China caps key political meet with pledges to boost ailing economy

FE Team | Published: March 11, 2024 23:28:13

BEIJING, Mar 11 (AFP): China's leaders on Monday wrapped up a week-long key conclave at which they admitted more was needed to revive a sluggish economy battered by an ailing housing market, poor domestic demand and record-high youth unemployment.
Top officials have been upfront about the myriad challenges China is facing, admitting that a modest five per cent growth goal will not be easy and that "hidden risks" are dragging the economy down. But they have supplied few details about how they plan to tackle the problems.
Officials have also moved to strengthen powers to deal with threats to their rule and tightened a veil of secrecy around policymaking, scrapping a traditional annual press conference and vowing to include national security provisions in a raft of new laws.
Delegates to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, including leader Xi Jinping, gathered at Beijing's Great Hall of the People to rubber-stamp legislation at 3:00 pm local time (0700 GMT) as the conclave came to an end.
Among the pieces of legislation approved was a revision to the Organic Law of the State Council, China's cabinet, which state media has said will aim to deepen the "leadership" of the ruling Communist Party over the government.
Delegates also approved the country's state budget and the national economic and social development plan for 2024.
Only a handful of the body's almost 3,000 delegates voted against any of the motions. Top lawmaker Zhao Leji declared the annual meeting closed.
Speaking to media, representatives were uniform in their praise for the government.
Li Dexiang, representing southwestern Guizhou province, told AFP he believed the "government has a good grasp of reality". Delegate from eastern Jiangsu province Lyu Caixia said the experience of the parliamentary meeting "pushes one to go forward bravely".
"We are accelerating high quality development... all the way to the highest levels (of government)," she added.
And Ling Youshi, a delegate from the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, said she had experienced the "rigour of deliberating legislation" during her time at the so-called "Two Sessions".