BEIJING, Mar.2, 2018 -- The annual sessions of China's top legislative and advisory bodies to be held in early March are of particular importance this year, as the country has officially announced its entry into a new era. The first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), and the first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as the "two sessions," will open on March 5 and March 3, respectively. The two sessions this year will be the first annual sessions opened under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. A number of topics are of interest to the public: -- New thought The proposal of writing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the country's fundamental law will get much attention during the two sessions. The thought, which was set at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) last October, has become the guideline for China's new development. -- New state leadership One of the most important issues of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress will be the election of state leadership, including the Chinese president. China's current president Xi Jinping was elected to the post at the first session of the 12th NPC five years ago. -- New anti-corruption model A new national supervisory platform is expected to be introduced, as China is spearheading a pilot reform of supervisory systems, with supervisory commissions being established at provincial, city, and county levels. Sharing offices and staff with CPC discipline inspectors, the new commissions will incorporate existing supervisory, corruption prevention and control agencies within government and procuratorates. With a complete supervisory network over all state functionaries under the Party's leadership, China can create a new anti-corruption model. -- New growth target Analysts believe the economic growth target this year will be somewhat on par with that of last year. But the growth, among the fastest in the world, can not change the fact that China is still a developing country, given that its per capita GDP lags far behind that of developed countries. China's economic growth will bring opportunities for the rest of the world, but what exactly? The answer will be found in the two sessions. |