What to Expect at China's 'Two Sessions' Amid Sagging Economy and Party Drama | Politics News

Taipei, Taiwan – China's “Two Sessions” begins on Monday in Beijing with the meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The event brings together China's political elite as well as leaders from business, technology, media and art.

The concurrent sessions, called Lianghui in Chinese, are an annual part of China's legislative agenda and last about two weeks.

During this period, lawmakers will pass new laws, political appointments and government work reports detailing the progress of various departments such as the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission.

What are the key developments to watch?

During the two sessions last year, delegates formally endorsed Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term as president.

This year the event is likely to be dominated by China's faltering economy, which is struggling with slowing growth, deflation, massive debt and falling exports.

One of the key events to watch will be Prime Minister Li Qiang's handover of the annual work report, which reviews the government's performance and sets targets for 2024.

Li is expected to set an economic growth target of about 5 percent for 2024 and discuss headline topics from China's falling birth rate to the future of regulating technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

Some important dates could also be arranged.

Last year, 11 members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress – the 175-member permanent body of the legislature – were removed, including Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

Those removed had ties to the military, including the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, which monitors China's nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles.

What is the difference between the two sessions?

The NPC and CPPCC are both Chinese state institutions that are technically separate from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but much of their work is determined by it.

On paper, the NPC is officially China's highest legislative body, with nearly 3,000 members representing the country's provinces, autonomous regions, major cities, the PLA and the People's Armed Police. The NPC also has delegates representing self-governing Taiwan, which is claimed by the CCP even though Beijing has never exercised control over the island.

During the NPC, delegates review progress toward political goals and vote on passing new laws and appointing high-ranking politicians, although in reality most delegates have little political power.

The NPC Standing Committee is widely considered in practice to be more powerful than the legislature, although it is technically subordinate because it meets regularly between legislative periods.

“The NPC is not a parliament in the sense of a democratic parliament in which representatives are elected through fair elections. His deputies are elected by a small section of the Chinese population under the leadership of the Communist Party,” Adam Ni, co-editor of the China Neican newsletter, told Al Jazeera.

“That means the NPC MPs are at least acceptable to the party.”

The CPPCC, which meets at the same time and brings together more than 2,000 delegates from across China and the diaspora, is a political advisory body that functions more as a public relations agency.

The delegates are not necessarily members of the CCP, although the meeting is part of its “united front” effort to align diverse actors around common concerns and spread China's influence.

CPPCC delegates include leaders in technology, arts and media, as well as leaders from the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

“The CPPCC serves multiple functions, including facilitating elite networking and relaying policy advice from outside the party to the party-state. “It acts as a means of trade whereby the Communist Party grants access to the system and recognition by granting membership, while elites sitting on the body gain access to policymakers and recognition,” Ni said.

Is the NPC just a “rubber stamp” parliament?

The NPC is often referred to as a “rubber stamp” parliament or legislature because its primary role is to formally approve pre-determined decisions and there is little or no open debate.

China watchers say it's still important to keep an eye on the NPC.

It can include limited input from the public on issues that are not considered overly sensitive, and in rare cases there have been disagreements.

Most famously, in 1992, a third of delegates voted against or abstained from approving the Three Gorges Dam, a controversial project to dam the Yangtze River.

“People refer to the NPC as a 'rubber stamp' because it has never voted against any bill, work report, budget or nomination submitted to it. “But this overly narrow focus solely on NPC voting results, in my opinion, ignores the important role that the thousands of NPC delegates play in representing citizens’ interests on a range of politically insensitive issues,” said Changhao Wei, a fellow at Yale Law The school's Paul Tsai China Center told Al Jazeera.

While you won't hear the delegates debating in plenary, individual delegates and bodies such as the NPC Standing Committee can help shape legislation as it is being drafted and provide input on issues such as the national budget.

Delegates can also submit individual bills calling on the National People's Congress to act on important issues of the day.

In 2022, delegates submitted several bills focused on women's rights and domestic violence in response to public outrage over the case of a human trafficking victim with mental health issues who was found chained by her husband.

Although these bills have not been debated publicly, they have not gone unnoticed within the government, Wei said.

Ni said that although the CPP has an iron grip on power, the party is not a monolith “but has a variety of interest groups and networks”.

“Non-party groups and staff are also involved in the legislative process,” Ni said.

“We should use their agency, e.g. B. Women's rights advocates or environmentalists should not be ignored because they can make a difference. But the influence and power of non-party individuals and groups is limited by the political structure in which the party monopolizes the instruments of state power.”