Soldiers in front of the Great Hall of the People on the closing day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China, March 11, 2024.
Chow Yin Hong | CNBC
BEIJING – China’s week-long annual parliamentary session concluded on Monday, with the country’s prime minister not hosting a press conference for the first time in decades.
Breaking with tradition, the prime minister will not hold a press conference after this year’s parliament ends, at least for the rest of his term, according to an official announcement last week.
The press conference was a rare example of press engagement with the highest levels of the Chinese government.
President Xi Jinping did not speak at the closing ceremony. He usually speaks only at the closing ceremony of the first session of the National People’s Congress, the country’s highest body elected every five years. This year is the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress.
To be clear, annual gatherings of supreme leaders are typically ceremonial in nature. Actual power rests with the ruling Communist Party, led by Xi, who is party general secretary and president of the state.
Still, announcements made during parliament can shed some light on government policy.
Here are some highlights of what was announced during this year’s week-long Congress, which began last Tuesday and ended Monday.
environment
“In addition to the broader discussion on environmental protection, the Government Work Report (GWR) made a clear commitment to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by around -2.5% in 2024,” Citi analysts said. This was noted in a report on Sunday.
“The report did not set such a numerical target for 2022-23, as the -3.0% target and ‘campaign style’ implementation led to blackouts in 2021,” analysts said. .
But he cautioned that investors “need to be mindful of renewed growth risks from a possible tightening of environmental policy.”
Economic focus on manufacturing
Premier Li Qiang opened Tuesday’s meeting with a long-awaited government work report, saying China had set a growth target of around 5% for 2024.
Industrial support clearly ranks first on the Chinese government’s priority list for the coming year, according to three major plans announced as part of a parliamentary session.
The top economic planner also mentioned how a push to upgrade equipment could create a market worth more than 5 trillion yuan (about $694.5 billion).
In contrast, real estate was given less emphasis.
But the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said property developers “should go bankrupt if they have to go bankrupt.” Mr Nihong warned at a press conference on Saturday that those who “harm the interests of the public” will be investigated and punished.
Changes in the State Council
The Chinese Communist Party has stepped up its surveillance of the government under Xi.
During the 2023 Congress, the Chinese government announced that it would establish a Party-led committee to oversee both the financial and technology sectors and overhaul their regulations. Mr. Xi also won an unprecedented third term as president at last year’s conference.
This year, the National People’s Congress decided on changes to review the structure of the State Council, the highest executive organ of the government headed by the prime minister. At Monday’s closing ceremony, the amended State Council Organization Law was passed with 2,883 delegate votes, with eight voting to reject the amendment and nine abstaining.
The changes include the vice prime minister and the president of the People’s Bank of China in the council’s top leadership group.
It was not immediately clear what impact such changes would have.
—CNBC’s Clement Tan contributed to this article.