A soldier in front of the Great Hall of the People on March 11, 2024, the closing day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China.
Yin Hon Chow | CNBC
BEIJING – China’s week-long annual parliamentary sessions ended Monday and for the first time in decades, the Chinese premier did not hold a news conference.
In a break with tradition, the prime minister will no longer hold a press conference following this year’s parliamentary sessions – at least for the remainder of the term, according to an official announcement last week.
Such press conferences were a rare example of press interactions with the highest levels of the Chinese government.
President Xi Jinping did not give a speech at the closing ceremony. He usually speaks only at the closing ceremonies of the first session of each National People’s Congress, the country’s highest authority, elected every five years. This year the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress will take place.
To be clear, the annual senior management meeting is typically ceremonial in nature. Real power lies with the ruling Communist Party, headed by Xi, the party’s general secretary and president of China.
Still, announcements made during Congress can shed light on government policy.
Here are some highlights of what was announced at this year’s week-long parliamentary session, which began on Tuesday and ended on Monday last week.
Environment
“In addition to extensive discussions on environmental protection, the Government Work Report (GWR) specifically committed to reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by approximately -2.5% by 2024,” Citi analysts highlighted in a report on Sunday.
The report “did not set such numerical targets for 2022-23, after the -3.0% target and campaign-style implementation led to blackouts in 2021,” the analysts said.
However, they warned that investors “need to be aware of the risks to growth posed by a possible tightening of environmental policies.”
Economic focus on manufacturing
China has set a growth target of about 5% for 2024, Premier Li Qiang said at the start of meetings on Tuesday as he released the government’s much-anticipated work report.
Industrial support is clearly at the top of Beijing’s priority list for the coming year, according to three major plans released during parliamentary sessions.
The top economic planner also noted that a push to modernize equipment would create a market worth more than 5 trillion yuan (about $694.5 billion).
Real estate, on the other hand, received less weight.
However, the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said that real estate developers “who have to go bankrupt should go bankrupt.” In a press conference on Saturday, Ni Hong warned that those who “harm the interests of the masses” will be investigated and to get punished.
Changes in the State Council
The Chinese Communist Party has tightened its control over Xi’s government.
At the 2023 parliamentary session, Beijing announced an overhaul of financial and technology regulation by setting up party-led commissions to oversee the two sectors. Last year’s meeting also saw Xi secure an unprecedented third term as president.
This year, the National People’s Congress approved changes to overhaul the structure of the State Council, the government’s top executive body headed by the prime minister. At the ceremonial closing on Monday, the amended organic law of the State Council was approved with 2,883 delegate votes – eight rejected the changes and nine abstained.
The changes include vice premier and the head of the People’s Bank of China to the council’s top leadership group.
It was not immediately clear what impact such changes would have.
—CNBC’s Clement Tan contributed to this story.
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2024-03-11 09:22:23
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