China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), held the closing session of its annual meeting on Monday, where lawmakers approved and adopted a series of work reports and resolutions on China’s economic development plan, the rule of law and the central budget.
The two sessions this year have provided new ideas, new thoughts and new goals to guide China’s development, opening up and reform, Chinese experts said. While acknowledging that the world is currently experiencing great turbulence and China is facing challenges and difficulties that need to be addressed and overcome on various fronts, they also highlighted opportunities that need to be translated into concrete results.
The 14th ILC held the closing meeting of its second session at the Great Hall of the People in the capital Beijing on Monday. Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the meeting.
The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body, also concluded its annual session on Sunday, calling on political advisers to contribute to greater unity and join forces to drive forward China’s modernisation.
At the closing session of the ILC on Monday, Chinese lawmakers approved the 2024 national economic and social development plan and the 2024 central budget. Lawmakers adopted resolutions on the government work report and the work reports of the ILC Standing Committee, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and also approved the revised Organic Law of the State Council.
Building confidence in China’s development
The Global Times interviewed participants at the meeting. The participants expressed strong confidence in China’s development, while acknowledging the challenges. After the two meetings, the participants said they would focus on testing, implementing and realising the new ideas and new thoughts they had gained.
He Xiaopeng, Chairman of Xpeng Motors and NPC deputy, expressed his enthusiasm, describing this year’s two meetings as “inspiring”. He highlighted the unity of the delegates and their determination to overcome difficulties despite the obstacles they faced.
Bi Chunguang, an NPC deputy and chairman of a pharmaceutical company in Liaoning, told the Global Times on Monday that the most important function of this year’s two sessions is to boost public confidence in the economy and the country’s development. “For example, I am a director of a private company. The government has signalled that it will support the private sector, which has really given us a lot of confidence,” he said.
Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, said that while some other major powers are creating uncertainties for world peace and development, China will be more open, confident and modernised to continue to offer confidence and opportunities to the world.
“If you only look at the Western media, you might think that China’s future is full of uncertainties and difficulties, or that China is isolating itself from the world. But if you look at non-Western media coverage, China is doing very well and in many ways outperforming the United States and its allies. It is opening up to a wider space with full confidence to connect more with its partners around the world.
High quality development and new technologies
Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Beijing University and national political adviser who attended the just-concluded annual session of the National Committee of the CRCSA, told the Global Times that this year’s two sessions put forward a grand plan to deal with the new situation, as the world is still experiencing great turbulence and the emergence of new technologies brings both challenges and opportunities.
Zhang said new ideas, new concepts such as “new quality productive forces”, “high-quality development”, “deepening reform”, “high-standard opening up” and “big country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics” are far-sighted and encouraging, and provide guidance to the whole nation on how to work and what to focus on in the next step.
“Better development of our economy is a consensus shared by all. The country will focus on putting development on a new path and achieving faster development with higher quality. This is the message that the two sessions of 2024 have brought to us and the world,” Zhang said.
