[News Terms] Where Is China's Economy Headed? The Political Event 'Lianghui' Drawing Global Attention

China holds two political events every early March in Beijing. These are the National People's Congress (NPC), which is equivalent to our National Assembly, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a policy advisory body. The combined term for these two events is the "Lianghui." As China's largest political event, it summarizes the work of the past year and sets policy directions for the current year, with about 5,000 delegates attending annually.

On March 5, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping entered the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for the opening of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC). [Image source=Yonhap News]

Among these, the NPC is nominally the highest state authority as stipulated by the constitution, possessing legislative power and state decision-making authority. In particular, it has the role of amending the constitution, supervising its enforcement, drafting and revising fundamental laws, reviewing and approving the national budget and its execution, as well as the authority to elect and dismiss the President, Vice President, and Premier of the State Council. Essentially, the NPC is the body that endorses the major decisions of the Party, which exercises full control over state affairs. The term of office is five years, and it consists of about 3,000 members, including representatives from 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, special administrative regions, the People's Liberation Army, and various ethnic minorities. Since the first session was held in September 1954, regular sessions have been held every March.

The NPC's main focus is the government work report delivered by the Premier of the State Council at the opening ceremony. This report reveals the Chinese government's economic policy stance, including the target GDP growth rate, economic policy directions, and sectoral budgets. Last year, China set a growth target of around 5.0% at the NPC, and earlier this year announced that last year's growth rate was 5.2%, achieving the target. Whether this year's growth target will again be in the 5% range is a key point to watch.

The CPPCC is China's highest policy advisory body, established in 1949. It was formed according to the principle of "multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China," as stated in the preamble of the constitution. The CPPCC National Committee consists of about 2,000 members from 34 sectors, including the Communist Party, eight democratic parties and non-party individuals, eight people's organizations, ethnic minorities, representatives from various sectors, as well as representatives and invitees from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese. In effect, China, which operates under a one-party system, presents a form of cooperation with small democratic parties through the CPPCC. It holds regular sessions every March to discuss political guidelines and important economic and social issues and to make various proposals, but unlike the NPC, it does not have legislative or policy-making powers.

Meanwhile, the Lianghui began to attract attention as China's largest political event when the 2nd NPC was held the day after the 3rd CPPCC in 1959. This year, the CPPCC will open on March 4, and the NPC on March 5, continuing through mid-month. These sessions are the 2nd meetings of the 14th CPPCC and NPC, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.