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China’s annual Two Sessions meetings begins this week, with thousands of political and community delegates descending on Beijing from across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau to ratify legislation, personnel changes and the budget over about two weeks of highly choreographed meetings.
What is the Two Sessions?
The event is called the “two sessions” because both the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) hold their annual meetings separately, but at the same time. The CPPCC is an advisory body, with little real political influence but often sees some outside-the-box proposals for issues like China’s demographic crisis. Its members include business executives, celebrities and celebrated individuals who previously included the likes of actor Jackie Chan and basketballer Yao Ming. The 3,000-member NPC is the Chinese Communist party’s legislative body, but is largely a “rubber stamp” parliament, having never rejected a bill put before it.
What happens at the meetings?
The meetings include “work report” speeches by the premier, and sometimes – but not always – speeches by the party leader. Official economic targets are set, military budgets announced, and changes in the ranks of party leadership bodies are confirmed.
The Two Sessions gathering has hosted hugely significant policy changes in the past. In 2023 it saw the formalisation of Xi Jinping’s precedent-busting third term as leader. In 2020 the NPC unveiled plans for the national security law now in place over Hong Kong.
What is different this year?
This year observers are looking out for major economic stimulus policies to address China’s struggling economy and high youth unemployment, as well as changes in the party’s approach to the tech industry. The sector was out in the cold for a number of years, apparently having strayed too far from Xi’s ideology. But a recent symposium saw several high profile executives welcomed and greeted by Xi, broadcast on state media.
There will likely be pronouncements on Taiwan. Xi and the Chinese Communist party (CCP) have long voiced their intentions to annex Taiwan, refusing to rule out using force to do so. Taiwan’s government and people increasingly oppose the prospect of Chinese rule, and the situation has grown increasingly hostile and precarious. In the last few weeks language coming from the CCP about Taiwan has grown a little harsher, according to observers who watch carefully for even the most minute changes in the CCP’s carefully crafted statements.
And then of course in the background, is the return of Trump and his tariffs on China.
Should we expect any controversies?
The Two Sessions, like all of the CCP’s political meetings, are highly choreographed and planned to the tiniest detail – but unexpected things still happen. At the 2022 Party Congress Peng Lifa staged a brave protest at Sitong Bridge in Beijing. Peng was detained, his location still unknown, and authorities now closely guard Beijing bridges during political events to ensure it won’t be repeated.
At that same 2022 event, foreign press captured the extraordinary moment that former president Hu Jintao was physically removed from his seat next to Xi and shuffled out of the room.
The sessions are attended by a huge crowd of foreign media, many of them flying in for the meeting and a rare chance to interact with CCP officials in person. In 2024, the annual premier’s press conference was abruptly cancelled without explanation, closing down one of the already limited forums for transparency.
