(Adnkronos) – The work of what is considered the political event of the year for the Asian giant begins in China. Thousands of delegates from all over China have arrived in Beijing for the ‘Two Sessions’ (‘Lianghui’), the annual sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress, which will run from today until March 11 and from tomorrow until March 12, respectively. During the plenary session, which this year coincides with an international crisis with unpredictable outcomes, plans and objectives for Xi Jinping’s China are approved. Xi has been in power since 2012, serving his third term as leader in a country with a population of 1.4 billion people that is ‘aging’.
“Our economy has always moved forward, overcoming obstacles and strengthening through trials and challenges,” Liu Jieyi, one of the spokespersons, told reporters. He admitted to “old problems” and “new challenges,” but – as the Global Times wrote – insisted on the “resilience” and “enormous potential” of the People’s Republic.
Growth targets, technological innovation, military spending are among the news expected from the proceedings. This year, a law to “promote ethnic unity and progress” is also on the table, and, as the BBC highlights, human rights organizations fear that repression against minorities could intensify.
The draft also stipulates that parents “educate and guide minors to love the Chinese Communist Party.” The approval of the “environmental code” is also expected, with attention focused on pollution.
In an Asian giant where purges continue, where – as the New York Times wrote in recent days – there have been three years of “extraordinary purges” considered unprecedented in modern Chinese history, observers’ eyes will be on the empty seats, an indication of delegates in ‘difficulty’. Xi has already removed many high-ranking officials, including some of the delegates who were supposed to take part in the “Two Sessions.”
