Beijing
China spent the last five years cultivating innovation and new technology at home. The next half decade will be dedicated to deploying the fruits of its labor to transform its economy – and its place in the world.
That’s set to be an overarching message as thousands of delegates from across China gather in the nation’s capital for the “Two Sessions” – a carefully choreographed annual meeting where the country’s leadership signals its priorities for the year ahead, and its rubber-stamp legislature approves them. The pomp and ceremony of the gathering has long stood as a symbol of China’s tightly controlled political process, and Beijing’s authoritarian leaders are well aware of the juxtaposition that creates as the US, the world’s most powerful democracy, is riven with partisan infighting and engaged in another spiraling conflict in the Middle East. At the top of the agenda this time around is approving the 15th “Five-Year Plan,” a blueprint for how Beijing aims to drive its economic growth into the next decade. Details of the new plan have been hashed out behind closed doors by leader Xi Jinping’s inner circle over months. Now, the nearly 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress will green-light the document – likely with some tweaks based on the lawmakers’ feedback – with a ceremonial vote livestreamed across the country. That’s set to be an overarching message as thousands of delegates from across China gather in the nation’s capital for the “Two Sessions” – a carefully choreographed annual meeting where the country’s leadership signals its priorities for the year ahead, and its rubber-stamp legislature approves them. The pomp and ceremony of the gathering has long stood as a symbol of China’s tightly controlled political process, and Beijing’s authoritarian leaders are well aware of the juxtaposition that creates as the US, the world’s most powerful democracy, is riven with partisan infighting and engaged in another spiraling conflict in the Middle East. At the top of the agenda this time around is approving the 15th “Five-Year Plan,” a blueprint for how Beijing aims to drive its economic growth into the next decade. Details of the new plan have been hashed out behind closed doors by leader Xi Jinping’s inner circle over months. Now, the nearly 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress will green-light the document – likely with some tweaks based on the lawmakers’ feedback – with a ceremonial vote livestreamed across the country. Buoyed by recent successes – as China’s AI upstarts go toe-to-toe with American rivals, its EV champions dominate global sales and its humanoid robots dazzle the world – Beijing is set to use the blueprint to further spur innovation and use it to build China’s economic strength and international clout. Its leaders are also well aware they are setting up the country’s next economic plan at a moment of acute risks and opportunities. The world order is in flux as the United States shakes up its policies and is increasingly seen as divided and unpredictable; rapidly evolving technologies are transforming work and war; and China’s economy faces slowing growth, dimmed consumer confidence and a shrinking population, while the risk of trade frictions and a tech rivalry with the US persist. A rapidly expanding war in the Middle East – sparked by the US-Israel bombing of Iran and the killing of its China-friendly leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – has added a new layer of geopolitical uncertainty. Whether China can use that shifting landscape to accelerate its rise as a global power will depend in part on how well Xi’s government steers the economy.
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