Basic Introduction
On March 4, China’s top political advisory body kicked off its annual session, marking the start of the ‘two sessions’ in a crucial year as China gathers steam for building a great modern socialist country.
President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
In the 14th NPC, 790 (26.5 percent) of the 2,977 delegates were women and 442 (14.8 percent) were from ethnic minority groups. China’s ethnic minorities will make up about 15 percent of the 2,977 delegates at the 14th NPC.
The two sessions refer to the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, and the CPPCC National Committee.
The two sessions were of great importance in the country’s political calendar, during which the central government delivered a work report that usually reviewed past achievements and sets development targets for the year and beyond. Thousands of national legislators and political advisors reviewed and discussed the report, as well as reports of the national legislature, the top court and the top procuratorate.
This year’s political gatherings carried extra weight. The election of new leading officials of state institutions and the new leadership of the CPPCC National Committee was an important task of the two sessions. Also, the planned reforms of the State Council institutions were deliberated upon. In addition, lawmakers deliberated on a draft amendment to the Legislation Law. The CPPCC National Committee session, also reviewed and approved an amendment to the CPPCC charter.
Outcomes of the Two Sessions
During the two sessions, China issued intensive domestic and foreign policies and measures, which not only contributed to its own long-term peace and stability, but also provides China’s ideas and solutions for addressing challenges to world peace and development.
— China’s own certainty will help the world cope with uncertainty. The two sessions converted the blueprint drawn up in the 20th National Congress into “construction drawings.”
— The ‘China engine’ will continue to inject impetus into global development. China, the world’s second largest economy, contributed an average of 38.6 percent to global growth from 2013 to 2021, more than the G7 countries combined. Taking various factors into account, China has set its economic growth target for this year at around five percent. This target was prudently set in view of the multiple severe challenges and is much higher than the growth rate projected for the world as whole and other major economies. With China’s economy now at 121 trillion RMB (about 18 trillion US dollars), achieving such growth is both worth congratulating and not easy.
— China’s wider opening-up will benefit people around the world. China is a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, importing about $2.5 trillion of goods and services every year. China has become the driving force and engine for the global business development of many foreign companies, and the vast majority of foreign companies are optimistic about the long-term development prospects in China. In 2022, China’s actual use of foreign investment reached a record high of over $189 billion.
Whole-process democracy drives Two Sessions
According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, China’s whole-process people’s democracy “is a democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society. It is a socialist democracy to the broadest extent, of the truest nature, and to the greatest effect.”
Commenting on China’s whole-process people’s democracy, South African Researcher, Paul Tembe, said: “The voices of the people across the board are factored in, not only during the electoral process, but people’s power is exercised through the National People’s Congress at the county and township levels.”
In the words of the Chinese President, “Whether a country is democratic or not depends on whether its people are truly the masters of the country. It depends on whether the people have the right to vote, and more importantly, the right to participate.”
President Xi Attends the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting and Delivers a Keynote Speech
On March 15, 2023, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, attended the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing and delivered a keynote speech titled ‘Join Hands on the Path Towards Modernization.’
The CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting, themed “Path Towards Modernization: The Responsibility of Political Parties,” brought together, more than 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 150 countries.
Xi said that confronted with a series of questions related to modernization, political parties as an important force steering and driving the modernization process are duty bound to provide answers.
According to Xi, “CPC will strive to provide new opportunities for world development, add new impetus to humanity’s exploration of paths towards modernization and make new contributions to the theory and practice of humanity’s modernization as it makes new progress in Chinese modernization. The history of human development is full of twists and turns. Similarly, the journey of each country to explore the path to modernization is also arduous. CPC will continue to pursue high-quality development and promote global growth and prosperity; safeguard international fairness and justice and promote world peace and stability; promote inter-civilization exchanges and mutual learning and advance the progress of human civilizations.”
During the event, Xi proposed the Global Civilization Initiative. Xi further said: “We advocate respect for the diversity of civilizations. Countries need to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcends clashes, and coexistence transcends feelings of superiority.”
International Organization for Mediation EstablishED in Hong Kong
On February 16, the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) Preparatory Office was established in Hong Kong, China. It will carry out the preparatory work for the establishment of the IOMed pursuant to the Joint Statement on the Future Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation signed last year by China and relevant states.
The office will also organize international negotiations on the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation and promote the application of international mediation.
The Department of Justice said the formation of the office is a significant initiative to promote the use of mediation for resolving international conflicts in a friendly and amicable manner.
Wang Yi Attends the 59th Munich Security Conference and Delivers a Keynote Speech
On February 18, 2023 local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, attended the 59th Munich Security Conference in Germany, and delivered a keynote speech titled Making the World a Safer Place.
Wang Yi said that humanity’s three-year fight against COVID-19 tells a simple truth. According to Wang, “As President Xi Jinping repeatedly stressed, all people are members of one global village and we belong to a community with a shared future. Human Society must not repeat the old path of antagonism, division and confrontation, and must not fall into the trap of zero-sum game, war and conflict.”
Wang further said that making the world a safer place is the strong desire of all people, the common responsibility of all countries, and more importantly, the right direction for the advance of the times.
China launches new Earth observation satellite
On March 17, China sent a new earth observation satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
The satellite, Gaofen 13 02, was launched at 16:33 pm (Beijing Time) by a Long March 3B carrier rocket, and entered its planned orbit successfully.
The satellite will be mainly used in land surveys, crop yield estimation, environmental governance, meteorological early warning and forecasting, as well as comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation. It was the 468th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.