Mar. 5, 2013 (TSR) – The 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliamentary body, its top legislature, or the National People’s Congress, opened its first annual session at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
New state leaders will be elected at the session that will last about two weeks. At the end of this Congress in March 17, Xi Jinping becomes the new President of the People’s Republic of China.
NPC deputies will elect new president and vice president, decide on a new premier, vice premiers and cabinet, as well as approve a government institutional reform plan.
Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies from across the country attended the opening meeting along with top Party and state leaders Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Keqiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.
Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a government work report at the opening meeting, chaired by Zhang Dejiang, executive chairperson of the session’s presidium.
It was the last time that Wen delivered the government work report as the premier.
“Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary, let us unite as one and work hard to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” said Wen’s report.
The report set the country’s economic growth target of this year at 7.5 percent and promised to curb the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase at around 3.5 percent.
It also vowed to create more than 9 million new urban jobs and keep the registered urban unemployment at or below 4.6 percent.
The government will work to ensure that the per capita income of residents increases in step with economic growth, according to the report which was distributed to media ahead of the meeting.
The year 2013 is the first year for fully carrying out the guiding principles of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, a crucial year for continuing to implement the 12th Five-Year Plan and an important year for laying a solid foundation for finishing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Wen’s report.
“China remains in an important period of strategic opportunities during which much can be accomplished,” it said.
There are many favorable conditions and positive factors as well as a number of risks and challenges for China’s economic and social development, the report said.
The profound impact of the global financial crisis persists, and the recovery of the world economy is full of uncertainty and not yet on a stable footing, it said.
The report warned of a number of difficulties and problems China have been facing, such as unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development as well as increasing conflict between the economic growth and environment.
China sees a growing conflict between downward pressure on economic growth and excess production capacity, said the report.
“The development gap between urban and rural areas and between regions is large, and so are income disparities between individuals,” it said.
The government has not fully carried out the transformation of its functions and some areas are prone to corruption.
Xi urges innovation-driven growth
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday urged boosting innovation-powered development in order to make China an economic heavyweight.
Xi made the remarks while participating in a panel discussion with political advisors from the science and technology sector at the ongoing annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, the country’s top political advisory body.
Xi said implementing a strategy of innovation-driven development will be fundamental in accelerating the transformation of China’s growth pattern, solving deep-rooted problems concerning economic development and enhancing economic vitality.
Xi said Chinese people should strengthen confidence in innovation and reform the ways in which research and development systems are managed.
Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also participated in the discussion.
Highlights: Premier Wen’s government work report
Following are the highlights of a government work report distributed to media ahead the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Tuesday morning.
MAJOR TARGETS FOR 2013
— Gross domestic product (GDP) grows about 7.5 percent.
— Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase will be kept around 3.5 percent.
— A deficit of 1.2 trillion yuan (190.48 billion U.S. dollars) is projected, 400 billion more than the budgeted figure last year and accounting for 2 percent of GDP.
— Add more than 9 million urban jobs.
— Keep the registered urban unemployment rate at or below 4.6 percent.
— The government will work to ensure that real per capita income for urban and rural residents increases in step with economic growth.
FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES FOR 2013
— China will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy. The government will give priority to education, medical and health care, social security and other weak areas that are important to people’s well-being.
— China will continue to implement a prudent monetary policy. The target for growth of the broad money supply (M2) is about 13 percent.
PROGRESS IN PAST FIVE YEARS
— China’s GDP increased from 26.6 trillion yuan to 51.9 trillion yuan, now the world’ s second most, by an average annual growth of 9.3 percent.
— Government revenue went up from 5.1 trillion yuan to 11.7 trillion yuan.
— The per capita disposable income of urban residents rose by 8.8 percent annually, and the per capita net income of rural residents rose by 9.9 percent.
— Energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 17.2 percent.
— Total chemical oxygen demand, a key index for water quality, fell by 15.7 percent.
— Total sulfur dioxide emissions fell by 17.5 percent.
— The government spending on education totaled 7.79 trillion yuan over the past five years and increased annually by 21.58 percent to reach 4 percent of GDP in 2012.
— The basic old-age insurance system now covers both urban and rural residents, with a total of 790 million people joining various old-age insurance schemes.
— A basic medical insurance system that covers the whole population is taking shape, and over 1.3 billion people are now covered by different medical insurance schemes.
— The average life expectancy reached 75 years.
WHAT TO DO THIS YEAR
— This year, basic pensions for enterprise retirees should be raised by 10 percent, and subsistence allowances for urban and rural residents and subsidies for entitled groups should also be further raised.
— The country will conduct a pilot project to insure against childhood leukemia and 19 other serious diseases.
— This year, annual government subsidies for the new rural cooperative medical care system and basic medical insurance for non-working urban residents should be raised from 240 yuan to 280 yuan per person respectively.
— The per person payment standard for basic public health services should be increased from 25 yuan to 30 yuan.
— This year the country will complete 4.7 million government-subsidized urban housing units, start construction of another 6.3 million units and continue to renew dilapidated rural houses.
Background: Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
The CPPCC is a patriotic united front organization of the Chinese people, serving as a key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and a major manifestation of socialist democracy.
At present, the CPPCC consists of representatives of the CPC and non-Communist parties, personages without party affiliation, and representatives of people’s organizations, ethnic minorities and various social strata.
It also has the representation of compatriots of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan, returned overseas Chinese, and specially invited people.
Most of the CPPCC members are experienced political figures, social celebrities, and experts and scholars specializing in various fields.
The main functions of the CPPCC are to conduct political consultation, exercise democratic supervision and participate in the discussion and the handling of state affairs. Political consultation covers major principles and policies proposed by the central and local governments and matters of importance concerning political, economic, cultural and social affairs.
Democratic supervision means to exercise, by means of offering suggestion and criticism, supervision over the implementation of the Constitution, other laws, regulations and major policies, and over the work of government agencies and their functionaries.
Participation in discussing and handling state affairs means to organize CPPCC members of various parties, people’s organizations, people of various ethnic minorities and other social groups to take part in the country’s political, economic, cultural and social activities in whatever way they think fit.
The current CPPCC is also known as a new political consultative conference as distinguished from the one established in 1946 following the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression upon the decision taken by the CPC and the Kuomintang in their negotiations in Chongqing as part of the preparations for forming a new government.
But hardly before the old CPPCC began to function was it disintegrated in November of the same year when the Kuomintang betrayed the resolutions of the conference and unilaterally proclaimed the convocation of a “National Assembly.”
The first session of the new CPPCC was held in Beijing in September 1949. Authorized to perform the functions of the supreme organ of power, the session adopted a “Common Program” which bore the nature of a temporary constitution, proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China, elected a council of the central people’s government with Mao Zedong as the chairman, and elected the First National Committee of the CPPCC.
The CPPCC ceased to act as the supreme organ of power in September 1954 when the National People’s Congress was convened. Instead, it shifted its functions as China’s patriotic united front organization for its broad representation. It has ever since played a vital role in the country’s political, economic, cultural and social affairs and in international exchanges.
The CPPCC has a National Committee and local committees. With a functioning term of five years, the CPPCC committees hold annual sessions.
This article is based on Xinhua materials.
