence in the market,\u201d said Xuezhi Guo, a professor of political science at Guilford College in the US. <\/p>\n

Now \u201cthis is particularly crucial given challenges like China\u2019s real estate downturn, stock market crisis, high unemployment, and weakened demand,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Observers will be parsing how leaders discuss or comment on key issues like China\u2019s position on the self-governing island of Taiwan, its relations with the US and bid to strengthen innovation as Washington bolsters tech export controls. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is conceivable that Xi may adopt a more conciliatory stance towards the US, temporarily shelving the confrontational \u2018wolf warrior diplomacy,\u2019 and redirecting efforts towards supporting both the bureaucracy and technocrats to ensure stability in China\u2019s economy,\u201d said Guo. <\/p>\n

Such a tone shift could also be signaled by the appointment of a new foreign minister at this year\u2019s gathering \u2013 something analysts ahead of the gathering said could happen in the coming days, though an agenda of the event announced Monday did not mention personnel changes. <\/p>\n

The role has been filled, in what many expected to be a temporary capacity, by senior diplomat and former Foreign Minister Wang Yi since July, when his newly appointed successor Qin Gang was ousted without explanation after disappearing from public view. <\/p>\n

That dramatic moment was followed just weeks later by the disappearance and subsequent removal and replacement of another of Xi\u2019s hand-picked, third-term officials: then Defense Minister Li Shangfu. Again, it was done without explanation alongside an anti-corruption drive and apparent purge within China\u2019s military. <\/p>\n

While analysts said the surprise shake-up wasn\u2019t a threat to Xi\u2019s iron-clad grip on power, it did raise questions about his judgment, with lingering vacancies from those removals still a reminder of that. <\/p>\n

Besides the foreign minister role, two high-ranking posts in China\u2019s cabinet previously occupied by Li and Qin also remain open. <\/p>\n

Economic challenges<\/h2>\n

Signs leading up to the gathering suggest the Chinese government is gearing up to focus on supporting economic growth in the year ahead, but it\u2019s unlikely China will unveil any major stimulus. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeijing will likely use the two sessions to announce tactical measures aimed at boosting short-term confidence in China\u2019s economy but without changing Xi\u2019s underlying strategy of state-led development,\u201d said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute\u2019s Center for China Analysis. <\/p>\n

The announcement of the economic growth target for 2024, set to be delivered by Premier Li on Tuesday, is among the most important issues to watch during the two sessions. <\/p>\n

Analysts widely expect Li to reveal a relatively ambitious growth target of \u201caround 5%,\u201d showing that policymakers are still focused on economic growth, even as challenges pile up. <\/p>\n

Observers will also be closely watching how markets respond. Heading into the gathering, many are skeptical that projections of confidence and measures announced at the event will be enough to restore optimism. <\/p>\n

But even if they don\u2019t, that\u2019s unlikely to dent Xi\u2019s power. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe country\u2019s economic problems are eroding ordinary people\u2019s trust in the leadership\u2019s ability to deliver higher growth and improved livelihoods,\u201d said Asia Society\u2019s Thomas. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, Xi does not need to win elections so what matters most for him is elite control rather than popular approval. And the economy seems a long way from the type of collapse that could overwhelm the party\u2019s sophisticated apparatus of repression.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of delegates from across China are gathering in Beijing this week for the start of the country\u2019s most prominent annual political event, where leaders will signal how they plan to steer the world\u2019s second largest economy in the year ahead \u2014 and try to dispel deepening concern about the challenges it faces. Projecting confidence <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":16437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}