My Focus on Rural Revitalization

From the Report on the Work of the Government to the draft Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan(2021-2025)for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035,"rural revi-talization"has virtually become a hot topic for this year's sessions of China's top legislature and top political advi-sory body.Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress(NPC)and members of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC)handed in their pieces of advice and proposal that aim to comprehensively promote the country's rural revitalization.     

Big Changes in a Small Village

OVER just 40-plus years of development since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy,a poor village built on reclaimed tidal marshes in east China's Jiangsu Province has emerged as an eco-friendly,industrialized urban center with modern facilities matching any major city. Situated on the south bank along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River,Yonglian Village in the town of Nanfeng in Zhangjiagang City has seen an earth-shattering transformation.During the annual sessions of the 13th National People's Congress(NPC)and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC)in 2021,Wu Huifang,NPC deputy and secretary of the Party Committee of Yonglian Village,accepted an exclusive interview with China Today,sharing Yong-lian's experience in making growth benefits available to all,guaranteeing people's political and civil rights,and achieving sustainable development.     

What Foreign Companies Can Expect from China's 14th Five-Year Plan

ON March 11,the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) approved the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Ob-jectives Through the Year 2035. The adoption of this master planfor China to embark on a new journey of building a modern country in all re-spects is a landmark and has attracted extensive attention both at home and abroad.     

New Plan Presents New Hope

After five years of rapid growth, the Chinese economy has come to a critical juncture. As it maps out the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the country is preparing to rebalance the economy and improve people’s livelihoods. During the annual sessions of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members sat down with Beijing Review reporters Hu Yue and Yuan Yuan to talk about the country’s development in the next five years. Edited excerpts follow:     

SETTING OUT STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE ECONOMY

The most important agenda of this year’s session of the National People Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, held March 5-14, was deliberation and approval of the draft blueprint of China’s economic and social development for the next five years, the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). When delivering the government work report at the Fourth Session of the 11th NPC on March 5, Premier Wen Jiabao also summarized the main targets and tasks for the 12th Five-Year Plan period. Excerpts follow:     

On Human Rights from the Perspective of Human Dignity

In his government work report to the 3rd Session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2010, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said: Everything we do is to make the people live happier and more dignified,make the society more just and more harmonious. This is held up by the media as the     

李克强总理出席记者会并回答中外记者提问

2021年3月11日下午,十三届全国人大四次会议在人民大会堂举行记者会,国务院总理李克强应大会发言人张业遂的邀请出席记者会,并回答中外记者提问。记者会开始时,李克强说,很高兴同媒体的朋友们见面,感谢大家对中国两会报道所付出的辛劳。今年我们还是继续通过视频进行交流,请大家提问。     

A Priority for Progress

One of the focuses of the annual meetings of the National People's Congress,the national legislature,and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,the top political advisory body,is the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the longrange objectives through the year 2035.Urbanization is an essential part of this focus as it is directly connected with the balanced development of different regions.     

Dual-Circulation Drive

The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan(2021-25) and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 approved in this year’s National People’s Congress session further highlights the new development strategy of dual circulation, in which the domestic and overseas markets reinforce one another, and the domestic market serves as its backbone.     

Sessions Examine Hot Issues

During the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this year, NPC deputies and CPPCC members shared their viewpoints on some hot topics related to society and people’s livelihoods. Excerpts follow:     

The People's Will

The 2021 Election Committee's sub-sector ordinary elections in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) took place on September 19. These were the first elections held follow-ing the improvements to HKSAR's electoral system on March 11, when a decision to enhance this specific HKSAR system was adopted by an overwhelming majority vote at the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing. Since Hong Kong's return to the moth-erland in 1997, the collusion between anti-China forces from Western countries and "Hong Kong independence" advocates has led to repeated outbursts of violence, se-verely undermining local social stability. Moreover, several "independence" advocates entered the local authorities by exploiting loopholes in the region's electoral system. Taking advantage of their positions, they not only supported unrest in Hong Kong but also actively engaged in the planning of "Hong Kong independence," jeopardizing China's territorial sovereignty and security. In this context, the Central Government had to take swift action to improve the HKSAR electoral system and, in doing so, plug the holes.     

Representation without democratization: The “signature incident” and China's National People's Congress

This essay provides an analysis of China's National People's Congress (NPC) as a key institution in China's transition from an authoritarian regime to a pluralist political system. Using the revealing incident of Hu Jiwei's attempt to force a meeting of the NPC Standing Committee as a model of possible future interaction between the NPC and the CCP, the author hypothesizes that the NPC may serve as a major site for bringing about significant political change. It provides a new perspective on the NPC by adopting an institutional‐functional approach. Specially, the author tries to explain the function and strength of the legislature as an implanted Western institution in China's context by looking into how its essentially democratic core‐representation, which, to simplify gross, was dismissed by previous researchers as only existed in “sociological” terms, survived through adapting into Chinese own tradition and political infrastructure.     

A Strong Start

正China's economic performance in Q1 recovered pre-pandemic levels Recovering from the lows caused by COVID-19 last year, China's economy grew 18.3 percent year on year to 24.93 trillion yuan($3.82 trillion) in the first quarter(Q1) of 2021. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) on April 16,     

Charting a Course for the Coming Years

SHORTLY after the Spring Festival,China be-gins its annual"political season"with the con-vening of the Two Sessions,the session of the National People's Congress(NPC)and that of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC).This year both of these events have a very special significance.First,it will be the start of a new Five-Year Plan period,and secondly,this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Commu-nist Party of China.This will be the source of a great deal of celebration throughout the year.     

Historic Juncture

This year's sessions of the 13th National People's Congress and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,known as Two Sessions,send a clear message to the rest of the world.Following the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity,China is set to inject more vigor into the global economy.     

FRIENDS FOREVER

正Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma,former President of Namibia,discussed how he views the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as China-Namibia ties in an interview with Beijing Review.This is an edited version of the interview:     

ROAD TO CARBON NEUTRALIZATION

China needs to overcome greater challenges than developed countries to meetits carbon-heutral target The annual plenary session of the National People's Congress(NPC),the top legislature of the country,held in March unveiled new targets for achieving carbon neutralization.     

THE GREATER CALLING

Despite diverse challenges, the year 2021, which marks the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, has seen new progress on China's high-quality development, according to the annual Central Economic Work Conference, taking place in Beijing from December 8 to 10.     

Growing With Resilience

正Chinese economy stays on a healthier track Despite a number of challenges, including power shortages, the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, floods and rising prices of bulk commodities, China saw higher-than-expected economic growth in the first three quarters of 2021, with improving employment and enhancement of people's wellbeing, the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) announced on October 18.     

An Offensive Defense:China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law

正The Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law(AFSL) adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC) is a landmark development in China's lawfare with Western countries; especially the United States. The AFSL now provides the Chinese Government and citizens with a powerful legal weapon to counteract sanctions imposed by foreign countries against Chinese citizens and corporate entities. For this reason, it has been characterized as China's "blocking statute."