The Two Sessions, the annual, concurrent meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is underway in Beijing. The event is significant because China uses it to set various objectives for the country as well as to appoint officials to various senior-level roles, such as Foreign Affairs Minister. Note: The CPPCC ends today, with the conference holding its closing ceremony in the afternoon; however, members can still submit proposals until after the NPC ends on March 11th. Below are some of the most notable events that occurred on March 10th.
March 10th
NPC
The delegates continued to discuss the draft resolutions for the Government Work Report, 2024 Development Plans, and 2024 Budgets. They also discussed the reports from the NPC’s Standing Committee, Supreme People’s Court, and Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
NPC Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji presided over the meeting of the Executive Chairman of the Presidium of the Second Session of the 14th NPC. They listened to the NPC Constitution and Law Committee Chairman Xin Chunying give a report on the revised draft of the State Council Organic Law.
The NPC will vote on and pass the revised State Council Organic Law during the first half of the NPC’s final day. The delegates also continued to discuss the draft resolutions for the Government Work Report, 2024 Development Plans, and 2024 Budgets. They also discussed the reports from the NPC’s Standing Committee, Supreme People’s Court, and Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
CPPCC
The CPPCC held its closing ceremony today, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee attending the event. CPPCC Chairman Wang Huning presided over and gave a speech during the ceremony.
Wang first started his speech by saying that the CPPCC had successfully completed its agenda for the year. He then pointed out how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, with Xi leading it, united and led the “Party, the entire nation, and all ethnic groups” to work and forge ahead to realize the goals of economic and social development. Wang then discussed how the Committee “realized more profoundly” that the ‘two establishes’ allow China to cope with various risks and challenges while also promoting the development of the CCP and country. The members of the conference studied the speeches made by Xi during the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, the science and technology, and the environment sectors, according to Wang. He then expanded on the other reports that the members reviewed and discussed, such as the Government Work Report, the CPPCC’s work report, and the CPPCC Standing Committee’s report.
Wang then discussed how the CPPCC should focus on the “central tasks of the Party and the country” to complete their duties and responsibilities, which is an important requirement Xi put forward. He then urged the conference to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Wang then expanded on other concepts by Xi, such as “Xi Jinping’s thoughts on strengthening and improving the work of the CPPCC.” He also urged the members to observe the overall keynote of seeking progress while maintaining stability while adhering to the combination of CCP leadership, the United Front, and consultative democracy.
Wang called for the members to follow the “two major themes of unity and democracy, carry forward the traditions, and “bear in mind the political responsibility, raise the level of political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in politics.” He then called for the members to always plan and carry out the CPPCC’s work in the “overall situation of the Party” and China to “perform their functions and rally around the promotion of Chinese-style modernization.”
Wang then outlined three ways the CPPCC could successfully accomplish the various tasks and requirements to increase the promotion of Chinese-style modernization in 2024. The three tasks are: for the members to increase their “political stance and deepen their ideological understanding of promoting Chinese-style modernization,” “focus on key tasks and promote Chinese-style modernization with high quality advice, and “adhere to the principle of great unity and solidarity, and widely pool out strengths for the promotion of Chinese-style modernization.”
He then closed the speech by again urging the CPPCC delegation to unite closely around the CCP Committee with Xi in the lead and “write practical work, responsibility, and commitment on the new journey of advancing Chinese-style modernization.” Wang also urged them to unite and strive for the “comprehensive construction of a modernized socialist country and the comprehensive advancement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Huang Qunhai, a CPPCC member and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Economics Director and researcher, made a proposal to deepen reforms in vital areas and shape production to match the new quality of productive forces. Huang pointed out that by doing so, China would lay a better institutional foundation for the promotion of new types of industrialization and realize Chinese-style modernization.
Specifically, Huang pointed out that “realizing new industrialization is the key task for comprehensively advancing the construction of a strong China and national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization.” He then presented three measures that should be focused on to promote new industrialization. The three measures are: to empower new sectors of industrialization with Artificial Intelligence; to support the new industrialization with an industrial system that is modernized; and to comprehensively deepen the institutional reforms to promote new industrialization.
CPPCC member and Shanghai Jiaotong University’s China Development Research Institute Executive Director, Lu Ming, submitted a proposal that would strengthen the protections afforded to workers’ rights and interests in new employment forms. Lu pointed out how the new forms of employment became a legitimate “reservoir” in recent years and increased the capacity of the Chinese economy.
Furthermore, Lu also pointed out that the government and society have also increased their attention to the protection of the rights and interests of new employment groups. The new employment groups, also known as patterns, include app-based gig work, micro-task crowdsourcing, prosumer work, and platform outsourcing to individuals. This attention led the government to pass policies to protect “the rights and interests of workers in the new forms of employment” and regulate the way that they are employed on platforms. However, the various “differences in characteristics of new employment and traditional labor relations” require additional protections given to the rights and interests of new employment that are innovative in both theory and practice.
Lu then presented the various gaps related to the protection of the rights and interests of the workers employed in the new employment patterns. The four ways are that the labor relations that currently exist need to be updated to reflect technological advances; there is a need to better understand the social environment, especially regarding technology; revamp pension insurance to eliminate barriers to participation from the workers employed in the new patterns; and there is a need to construct a national system to develop and maintain national consistency.
Lu then gave three measures he developed by considering how the policies would impact people’s livelihoods, employment, and society’s situation while also accounting for the group’s demands for new policies. The three measures are: recognizing the legitimacy of workers’ new employment patterns in both legislation and judicial practices; building multi-dimensional protection for workers in the new employment sectors; reiterating the necessity of innovating a revenue and expenditure system in favor of workers in the new employment sectors; and optimizing the social environment to treat workers in the new forms of employment well.