When opening practically any major Western media outlet, most of the coverage will be about the US, Europe, Ukraine and Russia, or the Middle East. It took me a few minutes of scrolling to get to any articles about China.
This is partly because the flow of information from China is largely controlled by the government limiting the scope of available news. But it is also true that Western readers simply feel that this content is distant and uninteresting, and, therefore, don’t want to engage with it.
The Chinese political system is vastly different from ours, to the extent that people don’t understand it. And what they don’t understand they don’t want to read.
Further, there operates a dual narrative of China being portrayed simultaneously as powerful and dangerous, but simultaneously weak and incompetent. While the first narrative makes China out to be a common enemy, the second allows it to be dismissed and excluded from political discourse.
This is despite the fact that the world is increasingly moving away from American hegemony and towards bipolarity with China being the second dominating power. China has the world’s second-largest economy by nominal GDP and the biggest when measured by purchasing power parity. With Trump moving the US further away from its European allies, Europe has even more reason to see China as a crucial actor in international relations.
Between 5 & 11 March the annual national “two sessions” conference took place. It consists of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The CPPCC is an advisory body, attended by, among others, business executives and celebrities, with no actual legislative power. The NPC functions as China’s legislature, but is often dismissed as not holding any real power and functioning as a “rubber stamp” for the decisions of Xi Jinping and the politburo of the CCP, as it sees little to no dissent and has never rejected a bill put in front of it. The New York Times went as far as to say that “Mr. Xi, though, has turned the meeting into a meticulously orchestrated, weeklong salute to himself and his vision.”
While the two sessions can be dismissed as performative, they should not be ignored. The NPC is a unique window into the goals and strategy of China. Compared to the instability of today’s America, the authoritarian nature of China’s government gives it the unique possibility of pursuing a long term strategy. China’s historical record has largely shown consistency in fulfilling its goals. Ten years ago Xi Jiping set out to effectively dominate the world renewable energy market and shift towards the tech sector, and has essentially been successful in both areas.
The key takeaways from this year’s conference are summarised below.
- Unchanged confidence in economic growth
The target for economic growth is kept at 5 per cent despite the newly introduced American tariffs. This is in line with the more long-term goal of doubling the size of the economy by 2035. Most economists, however, are predicting a smaller growth rate of around 4.5-4.6 per cent.
- Rising consumption
The government set out to address the root causes of falling consumption rates (job market challenges and real estate instability) as well as take up the effort to stimulate immediate consumption by doubling its trade-in program, which provides subsidies for consumer electronics.
- Continued commitment to the tech sector
The foreign minister, Wang Yi, highlighted this commitment, talking about “launching China’s science and technology skyward, like the Chinese mythological hero Nezha soaring into the heavens.”This commitment was also evident in the annual budget which projected that government spending on science and technology will rise by 8.3% this year. This approach has been met with criticism, as the focus on the future comes at the risk of sidelining present issues such as rising unemployment, an ageing population, and falling housing prices. It has been categorised by the NYT as a prioritisation of the welfare of the nation as a whole over individual households.
- Increased defence spending
The premier, Li Qiang, largely echoed last year’s themes on national security and foreign policy, with a few additions. He emphasized a worsening global security environment, focusing on rising geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, and increasing tariffs. He reiterated the goal of modernising the People’s Liberation Army by 2027 and developing a new military theory. Regarding Taiwan, Beijing’s stance remained unchanged, but new economic and cultural initiatives aimed at cross-strait integration were introduced. China also announced a 7.2% increase in defence spending.
- China aims to assume the role of “providing certainty to this uncertain world”
In his speech, the foreign minister criticised the US and pointed to China’s role in “safeguarding the multilateral free trade system.” There are speculations that China wants to use Trump’s hostile foreign policy to portray itself as a more friendly trading partner.
It’s about time the West took China seriously. Domestic policy doesn’t exclusively impact China’s internal politics but has significant implications for the international order.
“Chinese Communist party propoganda poster, with Mao at the top” by Wesley Fryer is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.