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Dear friends and colleagues,
Thanks to all of you who have gotten in touch. Apologies to those of you to whom I have yet to respond- it has been a hectic week in Beijing. I’m off to Wuhan momentarily, but some quick impressions from Beijing:
- There is a high and growing anxiety around the conservative political program of Xi Jinping. These anxieties are magnified by a lack of transparency at the highest level, and a consequent high degree of uncertainty about what Xi’s endgame is.
- These political anxieties are exacerbating anxieties about the economy. There seems to be genuine confusion as to why the government seems unable to address the structural problems in the economy or present a coherent economic agenda.
- That said, nobody sees a hard landing as imminent, or even probable in the next few years. In fact, it is clear that the government is in full-on support mode, so growth this year is likely to outperform.
- There are genuine bright spots in the economy. It’s a good time to be making robots or involved in healthcare. And the digital economy is truly impressive.
That said, I have never seen sentiment so low. There seems to be a clear consensus that things are going in the wrong direction. However, given the restrictive information environment and the insular nature of the Xi administration, the danger that the chattering classes (myself included) make their own narrative and then confirm it by repeating it to each other seems particularly high. I am hoping that a trip to Wuhan will help to give another perspective than the one to be had inside the 3rd ring road. I would also love to hear from any readers that have thoughts on any of the above.
As always, your comments and feedback are always welcome. Old issues are always available at www.chinapoliticsweekly.com. Sign up or unsubscribe by sending an email to info@chinapoliticsweekly.com.
| PBSC Week in Review | ||
| Xi Jinping
Party General Secretary; PRC President; |
Mar 13 | Xi attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Chairman of Central Military Commission | Xi met with NPC delegates from the PLA and gave a speech.
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| Mar 10 | Xi joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Qinghai Province.
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| Mar 9 | Xi attended the second full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to Zhang Dejiang deliver the NPC Standing Committee Work Report.
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| Mar 8 | Xi joined a group deliberation with NPC delegates from Hunan Province.
Xi called for supply-side structural reform, agricultural modernization and grain security. Xi also extended his greetings to Chinese women for International Women’s Day.
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| Mar 7 | Xi joined a group deliberation with delegates from Heilongjiang Province.
He discussed regional mining industry developments and its transition, pointing out that state-owned enterprises need external help and internal motivation.
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| Li Keqiang
Premier |
Mar 13 | Li attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Mar 10 | Li joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Li urged ‘all-out efforts’ for maintaining ethnic unity and long-term stability through development in Xinjiang.
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| Mar 9 | Li joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Guangdong Province.
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| Li attended the second full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to Zhang Dejiang deliver the NPC Standing Committee Work Report. | ||
| Mar 8 | Li signed an instruction of the State Council calling for better protection for the nation’s cultural relics and stronger law enforcement.
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| Li joined a group deliberation with NPC delegates from Chongqing.
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| Mar 7 | Li joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Fujian Province.
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| Li sent a message of congratulations to the naming ceremony of twin giant pandas at the Toronto Zoo, Canada.
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| Mar 6 | Li joined group deliberations with delegates from Shandong Province.
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| Mar 5 | Li delivered the 2015 government work report.
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| Zhang Dejiang
Chair of the National People’s Congress |
Mar 13 | Zhang attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. |
| Mar 12 | Zhang attended the first presidium meeting of the NPC annual session.
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| Mar 10 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Shanxi Province.
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| Mar 9 | Zhang attended the second full meeting of the NPC annual session and delivered the NPC Standing Committee Work Report.
He also mentioned formulating China’s first law on promoting the film industry; said that China will continue to work on a law on overseas NGOs and that it will work on cybersecurity law; this year China will make laws on environmental protection tax, tonnage tax and tobacco leaf tax, as well as other laws concerning grain and asset valuation. China will also formulate a law on international criminal judicial assistance to facilitate anti-graft drive overseas. A draft of the Charity Law was submitted to the NPC session.
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| Mar 8 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Jilin Province.
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| Mar 7 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Anhui Province.
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| Mar 6 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Hong Kong.
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| Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Macau.
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| Yu Zhengsheng
Chair of the Chinese People’s Political |
Mar 13 | Yu attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Consultative Conference | Mar 12 | Yu chaired the fourth full meeting of the CPPCC annual session.
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| Mar 11 | Yu chaired the third full meeting of the CPPCC annual session.
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| Yu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Yunnan Province.
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| Mar 10 | Yu chaired the second full meeting of the CPPCC annual session.
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| Mar 8 | Yu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Henan Province.
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| Mar 7 | Yu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Taiwan.
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| Liu Yunshan
Head of Party Secretariat; Head of Propaganda |
Mar 13 | Liu attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Mar 9 | Liu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates form Hainan Province.
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| Mar 8 | Liu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates form Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
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| Mar 7 | Liu joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Sichuan Province.
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| Wang Qishan
Secretary of the Central Commission for |
Mar 13 | Wang attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Discipline Inspection | Mar 11 | Wang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Guizhou Province.
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| Mar 10 | Wang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Jiangsu Province.
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| Mar 8 | Wang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Liaoning Province.
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| Mar 7 | Wang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Hebei Province.
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| Mar 6 | Wang joined group deliberations with delegates from Beijing.
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| Zhang Gaoli
Executive Vice Premier |
Mar 13 | Zhang attended the third full meeting of the NPC annual session and listened to the work reports of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
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| Mar 11 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Shaanxi Province.
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| Mar 10 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Tibet Autonomous Region.
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| Mar 8 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Gansu Province.
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| Mar 7 | Zhang joined group deliberations with NPC delegates from Guangxi Province.
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| Mar 6 | Zhang joined group deliberations with delegates from Tianjin.
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| About CPW
China Politics Weekly aims to keep business leaders, investors, diplomats, scholars and other China hands up to date on important trends in China. It is produced by Trey McArver, a London-based consultant providing advice and intelligence to firms and investors engaged in China and the region. You can find out more about Trey and CPW in this interview.
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