For example, China is planning a strong increase in its defense spending by 6.8 percent this year at the meeting of around 3,000 MPs. This means that spending for the military is rising again this year faster than total spending in the budget.
Against the background of tensions with the USA, India, Taiwan and in the controversial South China Sea, Chinese experts had already expected an increase of around seven percent this year, according to state media. The strong increase is due, among other things, to the expected strong growth of the world’s second largest economy this year and “serious military threats” for China.
According to experts, a strong military equipped with the most modern weapons technology is also a prerequisite for China’s further rise to a not only economically global power. It is also a strong signal to the USA and the West, especially against the background of the CoV pandemic. China will not be stopped by a pandemic, so the sign to the west.
Hong Kong electoral reform
The meeting of the People’s Congress will also discuss the new five-year plan for 2021 to 2025. By setting the course, China wants to make itself more economically and technologically independent from the rest of the world. Prime Minister Li Keqiang opened the conference with his work report.
According to the Chinese state media, a “highlight” of the annual conference will be a planned electoral reform for Hong Kong, which will ensure that the Chinese special administrative region will be “governed only by patriots” in the future. The chairman of the consultative conference, Wang Yang, also explicitly emphasized this principle in his speech at the start of the meeting of this body on Thursday with state and party leader Xi Jinping. According to the draft law, Beijing wants to control elections in Hong Kong more closely through an election committee that is loyal to Beijing.
Time and again, high-ranking politicians, including Xi, had repeated this formula without giving details of how exactly the electoral law could be changed. The “Global Times”, which is published by the party organ “Volkszeitung”, outlined a plan according to which the influence of pro-democratic forces would be severely curtailed. The newspaper spoke of “loopholes” in the electoral system that should be closed. Among other things, a body controlled by Beijing could first examine all candidates who are standing for an election in Hong Kong for their political views.
Announced growth target of over six percent
At the start of the meeting, the Chinese leadership also presented a growth target of more than six percent. Due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, Prime Minister Li had waived the previous year. China was the only major economy to have achieved growth in 2020 despite the crisis. The economy grew by 2.3 percent in 2020. In 2019 it was still enough to grow by around six percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is even anticipating growth of 8.1 percent in China this year due to the ongoing, highly endowed program to stimulate the economy.
Chinese experts expect the budget deficit to fall below the critical level of three percent of economic output again this year. Last year it had climbed to 3.6 percent because Beijing had to get the battered economy going again after the slump at the beginning of the year with billions in syringes.
All MPs vaccinated
Because of the pandemic, the People’s Congress had to be postponed to May last year. The fact that the conference will take place again in March this year, as usual, demonstrates the normalization in China, which hardly counts local infections anymore. The most populous country in the world has largely got the virus under control with curfews and mass tests for millions, as well as contact tracing, quarantine and strict entry restrictions.
To show that one is prepared against the coronavirus, more than 5,000 members of the People’s Congress and the consultative conference taking place in parallel were vaccinated against the coronavirus before their two annual meetings. The chairman of the Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinopharm, Yu Qingming, revealed the vaccination campaign, according to state media, at the start of the consultative conference on Thursday. This advisory body of deserving personalities always meets in parallel with the People’s Congress.
The CEO interpreted the fact that his vaccine was administered to the political elite in China as a sign of confidence, as the newspaper “Jiankang Jiefengbao” reported. He is himself a member of the People’s Congress. So far, three Chinese companies have developed vaccines: in addition to Sinopharm, Sinovac Biotech and CanSino.
–
