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Beijing’s Great Hall of the People was swarming with political delegates Friday, as the country’s largest annual legislative gathering kicked off.
The much-watched, though largely symbolic, event, known as the “Two Sessions,” brings together China’s rubber-stamp National People’s Congress as well as the thousands of delegates that comprise the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
This year, as with the previous two years, the weeklong sessions are taking place in a city unnerved by even just a sprinkling of coronavirus cases, and with reporters confined to satellite viewing of the event far outside the venue.
The meat of the sessions begins Saturday as Premier Li Keqiang is set to deliver the so-called government work report for 2022, which lays out fiscal and economic priorities—from national GDP growth down to local government bond quotas.
The most-watched number is the economic growth target. Last year it was set at “above 6%,” which China beat at 8.1%. This year, a target near or just below the 6% range would “signal a greater desire to shore up growth,” research firm Capital Economics said in a note last week. “Conversely, ‘at least 5.0%’ or ‘5.0%-5.5%’ would suggest greater willingness to accept a slowdown.”
Meanwhile, at a press conference on Friday, Zhang Yesui, a spokesperson for the Two Sessions, Zhang declined to say what the 2022 GDP target would be, and only a smattering of localities have published their own numbers, with Beijing aiming for above 5%, and Henan province shooting for 7%, according to their respective official government websites. Some cities have even published, then removed or revised, their targets.
Zhang was peppered with questions about when or if China would loosen its “zero-Covid” policy. He replied that China’s approach rather is “dynamic clearing,” which has been a move more toward a targeted approach that relies on local governments’ quick reactions rather than the blanket lockdowns the country has become known for.
He lauded China as a democracy, asserted that the U.S. is harming itself by being “confrontational” toward China, and noted—accurately—that China is the country that has provided the most vaccines worldwide.
“China will continue to insist that developing countries be the main partners of vaccine cooperation,” he added.
China’s influential Reference News said in an article, “The economy is likely to be at the center of this year’s Two Sessions, with China expected to announce a more moderate growth target and unveil stimulus policies to encourage consumption and investment.”
It added that, “China understands that the external environment is not all good as the United States is tightening monetary policy and intending to curb China’s technological development.”
The official website of China’s feared Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said it sent reporters to “conduct random interviews on the streets of Beijing” about the sessions. One respondent named Mr. Zhang weighed in on President Xi Jinping’s years-long campaign to crush opponents and “eradicate chronic diseases within the party.”
“The anti-corruption efforts in the past 10 years are stronger than I have felt before, at least now I don’t need to give gifts when I do things, and I rely on the strength of the company to speak,” Zhang said.
In a sign of how severe the pandemic has become in Hong Kong, roughly half of the city’s 200-some delegates will miss the sessions for coronavirus-related reasons. Some said they were staying put to deal with the local epidemic, while numerous others were banned for either testing positive for Covid-19 or being in recent contact with infected persons.
Even Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam passed up her invitation, as the city on Thursday hit a record 56,827 single-day infections.
As with the recent Beijing Olympics, the sessions are enforcing a “closed-loop” system of specialized transport and the banning of social and other activities for attendees.
