This year has been celebrated the 70th anniversary of the National People's Congress of China and its annual meeting has taken place in a tense international geopolitical context that tries to slow down the rapid Chinese growth in the face of Western nervousness about losing its international hegemony.

The conclusions present important developments in both the political and economic fields, all within the framework of “the two sessions.”

In the Chinese context, "the two sessions" refers to two important political meetings held annually in the country:

• The "National People's Congress" (NPC): An annual session of the Chinese legislature, where delegates from all over the country meet to discuss and pass laws, as well as make important decisions on national policies. The NPC is the supreme legislative body of China. It meets once a year in Beijing, usually in March, for about two weeks. It is composed of delegates elected from all over the country and has the power to pass laws, constitutional amendments, elect the country's president and vice president, and make decisions on national policies.

• The "Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" (CPPCC): A conference that brings together representatives of various sectors of Chinese society, such as businessmen, academics, religious leaders and cultural figures, to provide policy advice and suggestions to the government. The CPPCC is a deliberative political advisory body. It is held simultaneously with the NPC in Beijing.

Both sessions are key political events in the Chinese calendar and offer an insight into the country's political and economic priorities as well as the plans and challenges China faces in the near future.

The National People's Congress represents the legislative center of the existing participatory democracy in China and which is based on the Local People's Assemblies, which at the local level of each province, autonomous region, municipality and district in China are responsible for making decisions on local issues, such as the local budget, urban planning, economic and social development, and other issues relevant to the local community and whose members are elected by Chinese citizens through local elections.

The Local People's Assemblies have more than 2.6 Million Deputies. Candidates for Deputies of the NPC are proposed or nominated at the Local People's Assemblies both by the different political parties and by trade unions, industry associations, youth organizations, ethnic minority groups, companies or educational institutions. These nominated candidates for the NPC are elected by a vote of the Local People's Assemblies.

After the closing, several reports were prepared that reflect the variety of topics covered during the Two sessions. Below, we systematize some proposed objectives, as well as other proposals approved at the meeting:

Focus on Modernization

Many proposals this year focused on boosting China's modernization in various aspects.

Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile and a member of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC, suggested to the Global Times that the country should push the "AI+" campaign on a national scale to achieve great technology development, industrial modernization and productivity.

Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University and a national political adviser, noted that there is a special focus on issues such as artificial intelligence, digitalization and other emerging issues that will affect the future development trends of Chinese society. The level of attention on these issues in China is even higher than in the United States, he said.

Long-standing issues such as increasing the birth rate, helping poor areas to develop and boosting youth employment were also discussed.

Building Consensus

It was stressed that the CPPCC should consciously promote the great unity of the Chinese people, mobilize all positive factors and unite all possible forces.

The approved political resolution called for studying and implementing the Party's general strategy for resolving the Taiwan issue in the new era, uniting all patriotic forces that can join, deepening integration with the island and jointly promoting the process of "peaceful reunification" of the motherland.

Fu Zhiguan, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League and national political adviser, suggested promoting economic and trade cooperation between the island of Taiwan and mainland China. To do this, he proposed to better connect the island's land, sea and air transport infrastructure.

The resolution promised to comprehensively, accurately, firmly and unwaveringly implement the principle of "one country, two systems."

Confidence in Economic Matters

On how China is viewed by multinationals operating in the country, the Global Times reports that the Two Sessions generated great confidence because senior Chinese officials, national legislators and political advisers put a lot of emphasis on the need to make greater efforts to attract foreign investment, including high-level investments.

Companies were particularly encouraged by the state's promises to expand market access in more areas. To facilitate this process, it was proposed to abolish all market access restrictions for foreign investment in the manufacturing sector and to reduce market access restrictions in the service sectors, such as telecommunications and healthcare.

A report on the work of the government presented on March 5 indicates that in general there is confidence. Domestically, China will aim for a GDP growth rate of around 5% by 2024, launch a year-long program to boost consumption and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces that will focus on innovation.

In this regard, China will intensify research on disruptive cutting-edge technologies and launch an AI Plus initiative to boost the development of artificial intelligence.

Companies such as Germany's Bayer AG and France's Schneider Electric have increased their investments in the Chinese market. This is despite US pressure for global companies to stop investing in China.

In interviews with the Global Times, many multinational companies have expressed their strong support for multilateralism, free trade and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Social Welfare

China is committed to improving the social security system to address the issue of financing elderly care, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) said on Friday after the second plenary meeting of the second session of the XIV National People's Congress.

As the number of people aged 60 and over in China increased, the government set out to create plans to cater for them.

The Cultural Arena

As for China's development in the cultural area by 2024, a report presented within the framework of the Two Sessions proposes to enrich people's intellectual and cultural life and further promote cultural heritage and development through a series of actions.

To this end, they seek to strengthen the systematic protection and rational use of cultural relics.

Likewise, exchanges between peoples with other countries are being considered to strengthen international communication capacity. Among the objectives set, they hope to strengthen research and cultural management.