(Beijing) China opens its parliamentary sessions on Monday in Beijing, the major political meeting of the year where it will announce its ambitions for 2024 against a backdrop of “great concern” about unemployment and the economic slowdown.
Security and surveillance have been stepped up on the streets of the capital for the arrival of thousands of parliamentarians participating in the “Two Sessions” – that of Parliament itself and that of the consultative assembly.
The debates begin Monday at 3 p.m. local time (2 a.m. Eastern time) with the opening ceremony of this consultative assembly, the “Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference” (CPPCC), which will be attended by President Xi Jinping. .
PHOTO PEDRO PARDO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A Chinese soldier patrols Tiananmen Square.
The members of this institution, who represent different sectors of activity, political organizations affiliated with the Communist Party (CCP), religions and even ethnic minorities, will be gathered until Sunday.
CPPCC spokesperson Liu Jieyi said at a press conference on Sunday that “economic issues are of great concern” for the more than 2,000 members of this assembly.
“The employment of young people, particularly young graduates, is a subject of great concern,” he also declared.
The youth unemployment rate officially stood at around 15% at the end of 2023, after the National Bureau of Statistics adjusted its calculation methods.
The annual session of the CPPCC, a consultative body, is less important than the almost simultaneous meeting of Parliament, the National People’s Congress (ANP). The latter will begin on Tuesday with the announcement of the official economic growth objective for 2024.
These two parliamentary meetings should not, a priori, lead to the announcement of large-scale economic recovery measures.
These initiatives are nevertheless necessary, according to many experts, in order to revive the Chinese economy, which last year recorded one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades (5.2%).
China is also expected to announce on Tuesday morning a new increase in its military budget, which has been on an upward trend for several decades, in line with economic growth.